Buckeye Grove - A Tree for Every All-American
A stop on Ohio State University Campus Walk, a free self-guided tour.
Every tree in this grove stands for a football player. Since 1934, Ohio State has planted a buckeye tree for each player named a first-team All-American, with a plaque at its base listing his name and the years he earned the honor. The idea came from the Ohio Staters, a student service group that wanted more traditions on campus.
The grove has moved more than once. It was relocated to this spot at the stadium's southwest corner during the renovation that finished in 2001, and it now holds close to 200 trees. New ones go in each spring at a ceremony before the spring game, and the team that loses that game traditionally does the landscaping.
The buckeye, Ohio's state tree, gives the university its nickname. Its shiny brown nut has a pale spot that is said to look like the eye of a deer. Walk among the plaques and look for famous names from Buckeye football history.
Getting here: Walk around the south end of the stadium to its southwest corner; the grove of small trees with plaques is beside the stadium.
Did you know?: The grove did not start here: its original site was on the east side of Ohio Stadium.
Photo op: Crouch beside one of the plaques and frame its buckeye tree with the stadium walls rising behind.
More on Wikipedia: Ohio State Buckeyes football · Aesculus glabra · Ohio Stadium
Stops on this tour
- The Oval - Where Desire Paths Became Sidewalks
- University Hall - The First Building, Rebuilt
- Wexner Center for the Arts - A Building That Looks Unfinished
- Ohio Union - Campus Living Room
- Hale Hall - The First Union at a State University
- Orton Hall - A Building Made of Ohio
- Browning Amphitheatre - Shakespeare in the Ravine
- Mirror Lake - A Spring, a Legend and a Retired Tradition
- Ohio Stadium - Welcome to the Horseshoe
- Buckeye Grove - A Tree for Every All-American
- Thompson Library - Back to the Oval