Magee Park

EXPERIENCE DESCRIPTION

A craftsman farmhouse from 1887 anchors this small park, its rooms furnished to look much as they did when the family who later donated the land lived there. A nationally registered rose garden wraps the house in more than a hundred varieties, divided into themed beds that trace different chapters of the city's agricultural past. Two more relocated buildings sit nearby: a converted church that once served as the original city hall and library, and a barn full of old farming equipment. Shaded benches and a gazebo make it an easy stop to slow down for half an hour, just a block from Carlsbad Village.

OPERATOR STORY

The City of Carlsbad maintains the park grounds, while the Carlsbad Historical Society operates the farmhouse museum and archives inside the original building, furnished and staffed by volunteers devoted to the city's early history. The rose garden is tended by community volunteers who meet monthly to keep the beds true to their original plantings. Together they preserve one of the only clusters of pre-incorporation buildings left in the city.