
" He who plants a tree and cares for it, does something for posterity."
- Jesse Fell
The Fell Arboretum is committed to curating diverse species of trees and other plants integrated with art and architecture on the campus of Illinois State University. The principal goal is to sustain a living laboratory as both an educational resource and aesthetic experience.
In 1867 Jesse Fell obtained $3,000 from the state legislature for campus landscaping. He planted 1,740 trees on campus that year and 107 trees the following year. Fell wanted every tree and plant native to Illinois represented on campus.
Today the university continues to work toward that goal through the Fell Arboretum Project. The entire campus is now a registered arboretum. Each tree is numbered and marked.