Here’s the origin story of some towering Oval icons

They’ve been called a fraternity that lives on the Oval year-round, but they wouldn’t mind if you label them sticks-in-the-mud. That’s because these five are trees with a legacy dating back to 1890.

In observance of Arbor Day that year, students planted an English elm tree in the heart of the Oval. A year later, the Class of 1891 added six more trees, though two apparently succumbed to lightning strikes. The survivors came to be known as the Five Brothers.

“As the trees got older, people who saw them realized they were the living heritage of Ohio State,” Bill Wahl, then director of community and visitor relations, said in a 1987 football program story. “You could touch and feel the history of Ohio State in those elm trees.”

Benches placed in their shade provided a nice spot for students to study, have a picnic or relax with friends. The trees stood strong for close to 80 years before they were ravaged by beetle-spread Dutch elm disease. By 1972, all five had been removed.

Fifteen years later, looking for a way to celebrate the university’s 300th commencement, members of Ohio Staters Inc. decided to plant five eastern red oaks to replace the Five Brothers. Those trees — which together form Commencement Grove — still stand tall.

Ohio State has been recognized as an Arbor Day Tree Campus for a dozen years straight, a reflection of the care staff members give our trees. Along with making campus beautiful and inviting, the team at Chadwick Arboretum notes that trees provide shade and block wind, which lowers building cooling costs in summer and heating costs in winter.

The Five Brothers aren’t the only trees deeply rooted in Ohio State history.

A large English oak just south of Thompson Library is thought to be a gift from Jesse Owens. As the story goes, he was given a sapling for each of the gold medals he won in the 1936 Olympics, and this tree is reportedly one of them.