American beech (Fagus grandifolia), also known as the North American beech, is the species of beech tree native to the eastern United States and extreme southeast Canada. The wide-spreading canopy provides great shade in the summer and beautiful bronze coloring in the fall. It is a versatile tree, often used in parks, golf courses, acreages, and the forestry industry.
A sturdy, densely canopied tree, the American Beech was a sign of fertile soil to early settlers and was quickly removed so the plow could take over and farming for food could commence. In hilly locations, it was the home for migrating Passenger Pigeons who were so numerous that they broke off the limbs of the trees from the sheer weight of their numbers when they perched on them. There was a Beech tree on the old stage road between Blountville and Jonesborough, Tennessee that had an inscription carved into the trunk that read “D. Boone Cilled A Bar On Tree In Year 1760.” The tree fell in 1916 and had a girth of 28-1/2 feet. The Forest Service estimated the tree’s age to be 365 years, making it fully two centuries old before Daniel Boone inscribed on it.
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Photos taken at Old Town June 2022.