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Looking Ahead

T.B. McQuesten, visionary founder of RBG
brought McMaster to Hamilton
The land where the Royal Botanical Gardens created a nature sanctuary known as Coldspring Valley, was known as the Binkley Estate and Binkley Hollow, which McMaster ruined in the late 1960s to create surface parking lots, was purchased at the behest of non other than T.B. McQuesten.
"McQuesten took the lead in other matters, realizing that it was time the board made progress on several fronts. For example, opportunities for land acquisition continued to arise. At his urging, the board approved the acquisition of two significant parcels: the Binkley Estate west of McMaster Campus, and a strip of land along the Valley Inn arm of Hamilton Harbour. Each acquisition in 1944-1945 helped to round out RBG holdings in these areas. McQuesten advised his colleagues at this same May 18, 1944 meeting…" Love, Sweat and Soil: A History of Royal Botanical Gardens from 1930 to 1981, by Dr. Leslie Laking 
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