GARDENS DELIGHT

In the early 1900s, a plumber named George Turner Sr. bought several acres near downtown St. Petersburg, drained an ancient lake and with his wife, Eula, created a garden on the rich muck left behind. Over the years, as generations of Turners added bird shows, exotic plants and “the world’s largest gift store,” Sunken Gardens became one of Florida’s most popular tourist attractions. But attendance plunged with the opening of Disney World and other theme parks, and in 1989 the Turner family decided to sell the property. A decade later, the city of St. Petersburg bought it after residents voted to fund the purchase with a one-time property tax. Although many other roadside attractions have disappeared, Sunken Gardens has returned to its former glory and is drawing what it did at its peak — more than 160,000 visitors a year. A new sign nearly replicating the original is a symbol of the gardens’ enduring popularity.

— Susan Taylor Martin

George Turner Sr. and his wife, Eula, initially sold papayas and other fruit on the site of what would become a famous botanical garden.