Does Davidson have an arboretum on campus?
Yes! Davidson College's 600-acre campus has been a national arboretum since 1986. However, the desire for a greenery-filled campus began as early as 1855, when “a few ladies of Davidson College, earnestly request[ed] the Board [of Trustees] to take into consideration the propriety of enclosing the college campus, and a general remodeling of college grounds.” During this period of time, students interested in this cause organized tree plantings across campus. In 1869, the faculty sent a proposal to the Board of Trustees, “to make the Campus in its contents represent in time the forest growth of the State, and, if possible, the general botany of the region.” In subsequent years, groundskeepers of the college did expand the variety of plants on campus.
In 1982, the campus earned the official designation of an arboretum when then President Samuel Spencer received a letter from Henry Cathey, the director of the National Arboretum, requesting the grounds of the college be used as a working arboretum. With the addition of a generous donation from the estate of forestry enthusiast Edwin Latimer Douglass, Physical Plant led an aerial photography and mapping project of the campus to facilitate the preservation of the space. Today, students and Physical Plant workers continue to label and care for the trees on campus.
For more information about the arboretum, please visit these resources: