Thanksgiving Point is a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of ...

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

indoor and outdoor farm, garden, and museum complex in

Lehi, Utah Lehi ( ) is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States. It is named after Lehi, a prophet in the Book of Mormon. The population was 75,907 at the 2020 census, up from 47,407 in 2010. The rapid growth in Lehi is due, in part, to the rapid develo ...

, United States. Its five main attractions include Ashton Gardens, Butterfly Biosphere, Farm Country, Museum of Ancient Life, and Museum of Natural Curiosity. It also operates multiple dining options, events spaces, and gift shops. Each year, approximately 2.8 million guests visit Thanksgiving Point. Other businesses under separate management but located on Thanksgiving Point's campuses include Brick Canvas Studios, Holdman Studios and Glass Art Institute,

Larry H. Miller Larry H. Miller (April 26, 1944 – February 20, 2009) was an American businessman. He owned the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Utah Jazz and the Salt Lake Bees, a minor league baseball team. Miller and his companies (LHM Group) also ow ...

Megaplex Theatres, and Thanksgiving Point Golf Course.

History

Thanksgiving Point was founded in 1995 by Karen Jackman Ashton and Alan C. Ashton. Alan Ashton co-founded the software company WordPerfect with Bruce Bastian in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Utah, fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County, Utah, Utah County and is home to Bri ...

in 1979. In 1994, WordPerfect was sold to Utah-based

Novell Novell, Inc. was an American software and services company headquartered in Provo, Utah, that existed from 1980 until 2014. Its most significant product was the multi- platform network operating system known as Novell NetWare. Under the le ...

for nearly a billion dollars. After the sale, Alan purchased farmland in

and gifted it to his wife Karen as a

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...

gift on February 14, 1995. They planned to build a community garden and farm experience. The name for the project, Thanksgiving Point, was chosen to express gratitude. Thanksgiving Point Institute registered as a

501(c)(3) organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of ...

in 1997. The first venue to open to the public in 1996 was Farm Country. Farm Country's exhibits demonstrate the origins of the food supply in a working farm environment. In 1997, Thanksgiving Gardens (renamed Ashton Gardens in 2016) partially opened to the public for its first season. In 2000, the gardens fully opened as a flagship 55-acre experience dedicated to offering the community a reflective and peaceful place. In 2000, the Museum of Ancient Life opened with a travel-through-time dinosaur walk through a 30,000-square-foot venue. The 45,000-square-foot Museum of Natural Curiosity opened in 2014. The family science museum offers four indoor galleries and a 3-acre garden gallery. In 2019, Butterfly Biosphere opened as Utah's first

insectarium An insectarium is a live insect zoo, or a museum or exhibit of live insects. Insectariums often display a variety of insects and similar arthropods, such as spiders, beetles, cockroaches, ants, bees, millipedes, centipedes, crickets, grasshoppers ...

. A 10,000 square foot

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

certified conservatory has a path through hundreds of exotic butterflies from around the world.

Ashton Gardens

The gardens opened to the public in 1997 as Thanksgiving Gardens. The master plan was developed with Salt Lake City landscape architect Leonard Grassli. The gardens cover approximately 55 acres and include 15 different themed gardens, including a replica of the garden described in

Frances Hodgson Burnett Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (published in 1885–1886), '' A Little ...

's book '' The Secret Garden''. Other themed garden rooms include a Monet pond, Rocky Mountain landscapes, and a rose garden growing 60 different varieties. At the opening of the 2016 season, Thanksgiving Point renamed the gardens "Ashton Gardens" in honor of the contributions and vision of Alan and Karen Ashton and the Ashton Family Foundation. Community horticulture courses are offered by

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah ...

master gardener volunteers. Commonly offered courses include

square foot gardening Square foot gardening is the practice of dividing the growing area into small square sections, typically on a side, hence the name. The aim is to assist the planning and creating of a small but intensively planted vegetable garden. It results i ...

and

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

landscape design Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and ga ...

. Some gardens demonstrate

water-wise gardening Xeriscaping is the process of Garden design, landscaping, or gardening, that reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation. It is promoted in regions that do not have accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of fresh water and has gained accep ...

techniques and the irrigation and water features work as a vast

water reclamation Water reclamation (also called wastewater reuse, water reuse or water recycling) is the process of converting municipal wastewater (sewage) or industrial wastewater into water that can be reused for a variety of purposes. Types of reuse include ...

system. Image:waterfall_TPI.jpg, Bridge at the Waterfall Amphitheatre Image:Rose Garden in the Thanksgiving Point Institute.jpg, Trellises in the Rose Garden

Light of the World Garden

Light of the World Garden is a garden located in Ashton Gardens created and donated by

bronze sculpture Bronze is the most popular metal for Casting (metalworking), cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as w ...

artist Angela Johnson. It features 35

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

-size sculptures from the Biblical

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

account of the life of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

Butterfly Biosphere

The Butterfly Biosphere is home to hundreds of species of animals, including 20 species of tarantulas, fist-sized beetles, and hundreds of butterflies from around the world. Species on exhibit include species like Blue Morpho, Atlas Moth,

Black Widow Spider ''Latrodectus'' is a broadly distributed genus of spiders with several species that are commonly known as the true widows. This group is composed of those often loosely called black widow spiders, brown widow spiders, and similar spiders. Howeve ...

