Thornhill Education Center

This building, located on the West Side, is on the site of the original Morton family mansion. The mansion, constructed  in 1910, was razed in the early 1940s after the passing of Joy Morton's wife, Margaret. The family's request was to have an education center built on the site. The library of the former mansion, now called the Founder's Room, remains, and contains exhibits about the Morton Family and the Arboretum's history. On the south wall is a bay of windows that contain stained-glass medallions in each of the ten windows. The center was renovated and refurbished in 1993, providing modern facilities for an expanding education program.

The landscape around the Education Center contains 80 different kinds of plants represented by 289 individuals. These plantings are a mix of original plants that surrounded the Morton mansion, specimens planted when the center was originally built, and new plantings made when the center was refurbished in 1993. Don't miss the Fragrance Garden, just west of the Center.

Notable plants around Thornhill include White Tigress maple (Acer 'White Tigress') and Accolade™ elm (Ulmus 'Morton').