Hull Court and Botany Pond

The Hull Court Biology Quadrangle was completed in 1897, and since then the Botany Building has housed the offices and some of the research and teaching laboratories of the department. The lush flora at the heart of the Hyde Park campus owes much to Professor Coulter and the vision of legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, whose heirs helped design the original quads.

Coulter began Botany Pond as an outdoor research laboratory for botanists, though he never realized his dream of creating a full botanical garden on campus. Rather than create a separate botanical garden as Coulter suggested, modern landscape designers brought that character to the entire campus, and in 1997 the American Public Gardens Association gave the University campus an official botanical garden designation. The botanical garden beds, which now number about 20, beautify the space and educate the visiting public about flora with labeled plant selections.