Seton Hill doesn’t have an average driveway.

The long and winding road that slowly lifts travelers to campus is bookmarked by towering trees on either side.

Perhaps Seton Hill’s most prominent landmark, these renowned trees are “synonymous with Seton Hill and its identity,” according to campus archivist Casey Bowser.

“When you ask students… their first impression (of Seton Hill), that driveway is their first impression,” Bowser said.

Like many parts of the Catholic university, the nearly 100-year-old trees are deeply rooted in history.

The trees arrived on campus in 1924, about six years after Seton Hill became a higher education institution.

Bowser said the Sisters of Charity and farmhands planted 109 London planetrees during the summer while students were away.

When students at the formerly all-female university came back to campus in the fall, they were welcomed by two rows of trees.

Since then, this leafy entrance has welcomed students, faculty and visitors for 98 years.

“One of the major tenants of campus is ‘welcoming,’” Bowser said. “As the formal entrance of the university, I think it’s important you have a good impression. This stately introduction is an open welcome to you as you drive (or) walk up the hill.”

Though the sisters originally planted 109 trees, Bowser is unsure how many trees line the driveway now, as new trees have been added and old trees died or fell.

London planetrees are a hybrid of the Oriental planetree and the American sycamore, according to the Arbor Day Foundation. These trees typically grow to be 75 to 100 feet and can live for several hundred years, Woodland Trust reports.

Cale Geary, Seton Hill director of maintenance and grounds, said the maintenance team prunes the London planetrees and removes dead trees that pose a danger to campus.

Geary is “110% positive” that Seton Hill’s entrance will always feature the landmark trees.

“(The trees) add beauty to (campus),” he said. “That’s what every alumnus who graduated from here looked at coming up the hill since 1924.”

The driveway isn’t the only part of Seton Hill that honors trees. Seton Hill has a storied history of cherishing and planting different types of trees throughout campus, according to Bowser.

Every year since 1920, Seton Hill juniors have planted a new tree somewhere on campus and honored it with a ceremony.

In 2018, a Seton Hill student documented the trees on campus and published her findings online.

Bowser said these examples speak to the university’s dedication to the environment.

“The pope is calling for Catholics to care more for the Earth,” Bowser said. “To me, (caring for trees is) integral. It’s symbolic and historic, but also fitting in with their mission and identity as a Catholic institution.”

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