Section # 8 The Oldest Chestnut Tree
Hello my name is Jess and I am a junior at Arcadia University. I am currently majoring in Art History and minoring in Arts Entrepreneurship and Curatorial Studies and Photography.
Once you have crossed over the street and are standing in front of Arcadia University’s old archway, we are going to walk straight through, into campus itself. After you walk through, you are going to continue walking on the bricked path, which we call the walk of pride, and that is going to lead you straight to the Grey Towers Castle. During this walk to the castle I am going to tell you about the oldest American chestnut tree found on campus.
We have a special tree on Arcadia’s campus, but we have decided not to point it out on this tour. Why? We will explain in a little bit. In 1904, a fungus was brought in by mistake, when introducing the cultivation of Japanese chestnut trees into the United States for commercial purposes. It spread so quickly that it ended up killing four billion trees in the first half of the 20th Century. Because of that blight, the American Chestnut was near extinction for decades. Luckly, we have a healthy American Chestnut tree on campus. This rare tree survived the blight, along with others in Chestnut Hill. And that’s how Chestnut Hill got its name, after the abundant chestnut trees located there.
This particular leafy survivor was discovered accidentally. An arborist came to the school and pointed it out to the campus facilities manager Tom. Since then Tom and his team have taken loving care of the tree. Meanwhile, Tom has been trying to keep this preservation project at a low profile. We want to respect this work in protecting the tree, so we won’t lead you to it. Instead, trust us when we tell you that this American Chestnut tree is healthy and happy. It still blooms in the springtime every year, with white fuzzy flowers. After flowering, it produces spiny balls. Look around, and maybe you will find them scattered around on the ground. But shh… let’s keep this a secret between us.
Once you have crossed over the street and are standing in front of Arcadia University’s old archway, we are going to walk straight through, into campus itself. After you walk through, you are going to continue walking on the bricked path, which we call the walk of pride, and that is going to lead you straight to the Grey Towers Castle. During this walk to the castle I am going to tell you about the oldest American chestnut tree found on campus.
We have a special tree on Arcadia’s campus, but we have decided not to point it out on this tour. Why? We will explain in a little bit. In 1904, a fungus was brought in by mistake, when introducing the cultivation of Japanese chestnut trees into the United States for commercial purposes. It spread so quickly that it ended up killing four billion trees in the first half of the 20th Century. Because of that blight, the American Chestnut was near extinction for decades. Luckly, we have a healthy American Chestnut tree on campus. This rare tree survived the blight, along with others in Chestnut Hill. And that’s how Chestnut Hill got its name, after the abundant chestnut trees located there.
This particular leafy survivor was discovered accidentally. An arborist came to the school and pointed it out to the campus facilities manager Tom. Since then Tom and his team have taken loving care of the tree. Meanwhile, Tom has been trying to keep this preservation project at a low profile. We want to respect this work in protecting the tree, so we won’t lead you to it. Instead, trust us when we tell you that this American Chestnut tree is healthy and happy. It still blooms in the springtime every year, with white fuzzy flowers. After flowering, it produces spiny balls. Look around, and maybe you will find them scattered around on the ground. But shh… let’s keep this a secret between us.