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On September 12, 1979 Mobile was hit by Hurricane Frederic. That horrendous storm visited Bellingrath Gardens and Home on that memorable night, accompanied by at least two destructive tornadoes. Within 24 hours, just over 2,000 trees were downed and nearly 23,000 shrubs were smashed beneath them. Nine greenhouses were torn to bits and the entire irrigation system was left in a shambles.
Perhaps the most striking memory was that of long time horticulturist Pat Ryan who said that the Bellingrath Home was visible from the front parking lot when he was able to reach the Gardens. And that, he added, was a sight even the Bellingraths themselves had never seen.
Mirror Lake had been filled with debris, its rustic bridge damaged. The riverfront was brutally scared from floodwaters and the corpse of a dog was found in the base pool of the Grotto.
George Downing, chairman of the Bellingrath-Morse Foundation stated “one-third of the photos in our souvenir book are not applicable now.” Indeed, the scarred and missing trees he now saw looked nothing like the lush tree canopy found in the book’s images.
The Home
Local decorator Wade Lott had overseen the redecoration of the Home a year earlier and was proud to have it featured within the pages of the magazine Southern Accents. In December of 1979, a local reporter writing about Bellingrath’s recovery stated: “Replacements for furniture damaged when the tide waters washed into the home’s main floor are on order.”
No tide waters touched the Bellingrath Home, but the wind and rain did. The most damage occurred to the second floor sleeping porch which lost its roof. It was lifted and dropped onto the East Terrace. The force of the storm destroyed much of the furniture formerly in this space.
A storm shutter on one of the east facing windows in the Purple Guest Room fell off and some sort of projectile hit a pane of glass, leaving a very small hole. When the room was entered the next day, the furnishings were all wet and there were shredded leaves everywhere. All that water and leaves had entered through a hole barely large enough for a pencil to fit through.
The original Ludowici tile roof on the home had damage and George Downing stated that “replacement tiles are on order from the manufacturer.” Sadly that was not the case and the house was shingled with a standard asphalt product.
Tulip Time
The Gardens reopened on March 1, 1980 and visitors were amazed to see the memorable sight of 40,000 tulips in bloom in the Rotary Rose Garden. A rain later that day was accompanied by gales of 35 to 40 miles per hour. The temperature that night dropped to 18 degrees with a wind chill of -13 degrees. Every tulip froze and turned black.
Thankfully the Gardens and the Home rebounded. The formerly shaded garden was replanted for sun loving flowers. Since that time trees have been planted and the Gardens now have a balance of sun and shade, nearly 50 years after an unwelcome visitor named Frederic.