A 230-year-old Mount Vernon tree, a witness to history, is no more

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Mon Nov 25, 2019, 01:43 PM - Edit history (1)

Even George Washington's trees are offended by the shame of you-know-who.

Retropolis

A 230-year-old Mount Vernon tree, a witness to history, is no more
The white oak, which had carvings from the Civil War, fell on a windless night


Dean Norton, director of horticulture at Mount Vernon, chisels away an area on the trunk of a 230-year-old tree that fell at the home of George Washington. (Dean Norton, director of horticulture at Mount Vernon, chisels away an area on the trunk of a 230-year-old tree that fell at the home of George Washington. George Washingtons Mount Vernon)

By Michael E. Ruane
November 22, 2019 at 3:07 p.m. EST

It was probably a sapling when George Washington returned to Mount Vernon in 1783, triumphant after his victory in the Revolutionary War.

It was probably there on the estate in 1787 when he left for the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, and it grew during his terms as the country’s first president. It was there when he came home for good, and when he died in 1799.

Droughts came and went, along with two centuries of American history. (Civil War soldiers carved insignia in its bark.) Then, late one night earlier this month, the tired old white oak gave out and came crashing down across a road in the woods.

Caretakers on the grounds of Mount Vernon heard it fall just before midnight on Nov. 4. ... “Middle of the night,” Dean Norton, Mount Vernon’s director of horticulture, said Thursday. “No wind. It just falls over.”


Part of a tree that fell at Mount Vernon on Nov. 4. (George Washington’s Mount Vernon)

It was about 115 feet tall, 12 feet around, and at roughly age 230, it was almost as old as the United States.
....

Michael E. Ruane is a general assignment reporter who also covers Washington institutions and historical topics. He has been a general assignment reporter at the Philadelphia Bulletin, an urban affairs and state feature writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer, and a Pentagon correspondent at Knight Ridder newspapers. Follow https://twitter.com/michaelruane

[getagrip_already]

1. it probably saw what trump and the gop have done, and it's will to live died.... n/t

[Big Blue Marble]

2. Let's hope

it is not an omen

[Sneederbunk]

3. I have heard that all trees eventually die.

[Boxerfan]

4. Not much left of the root structure.

I'm in Oregon & the heritage trees around here are showing rot & beetle damage. The climate change is allowing damaging insects to survive & thrive where they have not before.

Probably the same story there.

[Arkansas Granny]

6. It doesn't look like there was much left to support it.

[Recursion]

5. Dean Norton is an amazing man

I used to work at Mt Vernon and he cares about every single tree there. He is amazing. But he loved this one particularly. I'm so sad to see it go.

[samnsara]

7. now to find a master wood carver to turn it into something the community can still enjoy...

[Recursion]

8. The estate carpenter uses fallen trees to repair furniture in the mansion

They also make coasters out of the smaller branches to sell in the gift shop.