Franklin Drury

Leila Arboretum Society

Leila Arboretum's history traces back to 1922 when Leila Post Montgomery, the widow of cereal magnate C.W. Post, donated a 72-acre parcel to the city of Battle Creek to be developed as an arboretum, a place of beauty and a center of cultural activities. T. Clifton Shepherd, a well-known local landscape architect, designed and developed the arboretum. The arboretum contains an extraordinary collection of mature specimen trees, many planted in the 1920s. More than 2,000 trees and shrubs are included in the collections. Leila Arboretum Society was formed in 1982 to foster the revitalization and development of the arboretum after it had been neglected for nearly 50 years. The society operates the 84-year-old Leila Arboretum and a Children's Garden adjacent to the arboretum.