Did you know Lehigh established an arboretum in 1909 on the northern slope of South Mountain?

Did you also know it was lost and forgotten about for decades until it was rediscovered in 2009 on Mountaintop campus by Robert Booth, associate professor of earth and environmental science?

The arboretum—and a forest plantation—were intended to help Lehigh in conservation efforts and in establishing a forestry program. Robert Hall, Lehigh’s first professor of biology, and then-President Henry Drinker encouraged the planting of nearly all the tree species native to Pennsylvania. Experimental plots also were set up to assess what trees would grow best on the rocky soil. Some 8,000 trees were planted.

Until the 1950s, the area was a source of trees for campus but also served as an outdoor classroom and open-air theatre.

Today, though no longer maintained as an arboretum, students use the area as a natural lab to study ecology.