Roots

The majestic oaks near the Lake Michigan shore first caught Orrington Lunt’s eye. By Stephanie Russell

The class of 1880 at the Old Oak. Image: Courtesy of University Archives

It was the majestic oak trees near the shore of Lake Michigan that caught Orrington Lunt’s eye on his first visit to the land that today is Northwestern University’s Evanston campus.

“The thought first struck me that here was where the high and dry ground began,” Lunt, one of the University’s founders, later wrote. “It continued in my dreams of that night, and I could not rid myself of the fairy visions constantly presenting themselves in fanciful beauties — of the gentle waving lake — its pebbly shore — the beautiful oak openings and bluffs beyond.”

Bedazzled by the oak savanna along the Lake Michigan shore 12 miles north of Chicago, Lunt helped convince the other founders that this was the place to set down roots for a new university in the Northwest Territory. In 1853 they purchased 379 acres of land for $25,000.

Many stately bur and swamp white oaks, some well over 200 years old, still stand in splendor on the Evanston campus. You’ll find these hardy natives by the John Evans Alumni Center, the Weber Arch and in the wooded groves between University Hall and Deering Meadow and north of Deering Library. They are home to squirrels, cardinals, Cooper’s hawks and crows that often roost in them in late afternoon.

The Oak Savanna

Someone once poetically described the crescent-shaped oak savanna on campus as “the eyebrow of beauty,” but no one knows for sure who said it.

An oak savanna is a type of savanna, or lightly forested grassland, where oaks are the dominant trees. These savannas were maintained historically through wildfires set by lightning or humans, grazing, low precipitation and/or poor soil.

Oaks were often used as trail-marking trees by Native Americans. There used to be several such oaks on campus. The iconic “Old Oak” was thought to have been a trail marker tree.

The Old Oak

Before there was the Rock, students gathered at the “Old Oak,” a giant white oak that grew near University Hall until 1904. The tree was estimated to be at least 500 years old at the turn of the 20th century. Students used the oak as a place for speech, song, trysts — and class photos.

Types of Oaks at Northwestern

Most common

Quercus bicolor — Swamp White Oak — Has bicolored green and silver-gray leaves; thrives in sandy soil at south end of campus
Quercus macrocarpa — Bur Oak — Primary canopy tree of an oak savanna; look for them by the Weber Arch and University Hall
Quercus alba — White Oak — Has rounded leaves with deep lobes and silvery-gray striped bark; grows in a wide range of soils

Not as common

Quercus rubra — Red Oak — Prefers a more acidic soil, so fewer are planted on campus

In this vintage postcard of University Hall circa early 1900s, the “Old Oak” with its outstretched branch can be seen on the right. Image: Courtesy of University Archives

Johnny Appleseed, Give Way: Meet Northwestern’s Annie Oak-ley

Northwestern University landscape architect Ann Ziegelmaier is nuts about trees. “Everyone thinks, ‘Oh she just does the flowers.’ But the trees mean everything to me,” says Ziegelmaier, who has planned, nurtured and beautified the Evanston campus since 1984.

Although the Evanston campus has lost a lot of oaks since the University’s founding, Ziegelmaier and the groundskeeping crews have planted about 375 oak trees — 70 percent of the 517 oaks on campus!

“We’ve been planting oaks like crazy,” says Ziegelmaier, “a lot of swamp white oaks and bur oaks, especially by Annie May Swift and on the way to Deering Meadow.”

The Northwestern community will enjoy the majestic tree landscape for generations to come, along with a very special hardscape landmark that Ziegelmaier created in 1993 — the Weber Arch, which welcomes all who enter the University grounds.

The Oldest Oak?

Ziegelmaier’s favorite oak tree is a bur oak just east of 1835 Hinman, a student residence, and across Sheridan Road from Fisk Hall. This is one of the most beautiful oak trees on campus — and one of the oldest, perhaps 250 years. Because of the way its branches grow horizontally, Ziegelmaier believes that it is one of the last remaining trees of the original oak savanna at the south end of campus.

Stephanie Russell is executive editor of Northwestern Magazine.

Enjoy a moment with Northwestern's majestic oaks.

Reader Responses

As an avid botanist and educator for many years, I noticed the misidentified oak species in the Northwestern Magazine, fall 2018 edition. On page 37, the depictions indicate Quercus macrocarpa and Quercus alba in reverse identification with the drawings of these oaks.

Perhaps other readers will notice this distinct mistake.

—Anne Marie Westerhold Naperville, Ill., via Northwestern Magazine
Fascinating piece on the oaks on campus [“Roots: Northwestern’s Oaks,” fall 2018, page 36]. Just sorry that you didn’t have a photo of the Garrett class of 1888 so we might have seen my wife’s great-grandfather.

Over here in Oakland County, Michigan, we have been celebrating the 200th anniversary of the “discovery” of the county by Territorial Governor Lewis Cass and a group of leading Detroiters.

In October 1818 our “explorers” found that the land was excellent to good, there was plenty of clear water for transportation, drinking and mill power, stones for foundations — and there were plenty of oak openings.

—Michael Carmichael '64, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., via Northwestern Magazine

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