The Niles Star

The man behind the name 'Garden City'

By By the Friends of Silverbrook Cemetery
John Gipner made Niles "The Garden City"
"Old John is dead … at the ripe old age of ninety-five…but the fame he brought to Niles lives on … and will for some time we suspect."
The preceding transcript was a portion of a news item carried by WNDU-TV when John Gipner died at his 921 North St. home at 1:45 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10, 1957, after being ill for about a year. The words were also used in a special edition of the Niles Daily Star in 1961 celebrating its role in the city.
John Gipner was the kind of man everyone wanted to know.
The Star article described him as one who looked "as if he had just stepped out of a book of German fairy tales." Fairly short, with a long, white flowing beard and tiny spectacles, Gipner was born in Germany on June 24, 1861 and came to Michigan in the 1890s.
Before coming to Niles, hired as executive caretaker for the old Michigan Central's depot landscaping and beautification program, Gipner began his gardening career as an apprentice gardener in Hamburg, Germany. He was brought to Niles from Detroit in 1891 to prepare for when the M.C.R.R. opened its newly-built depot here in 1892, expecting an influx of passengers to travel the line for the World's Columbian Exposition to be held in Chicago in 1893.
Gipner was highly respected by the executives at the M.C.R.R. because he always aspired to create beauty in all his work.
He travelled from Chicago to Buffalo, N.Y. supervising the construction and maintenance of station gardens in Dowagiac, Decatur, Lawton, Battle Creek, Ypsilanti, Buchanan, Three Oaks, Michigan City, Porter and as far north as Mackinaw City.
An article written by former Star reporter Thelma Meador, stated, "Old John seemed to personify the charm that became part of Michigan Central. He played a large part in the image of Niles in that day. No station of the entire Michigan Central domain was as beautiful as the one at Niles, and as a result Niles soon became known as the 'Garden City.'"
She went on to say that legend told of passengers scurrying to the windows to catch a glimpse of the depot and its surroundings when the conductors would announce, "Niles, next stop."
In 1893, Gipner began the practice of having each woman passenger presented with a rose or carnation, employing six young flower boys in blue uniforms with "bellboy" styled caps to hand out the floral tributes with their attached tag proclaiming the gifts: "Compliments of the Michigan Central Railroad."
To accommodate his work, two greenhouses were constructed to grow the roses and carnations and the park surrounding the station grew with shades trees, a picturesque goldfish pond and specially designed flower beds. Yes, it was Gipner who first designed the garden in the design of a U.S. flag proclaiming "NILES" to the world as it passed our doorstep.
At the height of his work, in addition to the flower boys, up to 20 men would work for Gipner during the summers to care for the park. The flowers were used to decorate dining tables both on the trains and in the depot's restaurant. Large potted palms and fern planters also graced the dining room.
Though Gipner retired in 1927, these were his grounds and he reportedly kept them "neatly manicured" for years passed the time he was paid to do so. However when M.C.R.R. was acquired by the New York Central in 1935, the greenhouses were torn down.
It is said that shortly after they were destroyed, Gipner's eyesight began to fail. Could it be the gentleman who was as picturesque as his gardens could no longer bear to see a world losing its elegance and beauty?
Maybe this was a tragedy he could not endure. A few short months after arriving in Niles his first son was born, but happiness was short-lived as his wife then died a few weeks later. Gipner did marry again, one Amelia Smith of Niles, who eventually presented Gipner with a second son, John, who went on to become a nationally famous eye surgeon.
Near the large stone depicting the family plot in Silverbrook Cemetery lays a smaller one which simply says "JOHN 1861-1957."
It is as if no tribute could give due credit to the beauty this man brought us during his life and inspired for years later. May he always have flowers to grace his resting place.
He would want us to mention that those men and women of the Niles Garden Club, who like John beautify our world with flowers, will be holding their Spring Plant sale from 8:30 a.m to 12:30 p.m. at Riverfront Park, Saturday, May 9. Perhaps you will want think of Old John as you find a plant to beautify your personal space this year. They hope so.
Maybe you too would like to help Friends of Silverbrook Cemetery in their dedication to beautifying and maintaining the grounds where Gipner and other of Silverbrook Legacies are buried.
For more information on Friends of Silverbrook with regards to memberships and work days to help restore and catalog the monuments contact: Friends of Silverbrook Cemetery c/o 508 E. Main St. Niles MI 49120, Tim and Candace Skalla at 684-2455, wskalla@sbcglobal.net or contact Ginny Tyler at 445-0997, SPHINX1974@aol.com.