A 600-year-old white oak tree in New Jersey that legend has it once served as a picnic backdrop for George Washington faced the chopping block Monday.
It will take crews two to three days to take down the now dead and rotting tree — believed to have been the oldest in the nation — located outside the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church in Bernards.
The sprawling tree is about 100 feet tall, has a trunk that’s 18 feet wide and branches that reach 150 feet, NBC New York reported.
Arborists say the tree existed for 300 years before the church was built in 1717. Washington once picnicked underneath it with Frenchman Marquis de Lafayette, who fought in the American Revolution, town officials say.
Since then, the tree has served as a historic landmark in the Somerset County town.
But it was declared dead after beginning to show rot and weakness over the last couple of years.
“I was close to tears this morning,” Kris Emmitt, a member of the church’s ruling elders, told NJ.com earlier this month.
“This is truly an example of the cycle of life. Nothing lives forever. I remember when we first found out that the tree was going to die. It was difficult for everyone to accept.
“The thought of sitting in church and looking out of the window and not seeing the oak tree was something we never thought about. It has always been there.”
But its legacy will live on — a new white oak tree grown from the old tree’s acorns was recently planted at the church.
With Post Wires