The Douglas-Hart Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization and receives no tax support.
The Foundation manages three properties: Douglas-Hart Nature Center, Friendship Garden, and The Whiteside Garden.
The Foundation manages three properties: Douglas-Hart Nature Center, Friendship Garden, and The Whiteside Garden.
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The Douglas-Hart Nature Center is located at 2204 DeWitt Avenue East, the corner of Lerna Road and DeWitt Avenue. The Douglas-Hart Nature Center consists of 65 acres of native Illinois habitat, including prairie, woodland, and wetland. The Nature Center includes a visitor center with several amenities. The center is open Monday - Friday 8am-4pm, Saturday 10am-4pm, and Sundays from 1pm-4pm (During winter months, the Nature Center is closed on Sundays). Trails are open daily, sunrise to sunset.
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Friendship Garden is located at 17th Street and Lafayette Avenue near downtown Mattoon. Helen Douglas-Hart's inspiration for the garden occurred after a trip to Europe. She observed sunken gardens, tea gardens, rose gardens, and more. Development for Friendship Garden began in 1963. Today, the garden boasts several hundred species of plants and has recently expanded, adding an additional acre of garden space.
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The Whiteside Garden was started in 1963 by the late Dr. Wesley Whiteside, a botany professor at Eastern Illinois University. Dr. Whiteside transformed a portion of his farmland on the east side of Charleston into a botanical oasis. The Whiteside Garden is a diverse botanical collection covering approximately 5 acres of land and containing thousands of species and different cultivars of plants.
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