The "If Only The Old Sycamore Could Talk!" Story

Preface:  I've lived my entire life in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  As a youth I managed to travel to a few eastern States for vacation.  After marriage I traveled up and down the eastern coast of the United States.  After retirement from a career in education, I was lucky enough to have traveled to Europe, over two dozen Caribbean islands, a few locations in Central America as well as a few more U.S. states including Hawaii.  But, the longer I live, the more I realize I don't know as much about Lancaster County as I thought I did.  Simple 20-30 minute trips from home have proven interesting with learning experiences I didn't know or think possible.  Today and tomorrow are two of those experiences.

It was an ordinary day.  The fellow next to me with the camera looked at me and asked if I had seen the tree on TV today.  We talked a bit and then he said, "I've lived only five minutes away from here for over 20 years now and never knew about this tree."  I returned with, "I've lived only ten minutes away from here for over 70 years now and didn't know about it either."  Knew he couldn't top me with another comment, so he headed to his car.  

The old American Sycamore tree in front of the original farm-
house that stands on a property that was part of Penn's Woods

The tree in question is an American Sycamore tree located off of RT.30 to the west of Lancaster in the Old Sycamore Industrial Park.  The address where the tree is located is 265 Plane Tree Drive.  On the local NBC Sunday morning news I caught a story about the history of the tree and the fact that it was dedicated by AKA Worldwide on Arbor Day, April 27, 2018.  As you read this you more than likely assume the tree has just been planted, but in reality the tree is older than both you and I combined.  Add in my wife and the other guy that I just spoke to and the tree is still older.  

This photograph shows part of base of the tree
that still stands.  It is almost as tall as I am.

Actually the old American Sycamore was on this spot when the colony of Pennsylvania was know as "Penn's Woods" with the tree being situated on land that was part of a 1718 Penn Grant deeded by William Penn to the early settlers in the area.  In 1982 the Pennsylvania Forestry Association recognized it as over 300 years old.  Topping that is the fact that the Pennsylvania State Forestry Department in nearby Harrisburg estimated the tree to be over 250 years old in 1900.  That would make it over 365 years old.  Guess you could say it is older than dirt, but then that would be impossible.  The tree nearly met it's death in 1957 when lightning struck it and destroyed quite a bit of it.  

This shows a section where branches
ran from parts of the tree.

Even thought most of the tree is gone, two branches remain with each being as large as an unusually large sycamore tree.  The girth of the tree as it now stands is 7.62 meters (25 feet), but its height can't be determined due to not knowing how tall it was before the lightning struck.  A sawed off telephone pole holds one of the branches off the ground.  Next to the tree is an old farmhouse that dates to the mid-18th century which is younger than the tree.  As I stood next to the tree, I thought of how it must feel; part of it resting on a crutch, fewer leaves sprouting from its branches, older than most around it with aging lines dug deep in its skin. Wow, just like me!  This tree more than likely saw Native Americans hunting under its branches, wild animals scratching their butts against it and European settlers resting under its shady branches.  A true witness tree.  If only the old Sycamore could talk!  Oh, the tales it could tell.  I know just how you feel, old guy!!  And, to think I never knew it was here!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

This branch is held in place with part of a telephone pole.

Another view of this beautiful old tree which is still living.