On March 18, 1930 a group of eleven women, under the leadership of Satilla (Mrs. James) Smith, met to organize a garden club. Officers were elected and meetings were held at the members’ homes on the first and third Tuesday of each month. Dues were set at $.50, and a constitution was approved in the name of The Garden Club of Hyannis. In 1931 the group joined the Massachusetts State Federation of Garden Clubs, and in 1932 the club’s first flower show was held at the Hyannis Library.

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During 1935 Arthur Shurcliff, a well known landscape architect who had designed the gardens at Williamsburg VA, presented plans for the beautification of the Hyannis Library grounds; a combined effort of volunteers from the garden club and library planted and cared for the gardens. Flower shows became an annual event, and membership continued to grow in the ‘30s so that by 1938 there were 72 year-round members and 28 summer members. Most meetings continued to be held in members’ homes, as the membership was reluctant to give up the collegiality that these meetings provided.During the 1940’s it was questioned whether the club should continue meeting during wartime, but the members decided that “nothing adds to the morale of a group as gardening, both by improvement of the grounds as well as raising food.” A Victory Garden campaign began, and the meeting teas were limited to desserts without sugar. Meetings outside of Hyannis were suspended due to the gasoline shortage, but the club continued with projects for Camp Edwards, nursing homes, and the Library.