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Morton arboretum illumination 2016
The Morton Arboretum, in Lisle, Illinois, is a public garden and outdoor museum with a library, herbarium, and program in tree research including the Center for Tree Science. Its grounds, covering 1,700 acres (6.9 Square kilometres), include cataloged collections of trees and other living plants, gardens, and restored areas, among which is a restored tallgrass prairie. The living collections include more than 4,100 different plant species, which can be referenced in an online database. In all, there are more than 200,000 cataloged plants.
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As a place of recreation, the Arboretum has hiking trails, roadways for driving and bicycling, a 4-acre (16,000 m2) interactive children's garden and a 1-acre (4,000 m2) maze.
The Schulenberg Prairie at the arboretum was one of the earliest prairie restoration projects in the Midwest, begun in 1962. It is one of the largest restored prairies in the Chicago suburban area.
The arboretum offers an extensive nature-entered education program for children, families, school groups, scouts, and adults, including tree and restoration professionals. The Woodland Stewardship Program offers classroom and online courses in ecological restoration techniques. The arboretum also offers credit courses through the Associated Colleges of the Chicago Area, a regional consortium.
Mission
The stated mission of The Morton Arboretum is to collect and study trees, shrubs, and other plants from around the world, to display them across naturally beautiful landscapes for people to study and enjoy, and to learn how to grow them in ways that enhance the environment. Its stated goal is to encourage the planting and conservation of trees and other plants for a greener, healthier, and more beautiful world.
History
The arboretum was established on December 14, 1922, by Joy Morton, founder of the Morton Salt Company. The arboretum's first superintendent was Clarence E. Godshalk, who had received a master's degree in landscape design from the University of Michigan in 1921. Joy Morton's Thornhill Estate, established in 1910, formed the core of the Arboretum's original area. Mr. Morton's father Julius Sterling Morton had founded Arbor Day.
Sterling Morton Library
Designed by noted Chicago architect Harry Weese, the Sterling Morton Library was constructed in 1963 and named after Sterling Morton, son of founder Joy Morton. It currently holds more than 30,000 books and magazines, as well as tens of thousands of non-book items including prints, original art, letters, photographs, landscape plans and drawings. The collections focus on plant sciences, especially on trees and shrubs; gardening and landscape design; ecology, with a special interest in Midwestern prairie, savanna, woodland, and wetland ecosystems; natural history; and botanical art. Its catalog is online.
The Library's Suzette Morton Davidson Special Collections includes books, artwork, historic nursery catalogs, landscape drawings, photographs, letters, maps and institutional documents. It also includes documents of May Theilgaard Watts, Jens Jensen, Marshall Johnson, O.C. Simonds and Donald Culross Peattie.
The Sterling Morton Library is a member of the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries.
Visitor Center
The 36,000 sq ft (3,300 m2) Visitor Center was built in 2004 and designed by David Woodhouse Architects. The building includes wood representing the Arboretum’s collections and incorporates sustainable features such as permeable pavers in the parking lots and local fieldstone salvaged from a predecessor building.