The Cummer Museum by the Numbers: 5,000 Works, a 400-Year-Old Oak and a $1.3 Million Garden Rescue

Jacksonville, Fla. - The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens holds more than 5,000 works of art, and its riverfront grounds are home to an oak estimated at 400 to 450 years old. After Hurricane Irma pushed about 4 feet of St. Johns River water into its historic gardens in 2017, the museum finished a $1.3 million rebuild in June 2019.

The Riverside Avenue museum draws about 130,000 visitors a year. Its story runs from a lumber family's 1902 home to a museum that opened in 1961, with 1.45 acres of gardens that are now on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Cummer by the numbers

From a lumber fortune to a museum

The Cummer name came to Jacksonville with Wellington Cummer, a lumber baron who moved to the city in 1896. At one point, the Cummer Lumber company was the largest landowner in Florida.

His son Arthur and Arthur's wife, Ninah, built their home on the riverfront site in 1902. Arthur died in January 1943. Ninah died in 1958, and the museum was founded after her death.

It opened Nov. 11, 1961, under its original name, The Cummer Gallery. That's 59 years after the couple built their home on the same ground (1961 minus 1902).

More than 4,000 years of art

The collection spans more than 5,000 works, from 2100 BCE to the present.

The oldest piece is an ancient Egyptian stela from 2100 BCE. That's more than 4,000 years of art history under one roof.

One of the standout holdings is the Wark Collection, with more than 700 pieces of Meissen porcelain. Put another way, that one collection alone accounts for roughly 1 of every 7 works in the museum (700 out of 5,000; my math, using the minimum counts).

The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Its director is Kimberly S. Noble.

Three gardens, three designers

The gardens cover 1.45 acres along the St. Johns River and are split into three themed spaces, each with its own designer.

The English Garden is the oldest of the three, designed eight years after the Cummers built their home. The Italian Garden followed 21 years later.

On Jan. 25, 2010, the gardens were added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Cummer Oak

The grounds' oldest resident isn't in a frame. The Cummer Oak is estimated to be 400 to 450 years old.

By that estimate, the tree was already roughly 275 to 325 years old when the Cummers built their home in 1902 (my math), and it had been growing for well over 300 years by the time the museum opened in 1961.

Hurricane Irma and the $1.3 million rescue

In September 2017, Hurricane Irma sent the St. Johns River into the gardens, pushing about 4 feet of water across the historic landscape.

Rebuilding took time. A $1.3 million reconstruction began in December 2018 and was finished in June 2019, about seven months of work.

The flood came seven years after the gardens earned their National Register listing, so the rebuild was about restoring a nationally recognized landscape, not just replanting flower beds.

Timeline

Quick Q&A

Where is the Cummer Museum? On Riverside Avenue in Jacksonville, on the St. Johns River.

Is there parking? Yes, free parking across the street.

What's the oldest thing in the collection? An ancient Egyptian stela from 2100 BCE.

How old is the Cummer Oak? An estimated 400 to 450 years.

Did the gardens recover from Irma? Yes. A $1.3 million reconstruction was completed in June 2019.

Before you go

Plan time for both the galleries and the gardens, since the collection and the grounds tell different parts of the story. Check the museum's website for current hours, admission and special events before you visit.

How we did this

This numbers guide is based on Wikipedia's "Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens" entry, reviewed Oct. 23, 2026. Visitor counts and the oak's age are estimates. Hours and admission were not verified and are not included.