History

Following the discovery of gold in the vicinity of Bendigo in 1851, the area along the Bendigo Creek became a hive of activity with diggers searching for alluvial gold. By 1852 the hamlet of White Hills adjoining the creek had been named and by 1854 it was surveyed by Richard Larritt. Included in the plan was land reserved for a "Botanic Garden". The reserve for the Gardens was officially gazetted in 1857 and fencing was completed on three sides. The following year the area for the Gardens were extended, when the creek was straightened. This made the total area 15 acres 2 roods and 34 perches. The loop of the original creek was made into a lagoon within the reserve, with a bridge to an island in the middle.

By the end of 1861 the Gardens had been laid out (the designer is not known). Walks and carriageways were included for promenading, garden beds were formed and many trees planted. Ferdinand von Mueller, director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens, supplied plants to the City of Sandhurst and it is believed that many of the conifers remaining in the White Hills Botanical Gardens today date back to Mueller's generous plant donations. Hundreds of blue gums, also from Mueller, were planted in the early years. The total expenditure recorded in 1861 was £642, causing the Town Clerk to express the hope that "the benefit to the community would justify the outlay". By 1862 "a small but varied collection of native animals" was kept in the Gardens, with monkeys added in 1864.

The Gardens underwent a major refurbishment in 1873, instigated by the new curator, Samuel Gadd. Gadd made gravelled walks, transplanted 500 trees, planted 110 new trees, formed 28 circular and 20 rectangular beds, created 220 yards of borders and laid down 0.5 acre of grass. Such was his success that he was promoted to superintend Camp Reserve (later renamed Rosalind Park) though he still had overall control of the Gardens at White Hills. However, by 1888 the Gardens were in a sorry state. Vegetation was dying, with the decline starting at the southern end of the Gardens and spreading to affect one third of the area. Excessive salinity was thought to be responsible and gradually, through improved drainage, the Gardens recovered.

Land across the creek on the western side had also been set aside in the 1860s for the purpose of testing different plants for their suitability to local conditions. However, apart from a collection of trees planted along the boundaries in 1890, this "Acclimatisation Reserve" was never used for its original purpose, instead being developed as a sporting ground (White Hills Football Oval) during the twentieth century.

A large Victorian-style picnic shelter was erected on the island in the lagoon in c.1904. The memorial arch was erected in 1925, after 7 years of fund-raising, to commemorate those local people who participated in World War I. It was designed by C. M. Dawe and the architect was G. D. Garvin.

From 1929 to 1960, the north-west corner of the Gardens was given over to camping which, in the words of one councillor, caused the Gardens to take "a terrible beating". (During that period many regional Botanic Gardens were used for this purpose and some continue to be intruded upon by caravan parks). After many years of lobbying by local residents, and in spite of some opposition a swimming pool was built in 1959. This required a portion of the lagoon to be filled in, a merry-go-round to be removed and a number of trees to be felled.

Photographs taken during the mid-20th century show that the pathway leading into the park from the memorial arch forked just inside the Gardens, leading either side of the curator's cottage. A new curator's cottage was built in a new location around 1980 after the removal of the old residence. In the early 1990s the pathways were resurfaced and new animal enclosures constructed along the southern boundary of the Gardens. In 2000, the entrance path was re-modelled into a single, broad walk leading away from the gates. At this time the internal car parks were moved to the northern boundary.

In 2006, the caretaker's house was converted into a resource centre for the Gardens and as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations was renamed the Samuel Gadd Centre. This was in recognition of the important contribution made by Curator Gadd in developing Bendigo's parks and gardens.