The Dawes Arboretum is a nonprofit
arboretum located in
Newark, Ohio
Newark ( ) is a city serving as the county seat of Licking County, Ohio, United States, east of Columbus, at the junction of the forks of the Licking River. The population was 49,934 at the 2020 census, which makes it the 15th largest city in O ...
. It includes nearly of plant collections, gardens and natural areas. The site includes approximately 12 miles (19 km) of hiking trails and roadways for a four-mile (6 km) driving tour.
History
Beman Dawes was born in 1870 and grew up in
Marietta, Ohio
Marietta is a city in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Ohio, United States. It is located in southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, Ma ...
. His father ran a lumber business and also served one term as a U.S. Representative. Bertie Burr was born in 1872 in
Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...
. Her father served as mayor of Lincoln and as a U.S. Senator. The two married in 1894 and eventually had five children.
Around 1917, the couple bought a 140-acre farm in Licking Township and dubbed it "Daweswood." The farm served as a retreat for the family, who also had a home in Columbus, and a place to nurture trees and plant specimens collected from around the world. The arboretum had doubled in size by the time it was officially founded in 1929. Beman and Bertie Dawes created the foundation "to encourage the planting of forest and ornamental trees ... to give pleasure to the public and education to the youth."
Dawes Arboretum was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 2016. Around 270,000 visitors a year come to the park.
Beginning in 2019, Dawes Arboretum now charges an admission fee, to visitors whom are non-members of the arboretum, for the first time in the organization's history.
Features
The Dawes Arboretum's features nearly 16,000 living trees, shrubs, flowers and other plants, as well as the Daweswood House Museum, which features Dawes family memorabilia and antiques.
The grounds include a number of gardens and natural areas. The Japanese Garden, designed by landscape architect Dr. Makoto Nakamura in 1963, includes a reflecting pond and meditation area.
The arboretum features one of the northernmost native bald-cypress swamps in North America, which visitors can walk through on a boardwalk.
Jefferson salamander and
spotted salamanders are present in the swamp from late winter through spring.
The Dutch Fork Wetlands is a 70-acre wetland and grassland ecosystem located on the arboretum grounds. The original wetlands and habitats disappeared and changed due to years of agriculture practice. The area was restored into a diverse ecosystem, and mammals, birds and insects make the wetlands their home. Visitors either explore the wetlands alone or take a guided tour.
Plant collections
The collection includes
buckeye,
chestnut,
conifer,
holly
''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...
and
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
specimens, as well as three nationally accredited tree collections, as recognized by the
Plant Collections Network The Plant Collections Network (PCN) (formerly the North American Plant Collections Consortium) is a group of North American botanical gardens and arboreta that coordinates a continent-wide approach to plant germplasm preservation, and promotes exce ...
:
*
Acer multisite (maples)
*
Aesculus
The genus ''Aesculus'' ( or ), with species called buckeye and horse chestnut, comprises 13–19 species of flowering plants in the family Sapindaceae. They are trees and shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere, with six spe ...
(buckeyes and horse-chestnuts)
*
''Hamamelis'' (witch-hazel)
*
Metasequoia glyptostroboides
''Metasequoia glyptostroboides'', the dawn redwood, is a fast-growing, endangered deciduous conifer. It is the sole living species of the genus ''Metasequoia'', one of three genera in the subfamily Sequoioideae of the family Cupressaceae. It now ...
(dawn redwood)
The arboretum has hosted more than 100 tree dedications since 1927. Among the Ohioans who have trees dedicated to them on the grounds are athlete
Jesse Owens
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games.
Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifet ...
, astronaut
John Glenn, inventors
Wilbur Wright and
Orville Wright, and author
Julie Zickefoose
Julie Zickefoose (July 24, 1958) is an American nature book writer, biologist, bird artist, and blogger.
Life and work
Born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Zickefoose has been drawing birds since childhood. The bird artist Robert Verity Clem ( ...
.
See also
*
List of botanical gardens in the United States
*
References
External links
{{commons
Dawes Arboretumofficial site
Arboreta in Ohio
Asian-American culture in Ohio
Botanical gardens in Ohio
Nature centers in Ohio
Protected areas of Licking County, Ohio
Japanese gardens in the United States
Tourist attractions in Licking County, Ohio
National Register of Historic Places in Licking County, Ohio
Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio