Cummer Gardens on a rare St. Johns River bluff

The Cummer Museum and its historic landscaped gardens sit atop a pronounced river bluff overlooking the St. Johns River, an unusual elevated riverbank within Northeast Florida's generally flat coastal plain. The gardens and museum occupy a long-established cultural and topographic site that visibly contrasts with surrounding low-lying tidal marshes and riverbanks. The bluff location has shaped the museum's grounds and the way the site interacts with the riverfront.