The Hartman Rock Garden – A Dream in Pebbles and Miniature
I found the Hartman Rock Garden (located in Springfield, Ohio) on Atlas Obscura. I was browsing fun quick stops for a multi state, week long, road trip. The pictures I saw online were beautiful. The statues and buildings were detailed and amazing and the plants among them were lovely too.
The story sealed the deal though. Ben Hartman was laid off during the great depression and didn’t know what to do with himself so he just started building little cement things, fell in love with it, and didn’t stop until he died.
I don’t have the best track record when it comes to recommending random stops to my husband so I was nervous trying to explain to him that I wanted to go see a rock garden in someone’s backyard. But he didn’t put up too much of a fight since at least we weren’t driving down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere like last time.
It right on our route, quick, and most importantly free (though we did leave a donation). We got there about 6pm on a Wednesday in September. The light was beautiful, the world was quiet. We explored just the two of us like little kids. Pointing out beautiful bits to each other, taking photos. If I ever find myself in the Springfield, Ohio area again I’ll definitely take another walk through.
