Roberts Settlement, one of Indiana’s historic Black communities, recently unveiled the Legacy Gardens — enhancing the site’s Legacy Walk.
The Legacy Gardens, initially planted back in May, aim to create a natural, immersive setting surrounding the Roberts Settlement’s Legacy Walk, an interactive installation celebrating the lives and legacy of pioneering Black settlers who established the area in the 1830s, according to a press release.
“The Legacy Gardens are another way we honor those who built Roberts Settlement through faith, hard work and perseverance,” Bryan Glover, a descendant of Roberts Settlement and an officer of the Roberts Chapel Church and Burial Association, said in a statement. “As visitors walk the Legacy Walk, they’re surrounded by a landscape that reflects the beauty and resilience of this place. Just as our ancestors cultivated this land to sustain their families and community, the gardens remind us that preserving our history also means caring for the landscape that tells our story. We hope every visitor leaves with a deeper appreciation for those who came before us and a renewed commitment to ensuring their legacy continues to inspire generations to come.”
Designed by Andrew Marrs of Andrew Marrs Garden Design, the Legacy Gardens blend past and present, presenting a carefully curated contemporary setting inspired by the natural landscape that would have surrounded Roberts Settlement in its earliest years, according to a press release.
Representing 48 different species and cultivated selections, the gardens include nearly 1,500 plants, many of which are native to Hamilton County. Cultivars were also carefully chosen to help maintain a scale that compliments the Legacy Walk in a way that provides season-long color, texture and sustainable habitat for pollinators.
“In all my work, the inspiration comes from nature,” Marrs said. “For the Legacy Gardens, we wanted to provide the beautiful new Legacy Walk with a unifying element that would tie everything together and create an immersive experience. We affectionately dubbed it a ‘micro-meadow.’”
Marrs also intentionally designed the gardens to act as a living plant community, “where blooms, grasses and foliage weave together to create a continually changing tapestry throughout the growing season,” and said that a garden “should be more than just a collection of plants,” but demonstrate the power of collaboration, according to a press release.
The Legacy Gardens were brought to life thanks to the Hamilton County Tourism’s Tourism Gives program, which invests in projects that strengthen the county’s cultural, historical and environmental assets while supporting initiatives that “preserve, enhance and celebrate the people and places that make Hamilton County a vibrant destination.”
“This project is a perfect blend of beautification and conservation,” Katherine Crouch, senior sustainability manager for Hamilton County Tourism, said in a statement. “Hamilton County Tourism is grateful to be able to bring people together to care for the natural and cultural resources that make our community special. The resulting native landscape at Roberts Settlement honors the site’s historic character and stewards the natural resources that make tourism possible in our county.”
As the Legacy Gardens continue to mature over the next few seasons, guests will get to experience the “changing waves of color, texture and pollinator activity” while exploring the Legacy Walk, creating a living landscape reflecting the resilience of nature and enduring legacy of Roberts Settlement, according to a press release.
“My hope is that people won’t simply admire a beautiful flower, but that they’ll feel something more abstract, uplifting and memorable as they experience the garden,” Marrs added.
The Legacy Walk and Legacy Gardens are free and open to the public, though donations are encouraged through the STQRY app or online. The self-guided tour is open from dawn to dusk. For more information about Roberts Settlement, future events or preservation opportunities, visit robertssettlement.org.
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.
Chloe McGowan is the Arts & Culture Reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper. Originally from Columbus, OH, Chloe has a bachelor's in journalism from The Ohio State University. She is a former IndyStar Pulliam Fellow, and has previously worked for Indy Maven, The Lantern, and CityScene Media Group. In her free time, Chloe enjoys live theatre, reading, baking and keeping her plants alive.
