Hitchcock Farm, Rice’s Gardens, and FDR
In 1947 the farm belonging to my great grandfather, William L Hitchcock, was sold to the newly formed Cambridge Central School district. The farmhouse pictured above stood where the gazebo is now located by CCS’s north parking lot. The farm sprawled out where the school and athletic fields now lie.
Mr. Hitchcock died in 1921 about 20 years after completing
the
During this time the grounds were used each spring to
showcase the flowers of Rice’s Seed Company. The long sidewalk to the farmhouse
was lined with beautiful flowers. The yard where CCS now stands was filled with
a colorful assortment of flowers, welcoming visitors as they arrived in
According to John Briggs, who played at the farmhouse with
my mother, uncle, and aunt, one such visitor to
As the story goes, during his stint as Governor of New York from 1928-1932, FDR stopped to admire the gardens. He was informed that the gardens were the work of Rice’s Seed Company, still one of the largest in the country. The story ends with FDR, already semi-crippled by polio, being rolled around the gardens in his wheelchair.
Truth? Fiction?
Somewhere in between? The Cambridge Historical Society
is working hard to collect and analyze stories like this that make up the
fascinating history of our community. Visit our website anytime at
http://CHS.gottry.com or stop by 12 Broad Street. Hear stories, share stories, clarify stories. Help us record 
Cambridge’s history.
While I’m not old enough to remember the Rice’s Display Gardens described above, I clearly remember the Asgrow Experimental Gardens on Washington Street (photo below).
Memories don’t have to be 100 years old to be called
History. If you have stories that describe