Photo by Nathaniel Page

Tappan Square connects the college to the city of Oberlin.

Legend has it that Oberlin's founders, Presbyterian ministers John Shipherd and Philo Stewart, stopped at an elm tree in the southeast corner, prayed, and decided that it was the place to build their community. The historic elm stayed on the square until disease forced its removal in 1965. A year later, Tappan Square became a National Historic Landmark.