The Garden Magazine, April, 1921 
123 
HAMILTON WALK, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 
By this walk, planted with memorial trees of many beautiful species, is 
the name of William Hamilton made a living thing in the minds of suc- 
ceeding generations at the university of which he, too, was once a part 
HAMILTON MEMORIAL GATE 
Impressiveness is lent by this formal entrance which 
makes the walk a distinct feature of the campus 
number of trees along the driveways near the entrance are worth 
mention, such as the Princess Tree (Paulownia imperialis); Cy- 
press (Taxodiumdistichum); Purple Beech (Fagus sylvatica pur- 
purea); Box Elder (Negundo aceroides); Persimmon (Diospyros 
virginiana); and attached to the old mansion, the yellow Jasmine 
(Jasminum nudiflorum). Outside of the remarkable Ginkgos, 
the rarest and largest trees of “The Woodlands,” are four re- 
maining specimens of Zelkova crenata, native of the Caucasus 
regions. This species was originally planted in two rows 
forming an avenue of approach to the house. The single re- 
maining tree of the west row near the stable was alive on June 
24th, 1916, but is now dead. It measures 14 ft. 8 in. in circum- 
ference. In the eastern row, all of the three trees are now 
dead. These trees measure respectively 12 ft. 6 in.; 12 ft.; and 
1 1 ft. in circumference. They are about 50 ft. tall. Two 
young sprout trees have appeared between the second and 
third, which are already 10 ft. tall and promise to become lusty 
specimens. 
When Pine Street from 39th Street to 34th Street, West 
Philadelphia, was taken from the city plan, it was converted into 
a beautiful, tree-lined walk-on the campus of the University of 
Pennsylvania, and named Hamilton Walk in memory of William 
Hamilton, the entrance to whose estate, The Woodlands, is 
at 39th Street. The borders are planted with Blue Flags; 
Rhododendrons; Lombardy Poplar; Cercidiphyllum japonicum; 
a specimen of the rare Franklinia (Gordonia pubescens); and 
some twenty-eight memorial trees, named for past and present 
trustees, provosts, and distinguished alumni of the University. 
The trees, thus dedicated to the memory of university men, 
include Black Oaks, White Oaks, Red Oaks, Tulip Trees, Sugar 
Maples, American Elms, Catalpas, and Weeping Willows.* 
In Hamilton Walk, is found a fitting memorial to William 
Hamilton, for it commemorates in the green, growing things he 
loved his great service to early American botany and horticul- 
ture. The memorial gate of the “Class of ’73” at the head of 
Hamilton Walk is a suitable companion to the dignified granite 
arch which spans the entrance to The Woodlands Cemetery, 
only a few paces to the westward of the entrance to the campus 
of the University of Pennsylvania, the alma mater of W'illiam 
Hamilton, Class of 1762. 
*ConsuIt Nitzsche, George E.: "University of Pennsylvania, its History, 
Traditions, Buildings and Memorials;” 7th edition, 1918, 105-107 
