San Diego Reader

• Education
• Farm / Nursery
• National City

Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center

• 2525 N Avenue, National City, CA 91950 | Directions
• 619-336-2250 | Website

Back in the late 1800s, when the transcontinental railroad was forging new routes west, several hopeful entrepreneurs built Victorian mansions in National City in anticipation of a thriving cargo port that would never come to be. About a hundred years later, in the 1980s, John Walton (son of Walmart stalwart Sam Walton) renovated a 6.85-acre property containing one such historic mansion and donated it to the International Community Foundation, which focuses on cross-border philanthropy, especially in Baja California. These days, Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center serves as a museum and gardening/ecology/nutritional education center. Reserve a free tour at [email protected].