A beloved New Jersey tree dating back to the area’s first English settlement has come crashing down.
The Salem Oak stood proudly for nearly 600 years before it collapsed Thursday evening, prompting residents to pay tribute to its rich history, according to the local historical group.
“It was a couple of hundred years old when the first Europeans landed so it’s been present and part of the culture since then,” said Erv Parker, vice president of the Salem County Historical Society.
It is believed that Quaker John Fenwick — the man who brought the first English settlement to West Jersey in 1675 — brokered a treaty with the Lenni Lanape Native American tribe under its branches.
And many of Salem’s earliest residents were also buried in a graveyard under the local landmark.
The white oak also bore witness to Charles Lindbergh’s “Spirit of St. Louis” tour after his historic nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic.
“He flew over the tree and dropped pamphlets on the city of Salem,” Parker said.
The mighty tree, which towered over the nearly 5,000-resident community, became part of the town’s fabric — with a local diner, winery and high school newspaper all named for the oak.
“I think the most common theme — especially for people that have grown up here — is that they would always walk by it going to school, or saw it while going to church,” Parker said.
“It has been a collective part of the institutional memory of everything you do.”
When news of its demise broke, crowds gathered on West Broadway for blocks to say goodbye.
“Within an hour, all of Broadway was filled with cars of people wanting to see the tree,” Parker said.
The group that owns the tree and surrounding area, the Salem Religious Society of Friends, said the oak had declined in health over the last 100 years.
It will meet to decide what to do with the tree’s debris, according to NJ.com.
When limbs fell from the tree in the past, they were given to local woodworkers to make trinkets — including gavels, candlestick holders and pens, according to the local historical group.
But the tree’s admirers may take comfort in knowing that it lives on just blocks away. In 1876, an acorn from the Salem Oak was planted in honor of the country’s centennial at the First Presbyterian Church on Grant Street.
“That tree stands and it’s a really beautiful oak tree,” Parker said.