Gingko Tree in the Sacred Grove
Another old tree on campus is the large, majestic ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) on the northwest corner of the main campus (Brodhead and Packer Avenue). Lying north of the Alumni Memorial Building in the Sacred Grove, this is likely one of the first non-native species introduced on campus.
The Sacred Grove
The Sacred Grove was actually treeless in the early years of Lehigh; some faculty housing, now razed, was once located there. Today, the Sacred Grove boasts numerous species of mature trees – sugar maple, tulip poplar, white ash, black walnut, Norway spruce, Douglas-fir, hemlock, several oak species including a sawtooth oak, catalpa, white ash, and a Kentucky coffee tree. In the thirties, Lehigh undertook a project of labelling trees -- campus visitors find some of the labels are still attached.
According to tradition, the area west of Packard Laboratory was named the Sacred Grove because whenever a building was proposed on that site "alumni objected en masse." [Source: Leadership gifts of Lehigh].
Brown and White articles:
- Campus open areas to be saved, Brown and White, November 22, 1974.
- Keep Maginnes lawn, Sacred Grove, Brown and White, November 2, 2006.
Other articles:
- Looking for old trees on campus, Among the stately trees blog, August 2013.