Famous Manhattan Trees

I was talking to a friend awhile ago about famous animals, people, places and things. One topic kept popping up. That was famous trees in history. We spent the next 3 hours talking about trees. To make a long story short, we talked about the oldest trees in New York City. Most of these trees are the most famous in the United States. That list my friend and I talked about was very long... so I shortened that list to the island of Manhattan. There are only 3 trees that meet these parameters. The Hangman's Elm, The Stuyvesant Pear Tree and Inwood Hill Tulipwood. Let's talk about all 3 of these trees.

1. The Hangman's Elm is an English Elm that is over 300 year old. It is located in Washington Square Park and there are no records of any hanging to this hanging tree. There are records of an arsonist that was hung in 1820 in the cities' gallows.

2. Stuyvesant Pear Tree was a Pear tree located on the corner of 13th Street and 3rd Avenue. This tree was planted by Peter Stuyvesant while he served as the governor of Dutch New Amsterdam. The tree was lost some time around the 1860's.

3. Inwood Hill Tulipwood or the Minuit Tulipwood is Tulipwood located in the Inwood Hill Part. This tree was claimed to be the location where the Dutch purchased Manhattan from the local Native Americans in 1626. The Tree was destroyed in a storm in 1933.

Sadly, only the Hangman's Elm is still standing today. I know that there are dozens of other trees in New York City that meets these parameters of being the oldest trees. But, this blog entry would then be pages long. I found a few pictures of these 3 trees. The first picture is of the Hangman's Elm, the second is of the pear tree and the last pictures is of the Tulipwood.