Wright College Prairie Garden

Wright College Prairie Garden. . The garden in front of you includes representative species of plants that once thrived in the Chicago [unreadable, likely "area before"] settlement began. [A few unreadable words] histories of Chicago that describe plants like these as far as the eye could see. [A full unreadable sentence.] , , A history of Dunning (the neighborhood where Wright College is located) tells us that settlement began with farming of the prairie in 1833. Development was slow and [unreadable] prairie were still to be found [unreadable, possibly "in the"] 1920s when [a few words unreadable] to be built west of Harlem Avenue. , , Wright College was built on a ridge which was at one time a beach dune of prehistoric Lake Chicago. From the spot where you are [a few unreadable words] of the type in our garden that [a few unreadable words] seen looking east to the Chicago River and west to the Des Plaines, with the exception of [unreadable] of Burr Oaks. With many of the plants reaching as high as 7 feet and many varieties of wildflowers, [a few unreadable words] appeared to be a sea of grass with small islands of trees here and there. Grasslands [unreadable] bison, elk and coyotes all made their homes here. , , This garden was started with the help of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, the North Branch Restoration Project, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and Wright College students and administration.