#12 – How did Henry Shaw use this building?

Stop at Spink Pavilion / Photo old entrance gate

From the start, founder Henry Shaw had planned for his garden to be a place of public enjoyment. In March of 1859, the Missouri legislature passed the official charter, and on June 15, 1859, the Missouri Botanical Garden opened its doors to the public.

Shaw welcomed visitors in grand fashion, they entered his Garden through the pillars of an impressive stone structure, in fact it was this building – well – more or less!

Originally the Main Gate aligned with Flora Avenue, which at that time was a small tree-lined path leading to the Garden from the edge of the city at Grand Ave. Over the years, Flora expanded and the street was no longer in alignment with the entrance. By 1920 the original entrance was torn down and the materials reused to build this larger entrance structure, which is once again in alignment with Flora Ave.

Today, this building is known as the Spink Pavilion and represents a fun bit of Garden Trivia. On the exterior of the building, is inscribed “Missouri Botanical Garden, 1858.” It remains a mystery as to why the actual 1859 opening year was not used. No matter the cause of the delayed opening; the earlier date is a permanent reminder of Mr. Shaw’s optimistic nature.

In 1982, the Garden built a new visitor center entrance at 4344 Shaw Boulevard and the original Main Gate was closed and repurposed as a private event space.