End of an era: Historic elm tree at Washington church comes down
A massive American elm tree that stood for generations on the lawn of the First Presbyterian Church 1793 in Washington took its final bow on Monday as crews began its removal.
The 100-foot tree was cut down this week by crews from Professional Treeman, a tree removal company, after succumbing to disease and old age.
The elm tree – the fourth-largest tree recorded in Washington County, and listed among Pennsylvania’s “Champion Big Trees” – predates the Civil War.
Estimated at 165 years old, it was planted around the same time the original church was built, in 1851.
“I’m sorry to see it go. This tree has been here throughout the whole history of this church. It’s seen the Civil War, the first world war, the second world war, all the events that have happened in this country during its long life,” said Dave Budinger, a longtime member of First Presbyterian Church and a member of the buildings and ground committee tasked with caring for the tree. “There have been weddings underneath that tree, picnics, social events, patriotic events. That tree has been shading the College Street side of the church for more than a century. It is majestic.”
In recent decades, Budinger said, the church nursed the tree, pruning the limbs, spraying for pests and vaccinating against Dutch elm disease, which decimated the American elm population starting in the 1930s. Cables were affixed through the tree to hold branches together.
But the tree’s life cycle had run its course, and tree experts consulted by the church determined it wouldn’t be able to withstand many more harsh winters or spring storms.
“This tree was nearing the end of its life. It’s a pretty important tree, not only because of its size, but because of the way its history is intertwined with the church. But given its location, and given the risk of branches falling and injuring someone, or damaging the church or vehicles, it was a good decision to have the tree removed,” said Dr. Jason Kilgore, a professor and chair of the biology department at Washington & Jefferson College who is a certified arborist and curator for W&J’s campus arboretum and has advised the church over the years about the tree’s health.
Budinger, an amateur historian, noted at one time, the American elm was the nation’s most popular shade tree, lining streets in towns from coast to coast, including along College Street – and three on the church’s property.
But Dutch elm disease devastated elm trees across America; the U.S. Forest Service estimates that the disease has killed more than 40 million American elms.
Because elms had been planted in rows along streets, and because their roots grew intertwined, diseased trees infected their neighbors along College Street, killing virtually all of them.
The American elm on the church property somehow emerged unscathed.
“It was a survivor. I’d describe it as a survivor,” said Budinger. “It survived a blight that took out nearly every one of its neighbors. It’s weathered a lot over its lifetime.”
Kilgore attributes the tree’s longevity to a combination of careful management by Budinger and the buildings and grounds committee, isolation, and some luck.
He said it is unusual to see such a large and old elm tree in a city, and noted that another large American elm – smaller and younger than the church elm – resides on the W&J campus and is being treated to prevent Dutch elm disease.
In 1986, First Presbyterian’s stately American elm was designated a historic landmark by the Elm Research Institute in New Hampshire, and a marker was erected in front of the tree.
Removing the massive tree, which is 14 feet around with a wide canopy, was expected to take at least two days. Church members stopped by throughout the process to help collect branches and to bid a final farewell to the old elm.
The tree company is leaving an eight-foot stump that the church plans to have turned into a wood carving, if the center of the tree is intact.
Several pieces of the tree, however, were hollow, and bees had taken up residence, leaving behind honeycombs and honey inside, so Budinger wasn’t optimistic.
A committee has been deciding how to use the portion of the tree that doesn’t go to the chipper. Some will be used by church artisans to make jewelry, coasters, and other items to be sold as fundraisers.
The church plans to plant a new tree nearby.
Budinger said he lay awake some nights, thinking about how to prolong the tree’s life, but he finally acknowledged there was no way to save the tree he’d grown so fond of.
“Its time had come,” said Budinger. “It was not quite like losing a member of the family, but it was like losing an important part of the community.”
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