From Architecture to Beauty 2024

Buckeye 17 and Eagle Gate

Cabin, desk, memorial

Holly Hill, HC, maybe DHM

DHM and Carlos Burr

Display Case

Japanese Garden

SunkenGarden 2021

Visitors Center

Zand Education Center

Hedge Letters

Conifer Glen

Dutch Fork Wetlands

Daweswood House Blueprints drafted by Ohio architect Frank Packard in 1919 for the proposed alterations to Beman Dawes’ country residence, now known as the Daweswood House Museum. A sketch done by Bertie Dawes of her garden is seen in her gardening journal.

Japanese Garden The Japanese Garden was the idea of the co-founders’ son, Beman G. Dawes, Jr., to compliment The Arboretum’s popular bonsai collection. The garden was designed in 1963 by Makoto Nakamura, landscape architect professor at Kyoto University, Japan. While residing at The Arboretum, Professor Nakamura drafted landscape and conceptual drawings of the overall garden, the island bridge, the resting house and a plant key.

Log Cabin The Log Cabin was built in the Deep Woods in 1925. The cabin was built from hand-hewn logs and beams recycled from early 1800s buildings left by the previous owners. The Cabin served the Dawes family as a woodland retreat for relaxation and the study of nature. Exterior elevation studies of the Cabin’s exterior and interior were drawn likely by a local carpenter.

Buckeye 17 Ohio State University student Charles Jones designed landscape plan for the Buckeye 17, as well as the ARBORETUM portion of the Hedge Letters, for a civil engineering class in 1939. Charles was the son of Harry Jones, The Arboretum’s superintendent. Ohio buckeye trees were planted in the shape of “17” to signify that Ohio was the 17th state to enter the Union in 1803. Ohio Governor John Bricker was invited by Beman Dawes to formally dedicate the grove of buckeyes.

Drafting table with Arboretum architectural drawings.

The Pure Oil Company was founded by Arboretum co-founder Beman Dawes. Money from the company paid for the growth and endowment at The Dawes Arboretum. Gas stations were all over Ohio, this 1950 gas pump and sign would have been recognizable by customers.

Continue virtual exhibit to explore technical drawings and blueprints on Arboretum grounds!

Continue virtual exhibit to explore technical drawings and blueprint out on Arboretum grounds!

Carlos Burr Dawes This History Center is dedicated to C. Burr Dawes, well known throughout Ohio for his tireless energies and lifelong dedication in the fields of museology, history, historic gardens, genealogy and natural history. Among his many accomplishments, he was Chairman-Director of The Dawes Arboretum 1968 through 1972: having served as a founding trustee since 1929. C. Burr was the son of Arboretum co-founders Beman and Bertie Dawes.

History Center The site of the Dawes family garage was converted into exhibit space and history staff offices called the History Center in 1984. This exterior rendering was done in September 1982 by Joseph Baker and Associates Architects in Newark.

Rufus Beach Addition A monetary gift by Arboretum Trustee Rufus Beach was allocated to an improvement to the Daweswood House Museum. Joseph Baker and Associates Architects along with C. Burr Dawes, son of Arboretum co-founders, created an exterior elevation plan in 1986 to the west side of the House to improve the (according to Burr): “shabby, unsightly, awkward and inadequate construction now in place.” Decorative features of the main house were incorporated for the addition.

Holly Hill Everett Albyn, of Albyn’s Nurseries in Newark, wanted to make The Dawes Arboretum an official test site for the Holly Society of America in 1955. Five acres was given to Albyn where he and Arboretum superintendent Everett Sanford made the holly selections and planned on transplanting new varieties from Albyn’s nursery. This is the landscape plan of Holly Hill test site with plant key, likely designed by Albyn in March 1957.

Dawes Memorial The Dawes Memorial was built on Beman Dawes’ favorite spot on the grounds. Construction of the memorial was completed in 1942, 11 years before Beman’s death. This elevation blueprint was designed by The Presbrey-Leland Studios in New York and constructed in their Vermont plant in seven months. After company president, Clifton Presbrey, made his initial visit to the memorial site, he later wrote: “I can visualize this memorial in its beautiful setting surrounded by those fine old oaks and beeches.” The design features catacombs under Beman and Bertie’s sarcophagus for their five children and their spouses. The children abandoned the catacombs and instead their families are buried in five lines running north of the Memorial.

Dawes Lake Although Beman Dawes did not live to see Dawes Lake, it was a part of his vision for The Arboretum. Spearheaded by his son Beman Dawes Jr., the United States Department of Agricultural Soil Conservation Service in Coshocton created the contour plans. Consisting of a watershed map and location plan drafted in June 1954, the lake was completed in 1956. Grading contractor C.M. Luburgh in Zanesville was hired to oversee the construction of the lake.