The Idea Behind Cypress Gardens Theme Park In the latter part of 1932, Dick Pope, Sr. and his wife Julie decided to move back to Florida after living in New York for some time. Julie had read an article in Good Housekeeping about a banker in Charleston who had opened his private estate to the public, and charged admission and had taken in $36,000

cash in one year — a big sum in those days. After sharing the article with her husband, Mr. Pope declared, “someday we’ll build a Garden and attract visitors to Winter Haven!

Initially the couple planned to beautify and rebuild the canals and chain of lakes in Winter Haven. They started on that, and then planned on adding a hanging garden on Lake Eloise – and that’s what later became Cypress Gardens.