Westerly Sun Column | The Legacy of George Stillman’s Dahlias

This time of year, Westerly Library & Wilcox Park is resplendent with dahlias in a gorgeous array of colors! We are fortunate to have lovely bouquets at most of our public desks for all to enjoy, and the park is a feast for the eyes. Dahlias begin blooming in midsummer and continue until the first fall frost. The heaviest blooming period for most growers is this month, September, a lovely time of year to enjoy a stroll through Wilcox Park.

Did you know that over 100 years ago, Westerly was home to one of the most well-known dahlia growers in the United States? George L. Stillman, who lived at 25 Granite Street, sold 300 varieties of dahlias, and he kept gardens at 23 Granite Street, 19 Newton Avenue, and Beach Street, as well as converting the family farm to a dahlia farm.

George was born on the Stillman farm off Potter Hill Road in 1856. The farm had been in the family since the first George Stillman arrived in Westerly in 1695. As a youth, George worked with his father, manufacturing wagons and carriages. In 1875, George and his brother moved the business to Coggswell Street and it continued there until 1910. Eventually, the Stillman Carriage Co. also made bicycles — the Westerly Library has a velocipede made by some of George’s relatives on display on the second floor.

George’s fame, however, was as a grower and perfecter of dahlias. He became internationally known as a dahlia expert, and he was one of the leading exhibitors for many years at the International Flower Show in New York City, winning many medals and prizes. George Stillman was an incorporator and one of the three founders of the American Dahlia Society in 1914.

George produced a beautiful 60-page catalog each year, with a colored image on the front and detailed instructions on how to grow dahlias inside, as well as photos of the many varieties he developed. He may have been most well-known for his cactus dahlia, a type he created, which ultimately consisted of at least 30 varieties.

George L. Stillman died in October 1938 at the age of 82 and was buried beside his wife in River Bend Cemetery. For me, whenever I see the lovely dahlias, I flash back to a different Westerly, where multiple areas in our small downtown area were filled with gardens of hundreds of different sorts of dahlias, and I say a silent thank you to George Stillman for such a beautiful legacy.

by Nina Wright, Adult Services and Local History Librarian