Editorial: As Morton Arboretum enters its centennial year, we honor its founder's legacy

Strolling the grounds of Lisle's Morton Arboretum today, you might easily assume that its namesake founder stumbled across a wooded DuPage County paradise and decided to preserve it.

The truth is quite different.

Salt magnate Joy Morton discovered the area while on a drive in the country. He set out to build his home and then his horticultural legacy on what was then farm fields and cow pastures.

He envisioned an outdoor museum of trees, a place where others could grow to love them as he did. In essence, Morton saw the land as it could be, not just how it was.

Trees would be planted by the thousands, roads and trails created, lakes dug.

This week marks 99 years since Morton signed documents creating the arboretum and began dedicating the last years of his life to its early development, reporter Katlyn Smith wrote as the arboretum Tuesday kicked off a year of celebration leading up to its 100th anniversary.

"This Arboretum is to be my memorial," Morton wrote in 1932, "and I believe it will be a very permanent one."

Nearly 90 years later, that memorial flourishes: The arboretum - originally 175 acres - has grown into a 1,700-acre ode to nature as well as a place for scientific research.

Today, the Morton Arboretum is home to trees from around the world. Collections are devoted to beeches, birches and buckeyes, among many others. The grounds provide year-round spectacle from spring's colorful flowering trees to winter's snow-draped cypresses and pines.

Special exhibits and holiday lights shows attract families from all over.

During the pandemic, when many indoor options were closed or did not feel safe, the arboretum provided a sanctuary - a place to marvel at nature, to stand in the shade of massive maples, elms and oaks, to escape from our homes for a few hours.

Over time, the Morton Arboretum has grown into one of the jewels of the suburbs. We have a businessman who could have found other ways to enjoy his retirement to thank for it.

Morton turned a love of trees into a place that now fights to preserve them.

Today, we salute his vision.

We remember Morton for the arboretum trees that provide us with beauty but also play a part in the crucial battle against climate change.

And we think it's more than a little fitting to note that his name was Joy.