235-Year-Old Elm in Yarmouth To Be Felled

Frank Knight was not able to save a centuries-old American elm in Yarmouth.

The elm on the corner of Yankee Drive was magnificent, a local treasure high upon a hill above the harbor, among the oldest and the largest elm trees in New England. So Knight, the volunteer tree warden in Yarmouth, made it his mission to save it.

"They said you can’t save the tree if it’s diseased," Knight said. “But it was such a big, beautiful tree, I said, 'I'm going to try.'"

He kept the elm alive for 50 years, the two of them slowly growing older side by side. But next month, the caretaker, now 101 years old, and the tree, estimated to be 235, will finally part ways. After a valiant, decades-long battle with Dutch elm disease, the beloved elm, known affectionately as "Herbie," is set to be cut down Jan. 18. [Link, via]