A Demonstration Garden to Educate, Inspire, and Engage

The Chieftains Museum/Major Ridge Demonstration Garden provides an opportunity to learn about the workings of a historical home and prosperous farm as well as the cultural significance of the Cherokee Nation.

The Chieftains Museum/Major Ridge Demonstration Garden was created through the vision of the Chieftains Museum Landscape Advisory Board as a way to demonstrate on a smaller scale the wide variety of plants and crops that were grown on Major Ridge’s plantation. Documentation from the time period when Ridge lived on the farm provided direction for the selection of historically accurate plants. The demonstration garden brings to life the living history of Major Ridge’s large agriculture operation, which included food gardens, vast crop land, acres of orchards, and medicinal gardens.