Weeping Beech (Queens) Explained

Weeping Beech
Coordinates:40.7636°N -73.8242°W
Added:May 31, 1972
Area:less than one acre
Refnum:72000905
Designated Other2 Name:New York City Landmark
Designated Other2 Date:April 19, 1966
Designated Other2 Abbr:NYCL
Designated Other2 Link:New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
Designated Other2 Number:0142
Designated Other2 Color:
  1. ffe978

The Weeping Beech was a historic tree located at Weeping Beech Park in Flushing, Queens, New York City. It was the mother of all European weeping beeches in the United States.

The Weeping Beech was imported by horticulturalist Samuel Parsons in 1846 and planted in 1847. It was designated a living New York City Landmark in 1966, one of two trees in New York City to have received that designation, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 along with the adjacent Kingsland Homestead. The Weeping Beech was partially removed in 1998.

The region around the Weeping Beech, called Weeping Beech Park, contains a playground, the Kingsland Homestead, the John Bowne House, and several other historically significant trees.

History and description

Samuel Parsons, a nurseryman responsible for the planting of Central Park in Manhattan, purchased the cutting that produced the Weeping Beech while travelling in Belgium in 1846. The tree was on the estate of Baron DeMann in Beersal, Belgium, and transplanted to Flushing in 1847.[1] Parsons also created a nursery in Queens in 1868.[2] The nursery was later transported to Kissena Park, where it became a keystone of Flushing's horticultural industry[3] [4] until its closing in 1901.[5]

In 1966, the Weeping Beech was designated an official New York City landmark.[6] At the time, the tree had grown to a spread of and a height of .[7] The girth of the trunk was .[8] [9] The Weeping Beech was one of two trees in New York City that were designated as city landmarks, the other being the Magnolia grandiflora in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.[10]

Weeping Beech Park

The adjacent Weeping Beech Park was created in 1945 in order to protect the John Bowne House,[11] which was designated a museum in 1947. Home to generations of the Bowne family until 1945, the Bowne House reportedly served as a stop on the Underground Railroad prior to the American Civil War.[12] It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also a New York City landmark.[13]

The park also contains the Kingsland Homestead, a house named for sea captain Joseph King. Due to encroaching development from the proposed extension of the New York City Subway's Flushing Line in 1923, the house was moved twice, the second time to Weeping Beech Park.[14] The Homestead is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also separately a New York City landmark.[15] [16] It was officially dedicated as a museum in March 1973[17] and is also home to the Queens Historical Society.

The park includes a 1.3abbr=NaNabbr= playground, rebuilt in 1956.[18] The park also contains a grove of weeping beech trees, descendants of the original Weeping Beech planted in 1847. The grove is next to a rare Golden Larch that is on the sidewalk of 37th Avenue and a large Cedar of Lebanon is in the playground. Abutting the park are a 49abbr=NaNabbr= diameter Northern Red Oak and a 50abbr=NaNabbr= diameter White Oak, both of which top 80feet.[19]

Destruction and memorial

The tree started suffering from poor health in the late 1960s, and was being given fertilizer in an unsuccessful attempt to prolong its life. By 1998, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation declared the Weeping Beech to be dead. The city's parks commissioner held a "funeral" for the tree in December 1998 while the Parks Department decided what to do with the remains of the tree.[20] [21] In March 1999 it was decided that a 10feet section of the tree would remain in the park as a memorial. By then, the tree's progeny had been spread all over the United States., a large weeping beech occupies the site of the original weeping beech.[22]

The rest of the tree would be given to artists to use for sculptures and benches along a heritage trail in downtown Flushing.[23] A teacher at Flushing High School, Margaret I. Carman, had devised the idea for a trail; the park entrance at Bowne Street has a green named after her in honor of that vision.

See also

Notes and References

  1. 153.
  2. News: Long Island: Our Story / Our Towns / Queens. Newsday. February 22, 1998. H5. .
  3. News: Forgive this 1800s plant collector who brought us a mega-weed. Higgins. Adrian. August 31, 2017. The Washington Post. 11. .
  4. News: Open Secrets: The Hidden Pleasures of Our Parks: Kissena Park. Hanc. John. July 9, 2003. Newsday. B3. .
  5. News: FLUSHING'S CLAIM TO FLORAL FAME; French Huguenots Made It the Garden Spot of America in the Eighteenth Century.. January 10, 1926. The New York Times. January 20, 2020. en-US. 0362-4331. February 3, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190203084944/https://www.nytimes.com/1926/01/10/archives/flushings-claim-to-floral-fame-french-huguenots-made-it-the-garden.html. live.
  6. Web site: The Weeping Beech Tree. April 19, 1966. New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. https://web.archive.org/web/20191004131105/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/0142.pdf. October 4, 2019. January 20, 2020. live.
  7. News: New York, Again Tree City U.s.a., Pays Homage to Its Finest Specimens. Carmody. Deirdre. April 27, 1985. The New York Times. January 20, 2020. en-US. 0362-4331. March 17, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190317052714/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/27/nyregion/new-york-again-tree-city-usa-pays-homage-to-its-finest-specimens.html. live.
  8. Web site: Margaret I. Carman Green - Weeping Beech Highlights : NYC Parks. www.nycgovparks.org. January 20, 2020. December 16, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191216062638/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/margaret-i-carman-green/history. live.
  9. News: Venerable Beech Makes It to Her Party. Leduff. Charlie. 1997-05-11. The New York Times. 2020-01-20. en-US. 0362-4331. December 29, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171229233635/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/11/nyregion/venerable-beech-makes-it-to-her-party.html. live.
  10. News: Flushing; Old Tree May Be Benched. Weir. Richard. January 17, 1999. The New York Times. January 20, 2020. en-US. 0362-4331. October 4, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191004131055/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/17/nyregion/neighborhood-report-flushing-old-tree-may-be-benched.html. live.
  11. News: Flushing Gets New Park and Mayor's Salute. October 8, 1945. New York Herald-Tribune. January 20, 2020. 16. ProQuest. subscription.
  12. 133.
  13. Web site: John Bowne House. February 15, 1966. New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. https://web.archive.org/web/20161226200753/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/0143.pdf. December 26, 2016. January 20, 2020. live.
  14. Web site: Kingsland Homestead, Weeping Beech Park. New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090602194749/http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_about/parks_divisions/historic_houses/hh_kingsland_homestead.html. June 2, 2009. April 28, 2008.
  15. Web site: First Official Landmarks of City Designated. Farnsworth Fowle. October 18, 1965. The New York Times. April 28, 2008. April 6, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230406232836/https://www.nytimes.com/1965/10/18/archives/first-official-landmarks-of-city-designated-20-sites-listed-each-to.html. live.
  16. Web site: Kingsland Homestead. October 14, 1965. New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. https://web.archive.org/web/20191108032833/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/0005.pdf. November 8, 2019. January 20, 2020. live.
  17. News: Kingsland Homestead Now a Museum. March 25, 1973. The New York Times. January 20, 2020. en-US. 0362-4331. July 23, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180723093930/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/03/25/archives/kingsland-homestead-now-a-museum-many-delays.html. live.
  18. News: QUEENS PARK REOPENED; Weeping Beech in Flushing Now Includes Playground. October 11, 1956. The New York Times. January 20, 2020. en-US. 0362-4331. November 8, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231108014357/https://www.nytimes.com/1956/10/11/archives/queens-park-reopened-weeping-beech-in-flushing-now-includes.html. live.
  19. Web site: Great Trees : Cedar of Lebanon : NYC Parks. www.nycgovparks.org. January 20, 2020. May 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200515143908/https://www.nycgovparks.org/facilities/great-trees?id=47. live.
  20. News: Historic Weeping Beech to be Topped. Dick. Sheridan. February 12, 1999. New York Daily News. 940. January 20, 2020. newspapers.com . November 8, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231108014400/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-tree-has-reason-to-cry-histo/42650610/. live.
  21. News: Update; Weeping Beech Will Live On in Memory, and in Art. Weir. Richard. March 14, 1999. The New York Times. January 20, 2020. en-US. 0362-4331. March 16, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220316043750/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/14/nyregion/neighborhood-report-update-weeping-beech-will-live-on-in-memory-and-in-art.html. live.
  22. Web site: Clark . Roger . A massive weeping beech tree grows in Flushing . Spectrum News NY1 . August 16, 2022 . November 13, 2023.
  23. Web site: Forgotten Tour 6, Flushing, Queens. Walsh. Kevin. June 22, 2000. Forgotten New York. en-US. January 20, 2020. July 7, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190707152327/https://forgotten-ny.com/2000/06/forgotten-tour-6-flushing-queens/. live.

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