The Endicott Pear tree in Danvers, MA is the oldest living fruit tree in North America. It is located on the property of the new Mass General outpatient facility located at 102 Endicott Street.
In 1890, Poet Lucy Larcom penned a poem about the tree for arbor day:
"With his sundial on the lawn,
Measuring out a golden dawn
For the sturdy colony
Whose Lief citizens are we.
Who would not be proud to say
Of the deed he does today,
If it be a worthy shoot
From an honorable root.
Overseas the pear tree came
Endicott has left to fame,
Such a wonder you may see,
For the patriarcal tree
Blossoms still - the living thought
Of good Govenor Endicott
Fruit again this year to bear,
Honor to that brave old pear!"
The town is quite proud of their tree and the hospital agreed to create a walking path to it, open to the public.
Coincidentally, scions of the tree were collected for the National Clonal Germplasm Repository which is located in Corvallis, OR, near, wherefrom my father hails.
It is also interesting to note we have an ancestor named Zerubbabel Endicott. If only we had known when naming children...
3 comments:
Hhhmmmm.....which of our children isn't attached to his/her name? I'm open to changing it!
We need a pear tree!
I think even the youngest would loudly protest but it would be a great name for a pet:
Sit, Zeru, Sit! Good boy!
Maybe we'll have to happen by for a visit to Mass General to have a look!
~Joe.
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