Waters Garden, Chicago, Guia do visitante e o que fazer por perto

Waters Garden is a small garden beside Waters School in the Lincoln Square area of Chicago. It is known for the old burr oaks that the school looks after, trees said to be more than 300 years old and among the last living traces of the oak savannah that once covered this part of the city.

The story behind it

Waters School dates from 1911 and looks after the garden as well as the big burr oaks growing in it. Four of them are said to be over 300 years old. A fifth of similar age stands a short walk away, at Maplewood and Sunnyside. Burr oaks like these belong to the oak savannah, the open, grassy woodland that existed here before the streets were laid out, which makes them some of the oldest residents of the neighborhood.

A local story explains why one of these trees survived. When the blocks were laid out around 1910, the developer is said to have widened the Maplewood parkway south of Sunnyside so he would not have to cut down the oak, already considered ancient then. The street ended up narrower there than in front of the school, and the tree is still standing.

What to look for

• Look up at the four burr oaks in the garden and notice their thick, deeply furrowed bark and wide, spreading limbs.
• Notice the school building itself, which dates from 1911 and gives the garden its name and its caretaker.
• Find the fifth old oak at Maplewood and Sunnyside and compare it with the ones in the garden.
• Look at how the Maplewood street narrows around the oak, a sign that the street was shaped around the tree.

Tips for your visit

• Plan on 10 to 15 minutes here, longer if you also walk to the oak at Maplewood and Sunnyside.
• This is a school garden, so be quiet and respectful, and check whether it is open to visitors when you go.
• Late spring to early autumn is the best time to see the oaks in full leaf, and soft morning or late afternoon light shows off the bark.
• The garden fits easily into a longer walk through Lincoln Square, so combine it with a stroll through the neighboring streets.

See it on a quest

Chicago Lincoln Square: The Alchemist’s Spell Quest brings you to Waters Garden on foot as one stop on a longer route through the Lincoln Square area. The app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle based on what is in front of you, so you look at the oaks and the streets more closely than you would passing by. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group.