Shakespeare Garden
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Why it's listed
Tucked between the Garrett Theological Seminary and the former Patten Gymnasium site on Northwestern University's Evanston campus, this small garden is a walled-in outdoor room of hawthorn hedges. Landscape architect Jens Jensen conceived it in 1915 as a Shakespeare Garden, answering a Drama League of America call to mark the 300th anniversary of the playwright's death. The Garden Club of Evanston carried out the plan from 1916, with planting finished by 1920. Eight flower beds flank a central lawn, and four of them are knot gardens edged in boxwood. A curved stone bench sits at the west end. At the east end is a fountain and memorial designed by the Burnham Brothers, with a bronze Shakespeare plaque by Leon Hermant. Though formal, the garden carries Jensen's signatures, including hawthorns, flagstone paths and a surrounding forest border. It is notable as an unusual departure from his Prairie style and as a commemorative landscape of its era.
Significance in brief: The garden is tied to the social movement to commemorate Shakespeare on the 300th anniversary of his death, which was promoted by the Drama League of America. It is also the work of Jens Jensen, a master of Prairie style landscape design. Here he made an unusual departure from his own style, producing a formal, straight-lined garden that copied a historical English type.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 88002234, listed November 16, 1988. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Northwestern University campus, Evanston |
|---|---|
| County | Cook County |
| Listed | November 16, 1988 |
| Reference number | 88002234 |
| Resource type | Site |
| Period of significance | 1916-1929 |
| Architect / builder | Jens Jensen; Burnham Brothers |
| Criteria |
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| Areas of significance | Landscape Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | National |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as in superb condition and carefully maintained by the Garden Club of Evanston, which devotes about 400-500 hours a year to its care; it won an Evanston Preservation Award for maintenance in 1985. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 42.05683, -87.67610 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
Sites (archaeological sites, battlefields, landscapes) are often listed with a restricted address to protect them from looting or disturbance. Listing is honorary for private owners; federal undertakings on or near the site go through Section 106 review, and state laws may protect burials and artefacts regardless of listing.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 88002234.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14688082
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.