The botanical gardens also house several interesting old buildings, one of them being what is currently called the Lillian and Amy Goldman Stone Mill. The mill was built in 1840 and originally was used to produce snuff. It was called the Lorillard Snuff Mill then. It's the oldest standing tobacco mill in the country; the mill ceased operations in 1870.
I LOVE old buildings so I looked this info up...however although I've heard of snuff before I never knew what it really was. So I looked that up too. (I had the notion that snuff was somehow related to cocaine!) As it turns out snuff was a very finely ground tobacco and used by sniffing it into the nose to get a quick nicotine rush. (that must be why I thought it was cocaine). Who knew I'd be learning about snuff on a trip to the botanical gardens?
We took the tram tour by the mill first but then came back on foot to get a better look. I couldn't very well JUST take pictures...I had to wander the grounds too! There were people setting up the ground floor in preparation for some kind of function but they didn't seem to mind me wandering around outside to take pictures.
Water levels are low here (like mostly everywhere else right now) but it was still pretty. However it was the stone arch that was the bridge over the river that really caught my eye. Stone just makes everything look elegant to me.