, and Goliath Beetle. In 2020, a Leafcutter Ant exhibit debuted as a new permanent exhibit.

Farm Country

Calf feeding demonstration at Thanksgiving Point

Farm Country is a working farm open to visitors. During the summer, a Junior Master Gardener Club maintains the garden, growing things like tomatoes, basil, peppers, watermelon, and pumpkins. Other demonstration gardens include a USDA People's Garden. There are daily live cow-milking demonstrations, traditional farm animals, and wagon and pony rides.

Museum of Ancient Life

The Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point first opened in 2000. A group of Utah paleontologists approached Thanksgiving Point with an idea to build a world-class dinosaur museum. Together, they planned and assembled the exhibits of the Museum of Ancient Life, one of the world's largest collections of mounted fossils. The museum's goal was to take collections out of cases and put them into an immersive environment. The museum also features a large movie screen auditorium named the Mammoth Screen 3D Theater. During museum hours, the theater shows large format science films relevant to the museum's collections and exhibition.

Museum of Natural Curiosity

Thanksgiving Point's Museum of Natural Curiosity opened in May 2014. The museum features five exhibit areas: Rainforest, Waterworks, Kidopolis, Traveling Exhibits, and a five-acre outdoor component, Discovery Garden.

Discovery Garden

Discovery Garden is the outdoor gallery of the Museum of Natural Curiosity. It is an educational area designed to teach youth about the natural environment. The garden includes two hedgerow mazes, an "eco-pond", and a replica of

Timpanogos Cave Timpanogos Cave National Monument is a United States National Monument protecting the Timpanogos Cave Historic District and a cave system on Mount Timpanogos in American Fork Canyon in the Wasatch Range, near Highland, Utah, Highland, Utah, in the ...

. Discovery Garden also includes the

Arbor Day Foundation The Arbor Day Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees. The Arbor Day Foundation has more than one million members and has planted more than 350 million trees in neighborhoods, communities ...

-certified Nature Explore Classroom, the first certified in Utah and one of only 65 in the continental United States.

Classes and Events

Thanksgiving Point also offers a variety of classes for both youth and adults on topics such as cooking, animal husbandry, robotics, gardening, fitness, arts and crafts, and glass-blowing. Thanksgiving Point produces and holds events throughout the year. Examples include a spring

tulip festival Tulip festivals are held in several cities around the world, mostly in North America, usually in cities with a Dutch heritage such as Albany, New York, Ottawa, Ontario; Gatineau, Quebec; Montreal, Quebec; Holland, Michigan; Lehi, Utah; Orange ...

, a seasonal

corn maze A corn maze or maize maze is a maze cut out of a corn field. Originally, the first full-size corn maze was believed to be created in Annville, Pennsylvania in 1993; however, similar corn mazes were highlighted in newspapers as early as 1982. Co ...

, a holiday lights experience called Luminaria, and other seasonal events. Tulips at Thanksgiving Point tulip festival

Private social and corporate events such as weddings, parties, and corporate functions are held in conference and meeting rooms throughout Thanksgiving Point.

Other

Several other businesses are located on Thanksgiving Point's campus but are managed by various entities.

Thanksgiving Point Golf Course

Thanksgiving Point Golf Course is operated and managed by a private management company and Troon. It is the largest public golf course in Utah at long and more than . The course was designed by

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf p ...

Johnny Miller John Laurence Miller (born April 29, 1947) is an American former professional golfer. He was one of the top players in the world during the mid-1970s. He was the first to shoot 63 in a major championship to win the 1973 U.S. Open, and he ran ...

Roots of Humanity Exhibit

Next to the Ashton Gardens parking lot is the grounds for the future Roots of Humanity Exhibit. The exhibit will be an 80-foot building with walls only of stained glass, totaling at more than 11,000 square feet.

References

External links

* {{authority control Botanical gardens in Utah Natural history museums in Utah Dinosaur museums in the United States Farm museums in the United States Museums in Utah County, Utah Paleontology in Utah Buildings and structures in Lehi, Utah 1995 establishments in Utah