Goodbye Balmville Tree

The saying "whatever is old is new again"? Well sometimes this is not the case. In fact, sometimes when you cannot make it "new" then people just say get rid of it and get rid of it. Unfortunately, society has gotten more and more like this and it is very sad. People don't stop and take a breath and look around enough. Eventually, if something is not done, we will be without more and more iconic things until they are all gone.

A case in point, is the Balmville Tree located in Balmville, New York. This is near where I grew up and even I, who was not a nut for anything military or historic, knew it was there. Did I love it or like it? Of course not...but I knew it was there regardless. Why wouldn't it be - it was there for over 300 years!

Picture taken in 2015 and is on the Balmville Tree Wikipedia page

The Balmville Tree was a eastern cottonwood tree and was New York State's smallest state's forest.once they took ownership of the land in about 2000. It is even listed on the National Register of Historic Places. However, since 2000, the tree kept having structural problems and the state kept trying to revive the tree. However, this past week, it became a danger to the community and has been cut down to just a stump.

The tree, is estimated, to have been around from 1699 until this past week when New York cut it to its stump - 2015.

If only we could talk to the tree and find out what its seen and been through in those times. It would truly be something to sit back and marvel at. From the hanging's back before and when George Washington rode through, to industrialization and now to the technology era.

A plaque about the tree - taken fromhttps://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQTpOfeNfOoqlHj0bbvzWgXCgfBoUbnNCWSoAeXfvR64JGCfg0IRA

Many of the residents came to either get parts of the tree to turn it into something - a cup or mug - or cuttings to see if they can get cut offs to take, so the tree will never be forgotten. I do wish the state would have went and put a cut off in its position, so the tree could live on. As far as I'm aware, this was not the case, which is sad.

Remember, not everything you can get back or replace. It looks like now all we have is our memories of the tree and for us to pass along stories of the tree and what took place there.

 

 

Our picture we took in June 2000

Below are the pictures of the plaques that are or were around the tree which tell you about its history.

 Bye Balmville Tree - You will be remembered in our memories.