The formal center of Dartmouth's campus is a wide grass common flanked by Georgian brick buildings on three sides and open to the street on the fourth. It has served as a gathering place since the college's founding in 1769 — commencement ceremonies, protests, Winter Carnival events, and the daily foot traffic of student life all happen here. The Appalachian Trail officially passes through the green, marked by white blazes on nearby trees, making it one of the few places where a National Scenic Trail crosses an Ivy League campus.