Sunken Garden

To the left of Spilman Hall lies the Sunken Garden. Designed as part of the Amphitheatre in 1935, water from the fountain located in the Sunken Garden would flow to the reflecting pools that once adorned the front of the Amphitheatre stage. From there, the overflow would flow to a goldfish pond that was located at the Humphrey Cottage before flowing into Gabriel’s Creek.

One of the more famous photographs of the Sunken Garden appeared in a 1942 issue of Life Magazine. John Foster West, a student at Mars Hill College, dressed as cupid kneeling in the fountain with the water appearing to sprout from his mouth as one of his fellow students snapped a photo of him. Mr. West would go on to serve as a professor of English at Appalachian State University and author of the book Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley.