Andrew & Dalia Miller

 

 linen postcard from Petersen's Rock Garden
Famous throughout the country, Petersen's Rock Gardens is a testament to dedication and the fruits of one man's labors. As scenic attractions go, the Rock Gardens is small, nestled away in Redmond, a small town in central Oregon.  Petersen's Rock Gardens is the creation of a Danish immigrant Ramus Petersen, who came to America in 1900 at the age of 17.

Over the years, he collected all kinds of colorful local rocks from an 85-mile radius of his home. These colorful rocks included Oregon agates, obsidian, petrified wood, malachite, and jasper. Ramus started building with them in 1935. At first, it was just a small rockery near his home. But he kept on building and building on his 4-acre site, until his death in 1952. He mortared the rocks together into miniature buildings, monuments, lagoons, and bridges, surrounded by lush gardens with lily ponds and little streams.

Rasmus Petersen built his folk art constructions of rocks and glass reminiscent of his native Denmark.  But he also honored his new home with a tribute to democracy by constructing a concrete American flag, and a replica of the Statue of Liberty carved by a local sculptor from a large boulder and the statue is even holding a light bulb torch.  In front of the Statue rests a bronze plaque which Peterson had emblazoned "Enjoy yourself: it's later than you think."

This is truly a folk art environment yet the constructions are very sophisticated and the landscaping is lush and incredible.  And View-Master thought a 3-Reel set of the Rock Gardens would be a popular addition to the Sawyers line of products.  The 3 Reel Packets were produced in S3D (early S3 packets with drawings instead of picture on the jacket) and S6 versions only.  And a special single reel, SP-9031, was produced for on-location and catalog sales.  All of these were sold at the Gift Shop during the 1950s.

The SP-9031 reel even has the distinction of having a run with the misspelling Peterson's Rock Gardens, although the images and face type of the reel are the same. These misspelled reels were fewer in number and are more difficult to find than the correctly spelled ones. Refer to the two reels pictured below.

PETERSON spelled incorrectly                PETERSEN spelled correctly

A call to Adele Hegardt, a descendant of Ramus Petersen, informs us that the Rock Gardens remains a tourist attraction managed by his family and is classified by the State of Oregon as an educational site.  Although the the lovely swan boats are gone, and not as many stray cats as before are brought to the Gardens for a new start on life, visitors can still picnic and share lunch with peacocks, ducks, chickens and the many house cats that roam the park. 

Petersen's Rock Gardens, its Museum, and Gift Shop are located at 7930 S.W. 77th Street, off U.S. 97, southwest of Redmond, Oregon.  It is open to the public every day; and one can call (541)382-5574 for tour information.