Toledo-Bend.Com

History of Hodges Gardens

Located in North Central Louisiana, Hodges Gardens, the nation's largest privately owned horticultural parkland and wildlife refuge and is one of Sabine Parish's most celebrated attractions. It was founded by Andrew Jackson Hodges, Sr., notable civic leader, oil producer, conservationist and lumberman. Mr. Hodges was born at Cotton Valley, Louisiana on March 22, 1890, son of Floyd Crawford and Adeline Reynolds Hodges. The Hodges ancestors were among Captain John Smith's company of early settlers of Jamestown, VA. They moved from Virginia to North Carolina, then to Georgia and later to Cotton Valley. Mr. Hodges received his elementary and high school education in Webster Parish and later attended Meridian Military College, a small college in Meridian, Mississippi, no longer in existence.

He began his career in merchandising in Cotton Valley. Becoming interested in oil and gas exploration in the early 1900's, he participated in the development of the Cotton Valley, Sugar Creek and Sligo oil and gas fields. In 1923 he became associated with the Triangle Drilling Co. of Shreveport, and in 1948 he acquired all of the stock, combining it with his timber-growing interests in Sabine Parish to form A.J. Hodges Industries, Inc.

A strong believer in conserving natural resources in the production of oil, gas and fresh water, Mr. Hodges also became a member of the pioneering corps of Louisiana men who recognized the need to restore barren and cutover forest lands.

In the early 1940's he put his lands under an extensive timber management and improvement program which
included planting approximately 39,000 acres of pine seedlings and converting the entire acreage into a managed tree farm totaling more than 100,000 acres in Sabine and Vernon Parishes.

Seedlings from superior seed trees were used in the replanting, and experiments were begun in forest genetics under the direction of the Southern Forest Experiment Station at New Orleans, the Texas Forest Service at College Station, Texas and Louisiana State University. Work was aimed at a cross breed of slash pine for straightness and loblolly pine for toughness.

Selected for the arboretum was a ridge running east to west just south of Many which contained an abandoned stone quarry. The site encompassed 4,700 acres and in 1951 it became the Hodges Gardens Experimental Area and Wildlife Preserve.

Mr. Hodges and his wife, Nona Trigg Hodges, recognized the potential of the old quarry and planned a unique scenic garden using the natural rock formations. Flowers were planted on one level above another. Walkways were laid and foot bridges built. Streams, waterfalls and a 225-acre lake were created to further enhance the overall beauty.

Thus, Hodges Gardens became one family's contribution to the preservation of our land's natural beauty.

Back to TOP

Current Operation of Hodges Gardens

In April 2007, Hodges Gardens became one of Louisiana’s State Parks, having been donated to the State and Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism (DCRT) by the Hodges Foundation. Day use opened on April 30, and overnight facilities (cabins, campsites and the group lodge) are anticipated to open in early 2008. DCRT and the Office of State Parks are committed to preserving much of the culture and history surrounding the Gardens.