Remarkable Trees

Remarkable Trees. The Charter Oak. , What makes a tree remarkable? Some trees have uncommon size and beauty; some are very old; others have strong connections with history. The most famous tree in Connecticut history is the Charter Oak, a giant white oak that lived in Hartford through colonial times. , When royal governor Edmund Andros tried to seize Connecticut's colonial charter in 1687, defiant colonists hid the document in a hollow in the tree that came to be known as the Charter Oak. Protected by this action, the charter continued to form the basis for Connecticut's government under the new king and until well after the American Revolution. The Charter Oak thus became a symbol of Connecticut's liberty and self-governance. , By many accounts, the Charter Oak was well over 500 years old when felled by a storm in 1856. It was so big that 27 men once stood together inside its hollow trunk. Descendants of this remarkable tree were grown from its acorns and survive today throughout the state. One descendant stands just ahead on the grounds of Fairfield's historic Old Town Hall. , Trees on the Town Hall green, on all Town properties, and in the right-of-ways along Town roads are part of Fairfield's "community forest." There are well over 100,000 trees in the community forest. Many are remarkable for their age and size; others for their relationship to lives and history. , This project by the Fairfield Forestry Committee was made possible by an America the Beautiful Urban Forestry Grant provided by Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Division of Forestry. Funding for the grant is through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Project management and writing by Geoff Steadman; panel design by Pam Ballard and Keith Placko. , www.fairfieldct.org/forestry , www.facebook/FairfieldForestryCommittee June 2016 For more information on the Charter Oak, scan here: , ( photo captions ) , , The Charter Oak at Hartford, c. 1846, by Frederic E. Church (1826-1900) , Oil on canvas mounted on Masonite, 24 x 34 1/4 inches; , Courtesy of Florence Griswold Museum; Gift of The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, 2002.1.29 , , Color Postcard of Old Town Hall, Fairfield, Connecticut, 1940 , (Courtesy of Fairfield Museum and History Center)