It’s fitting that Rock City celebrates its anniversary in spring, when the gardens are lush. On May 21, 1932, Garnet and Frieda Carter opened the gates to their fantastical backyard garden.
On Founder’s Day, we salute Rock City’s first gardener, Frieda.
Can you believe that Rock City began as a simple backyard garden project? It’s true—Frieda marked a winding trail with string through narrow crevices and across incredible rock formations all the way to the cliffside.
Frieda possessed an imagination as vast as Lover’s Leap itself, shaped by her upbringing. Born Frieda Utermoehlen in 1880 in Johnson City, Tennessee, she was deeply influenced by her father, a prominent German violinist who nurtured her early passion for the arts, especially music and Germanic folklore.
In 1902, while working in her grandparent’s hotel in Cowan, Tennessee, she met a traveling salesman named Garnet Carter, who was a born promoter and entrepreneur that was always reinventing himself. The two wed three years later, and eventually moved to Garnet’s hometown, Chattanooga, where he would soon venture into real estate.
Atop Lookout Mountain lay a tract of land that caught Garnet’s attention—rocky, remote, and difficult to access. But Garnet saw potential. So, in 1924, Garnet, along with his father and a business partner, purchased approximately 300 acres to develop Lookout Mountain’s first planned residential neighborhood.
The community was to be named “Fairyland,” a name Garnet chose in honor of Frieda’s love of German folklore. As such, Frieda decorated the community with statuary from Europe, including gnomes.
Frieda was a natural hostess and a talented decorator. Before her Rock City days, Frieda was known for opening her Fairyland home to soirees, tea parties, and fairytale-themed balls. A notable feature of these parties was the beautiful floral arrangements in the doorways.
It was only a matter of time before her passion for floral decorating would eventually spill into her 14-acre cliffside backyard. Near the brow, the terrain was carved with fascinating rock crevices that formed natural stone “avenues.”
While Garnet was busy developing the community, Frieda explored these avenues to establish a backyard garden like no other.
With string in hand, she climbed over monumental rocks and through deep crevices, laying down a rudimentary path that would become the 4,100-foot Enchanted Trail. Frieda then populated the trail with native wildflowers, shrubs and trees gathered from around the mountain.
Unfortunately, Frieda soon developed a physical issue limiting her mobility—an early sign of multiple sclerosis. So, Garnet stepped in to help complete what Frieda had begun. He replaced her simple pine‑straw path with steppingstones and, inspired by her love of German folktales, began lining the trail with fairy‑tale statuary from the neighborhood.
It should be noted that Rock City was already a well‑known landmark, captivating travelers with its otherworldly rock formations. In fact, the name “Rock City” dates to the late 1800s. However, Garnet was the first to recognize its commercial potential, especially as interest was growing in Frieda’s garden.
On May 21, 1932, Rock City Gardens was opened to the public to immediate fanfare. Frieda’s gardens were so impressive that only a year later, she was awarded the Garden Club of America’s Horticultural Bronze Medal of Distinction.
Frieda lived to see her backyard garden grow into a world‑renowned attraction before her passing in 1964. Her legacy, however, remains woven into the landscape through the trails she forged and the gardens she planted.
The Gardens Team remains dedicated to Freida’s vision, stewarding the gardens she began over 94 years ago. Today, Rock City boasts over 500 species of native plants.
A prominent piece of Frieda’s story is found on Legacy Lane—a circular structure known as the “Roundhouse.” This small building doubled as Rock City’s original entrance and Frieda’s office until 1939. It also housed the “Sugar Loaf Shop,” where guests enjoyed lemon cookies.
In 2024, Rock City’s Innovations Team crafted “Frieda’s Red String Sculpture,” an homage to the gardens’ matriarch.
Will Jackson, Rock City’s Creative Director, describes Frieda as the “beating heart of what we’re still doing today” and says that Rock City—and the entire Fairyland community—wouldn’t be here without her.