The Green Tree

The Green Tree. . , History of the Green Tree, The Borough of Green Tree was named after a stately sycamore that stood in the heart of the town at this location. The borough's logo is a depiction of this majestic tree which was the center of the community for over a century and a half, and whose growth coincided with the emergence of Green Tree as a borough., It was a mere sapling in the pre-Revolutionary war days when Indians traveled beside it along what was known as Warriors' Ridge, a high path that led to the Indian village of Logstown (now Ambridge)., In 1753 George Washington passed by the tree while seeking a more direct route between Fort Pitt and Fort Henry in Wheeling, WV. At that time, the only known passage between the two was along the Ohio River and was much longer than a land route due to the large bend in the river., Colonel Henry Bouquet led his Black Horse Brigade along this same path from Fort Pitt in the second half of the 1700's to conduct peace talks with the Indians. As a result, by the late 1790's the trail was known as the Black Horse Trail, although those living in this area referred to the big sycamore tree as the "Green Tree post office" where they would meet and wait for regular mail delivery that was dropped off under the tree., The road became a regular stagecoach route between Pittsburgh and Washington, PA in 1819 and was known as Washington Pike (short for the Washington and Pittsburgh Turnpike). Stagecoaches made three trips a week and each trip took seven hours. Tolls were charged. The sycamore tree, which now stood along a primary path between growing towns, was a regular stop for stagecoaches. A bench and mail drop box were placed under the tree. The citizens' references to the sycamore tree as the "Green Tree post office" stuck and the area unofficially began to be called "Green Tree" as early as 1846., When the settlement with the sycamore tree pulled away from Union Township in 1885 to form a separate borough, they took the name "Green Tree" after the tree that was the central community meeting place., In 1905, the sycamore tree was knocked down by a windstorm and blocked Greentree Road for more than a day. Residents thought the tree was gone, but new branches grew from the remaining tree stump., Residents cared for the tree in an effort to preserve it, but by 1940 the landmark tree began to show its age. Green Tree residents tried their best to preserve it by watering it, doctoring it, wiring it, even filling it with cement, but the tree began to slowly die., In 1945, the Duquesne Light Company unceremoniously cut down the namesake sycamore tree at the request of the property owner. Green Tree's civic leaders were unaware that the tree was to be cut down until it was already gone. There was no time for final ceremonies, photos, or goodbyes to the almost 200-year old tree that had been a silent overseer of Western Pennsylvania history and the namesake and cornerstone of a thriving, proud borough., Did You Know..., The Green Tree Historical Society has preserved a number of large leaves from the Green Tree sycamore tree., The Green Tree Woman's Civic Club had the gavel they use for the opening and closing of their meetings made from a branch from the original Green Tree., In 1930 the road alongside the Green Tree was named "Greentree Road" (after being called Washington Pike), after the post office petitioned for a name change because of the large volume of Washington roads, avenues, and streets throughout Allegheny County., It is believed that George Washington may have stayed at the Aiken property on Greentree Road while surveying the area for a more direct route between Fort Pitt and Fort Henry., (Captions):, The Green Tree stood in the center of the community for almost two centuries giving the borough its name., Greentree Road, circa 1936 , An arrow points to the sycamore tree giving Green Tree its name