Biedenharn Museum and Gardens
The Biedenharn Museum and Gardens is a home museum and botanical garden located beside the Ouachita River at 2006 Riverside Drive in Monroe in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is open Monday-Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
The Biedenharm Museum was built in 1913 as a private home by Joseph A. Biedenharn, who is credited with first bottling Coca-Cola in the summer of 1894 while living in his birthplace of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The original Biedenharn Home, built in 1913, is open for tours and furnished as it was during the residence of Joseph Biedenharn's daughter, Emma Louise "Emy-Lou" Biedenharn, who died in 1984.
The Coca-Cola Museum features Coca-Cola memorabilia and historical items.
The adjoining Bible Museum features a collection of bibles and biblical literature and also hosts rotating exhibits.
ELsong Garden
The garden's name is short for Emy-Lou's song, named after Emy-Lou Biedenharn, who had an opera career in Europe prior to World War II. The garden settings include the Four Seasons Garden, Oriental Garden, and Musical Grotto.
The gardens include dozens of flowers and plants, including Abelia, Althaea, Amaryllis, azaleas, bachelor's button, begonias, berrying hollies, Caladium, Calendula, camellias, candytuft, chrysanthemums, crape-myrtles, daffodils, daylilies, dogwood, flowering maple, flowering quince, geraniums, Grancy graybeard, Hibiscus, Hosta, hydrangea, Impatiens, irises, Japanese magnolia, jessamine, lantana, Liriope, Lycoris, marigolds, mock-orange, nandina, pansies, Pentas, periwinkles, petunias, Phlox, Poinsettia, Pyracantha, redbud, Salvia, snapdragons, sasanqua, Scilla, shrimp plant, magnolias, Spathiphyllum, Spiraea, star bush, sweet alyssum, sweet olive, tulips, and winter honeysuckle.
See also
The director of the museum for the past decade is Ralph Calhoun. They are currently in the process of adding a new building for the use of a gift shop, educational program, and offices.