GREAT ESCAPES FAR FROM THE MADDENING CROWD : NEWPORT BEACH : Sherman Gardens: An Oasis of Color and Local History

Speeding down the main drag of Corona del Mar on a fast-paced and bland kind of Orange County day, many people don’t notice the small wooden, gold-lettered Sherman Library and Gardens sign on the side of the road.

But it’s here, behind a gated, vine-covered wall, that those weary of concrete can find a riot of color for the senses. They will also find roots to an Orange County past as colorful as any town they may have left behind.

“I think it’s important for people here, especially children, not to have a feeling of alienation,” said William Hendricks, director of the historical library set in a 2.2-acre cultural and botanical oasis. “People should have a feeling of connection, so that street names and other things have meaning.”

The gardens and library originally were funded by the Sherman Foundation, funded by the heirs of Moses Hazeltine Sherman, a land baron who started street railway systems in both Phoenix and Los Angeles.

Hendricks said the gardens and library grew out of “accidental circumstances.”

A nursery was part of the real estate that the Sherman Co. had purchased to expand its holdings on the block. Hendricks came down looking for papers for his dissertation and ended up creating a library.

Today, about 2,500 people are Friends of Sherman Library and Gardens and pay dues to help support the operation.

Specializing in color, the Sherman Gardens have more than 1,000 species of plants in a setting of fountains and sculpture. There is a tea garden where visitors may have lunch, a conservatory and a koi pond.

For the blind, and sightseers who wish a different sensory experience, there’s a Discovery Garden that focuses on touch and smell.

The gardens also have guided tours, along with weddings, concerts and special lectures.

And if the present-oriented sensual palette is not enough, the research library there is devoted to 100 years of past local color.

Hendricks is the man behind the books in the cozy rooms with three fireplaces and collection of plein air, or fresh air, paintings by artists once connected to Laguna Beach.

Specializing in the history of the Pacific Southwest, the library houses about 20,000 books and pamphlets in addition to maps, photographs, documents, back files of newspapers and more than 2,000 reels of microfilm.

Hendricks, who left a teaching position at USC in 1965 to wade through truckloads of papers in trunks, safes, wooden crates and even a five-gallon can to establish the library, is a master at making history come alive.

The Sherman Library and Gardens is a 2647 E. Coast Highway and is open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free on Mondays and for children under 12. Otherwise, admission is $2 for non-member adults.

To visit the library without going through the gardens, ring the bell at a separate locked entrance on Dahlia Avenue for admittance.