Hartford's Lone Pine

With its lower branches at least 100 feet from the forest floor, Hartford's Lone Pine is a significant specimen for the Hall of Fame for Trees. Photo Eric Francis, 2008.

Overview

Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the extreme south of Georgia.

The Eastern White Pine has the distinction of being the tallest tree in eastern North America. White pine forests originally covered much of northeastern North America, though only one percent of the original trees remain untouched by extensive logging operations in the 1700s and 1800s. In natural pre-colonial stands it is reported to have grown to as tall as 70 meters (230 ft) tall, at least on rare occasions. Even greater heights have been attributed to the species referenced in popular accounts such as Robert Pike's "Tall Trees, Tough Men", but the accounts are unverifiable. The current tallest pines as measured by the Eastern Native Tree Society (ENTS) reach to between 50 and 57.54 meters (160-188.8 ft).

Diameters of the larger pines range from 1.0-1.6 m (3-5 ft). However, singled-trunk white pines in both the Northeast and Southeast with diameters over 1.45 m (4.75 ft) are exceedingly rare. Undocumented reports from colonial America reported diameters of virgin white pines of up to 8 feet in diameter (Ling, 2003).

Tree Huggers? At a Museum field trip, members of the Museum and guests circle hands, folllowing tradition of generations of Hartford's school children.

Demarkation by Unusual Deed

The deed for the land under Hartford's Lone Pine is a circular plot, 100 feet in diameter, the center being the Lone Pine. This deed was (before ca. 2010) held by Nat Perry, longtime Hartford native. His parents owned the tree, but wished to preserve it for future generations through the deed to their son.

A Courting Tree

Nat Perry tells us that the tree is a "courting tree." His mother and father, and his uncle and aunt, all visited the tree as a public way to signify the serious nature of their romance.

Haiku

The Main Street Museum visited the tree in the fall of 2008 for a fieldtrip. The following haiku was composed.

All fall—leaves, rain, all.

The sun sinks, the year declines.

Time to see Old Pine. —D.S.H.

Selections from the Museum's Flora, or Arboreal, Collections

• Piece of Hartford's Lone Pine
• Sections of Bark from Hartford's Lone Pine