1998 - The Hoover Bur Oak Tree

The Bur Oak (estimated at over 250 years old) once situated on the old Hoover farm site was a controversial site in the development of the Washington Square project. Residents resisted its removal wich follows with community precedents for preserving certain trees as 'living monuments' (55th & Market was paved around an Elm until 1916). An agreement to preseve the tree was negotiated, but a lightning strike in 1998 caused its removal. The Hoover Company retrieved the tree and fashioned it into various aesthetic objects for preservation.

(Photo courtesy N. Canton Heritage Soc.)