Mehan Garden is an open space in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It was established in 1858 by the Spanish colonial authorities as a botanical garden, called the ''Jardín Botánico'', outside the

walled city A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

History

Botanical garden

The garden established by Governor

Fernándo Norzagaray y Escudero Fernando María Félix Mateo Juan Nepomuceno de Norzagaray y Escudero (19 July 1808 - 12 September 1860) was a Spanish soldier and colonial governor. Of Basque descent, he was a lieutenant general before becoming the 104th Governor of Puerto Ri ...

was one of a number of botanical gardens established in Asia by European colonial powers (for example,

Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden The Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, previously known as Indian Botanic Garden and the Calcutta Botanic Garden, is situated in Shibpur, Howrah near Kolkata. They are commonly known as the Calcutta Botanical Garden and prev ...

in 1787 and

Bogor Botanical Gardens The Bogor Botanical Gardens ( id, Kebun Raya Bogor) is a botanical garden located in Bogor, Indonesia, 60 km south of central Jakarta. It is currently operated by Indonesian Institute of Sciences (Indonesian: ''Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indo ...

in 1817). Sebastián Vidal was the best known director of the garden. He came to the Philippines in 1871 to work in the forestry service (''Inspección General de Montes''). He was director between 1878 and his death in 1889. His obituary in ''

Popular Science Monthly ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, inclu ...

'' described him as "practically a pioneer in the investigation of the Philippine flora". (In fact, a flora of the archipelago had been published by

Francisco Manuel Blanco Manuel María Blanco Ramos known as Manuel Blanco (1779 – 1845) was a Spanish friar and botanist. Biography Born in Navianos de Alba, Castilla y León, Spain, Blanco was a member of the Augustinians, Augustinian order of friars. His first ass ...

, but it was unsatisfactory). For his publications on Philippine flora, Vidal not only collected specimens, but also studied

Malesian Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. The ...

flora held in European

herbaria A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

, such as the Kew herbarium.

Public park

The American occupiers of Manila decided that the site was not suitable for a botanical garden and was more suitable for a public park. In 1913 it was renamed after John C. Mehan, who was in charge of Manila's parks and sanitation.Honoring the Past
. Jimena, Fedelyn. ''UP Forum Online''. July 02, 2002. The Mehan Garden was declared a historical site by the

National Historical Institute The National Historical Commission of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Komisyong Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas, abbreviated NHCP) is a government agency of the Philippines. Its mission is "the promotion of Philippine history and cultural heritag ...

in 1934. The Garden is the open space off

Liwasang Bonifacio The Liwasang Bonifacio (''Bonifacio Square''), also known by its former name, Plaza Lawton, is a city square and transport hub in front of the Manila Central Post Office in the Ermita district of Manila, Philippines. It lies at the south end of ...

(across the Philippine Post Office Main Building), bounded by Taft Avenue, LRT 1 Central Terminal station, the Metropolitan Theater, and

Manila City Hall The Manila City Hall ( fil, Bulwagan ng Lungsod ng Maynila) is the official seat of government of the City of Manila, located in the historic center of Ermita, Manila. It is where the Mayor of Manila holds office and the chambers of the Manil ...

. Inside the Garden are structures such as the Lawton Park n' Ride building and the

Universidad de Manila Universidad de Manila, also referred to by its acronym UdM, is a public coeducational Local colleges and universities (Philippines), city government funded higher education institution in Manila, Philippines. It was founded in April 26, 1995 wit ...

Boy Scouts of the Philippines Headquarters

Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Boy Scouts of the Philippines The Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) is the national scouting organization of the Philippines in the World Organization of the Scout Movement. The Scout movement was first introduced in the Philippines on 1910 during the American Occupat ...

(BSP) co-founder Don Gabriel Daza established the first BSP national office in the garden. The office was in a

quonset hut A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel having a semi cylindrical cross-section. The design was developed in the United States, based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War I ...

. In 1949, the BSP relocated after receiving a land grant from Republic Act No.397.

Gallery

File:Mehan_Garden_Gate.jpg, The main gate of the newly renovated Mehan Garden in 2016. File:UniversidaddeManilajf9926 06.JPG,

inside Mehan Garden. File:Martiallawjf9906 03.JPG, Victims of Marcos' Martial Law Memorial Wall at the Mehan Garden. File:Mehan Garden 2.jpg, The look of the newly renovated Mehan Garden in 2016.

References