A mighty oak tree in The Bronx is no more after succumbing to the winds of last week’s destructive nor’easter was reported by Friends of Pelham Bay Park on Facebook.
The Great Oak of Pelham Bay Park has probably been standing since Jonas Bronck, our borough’s namesake, himself first arrived upon our shores in 1639 becoming the first European colonizer of our borough.
Although an exact age of the tree isn’t possible, estimates were that it was anywhere from 300-400 years old and would have placed it in the realm of even possibly having been around when the Lenape Native Americans still lived in our borough before being driven out by the colonizers.
For those who ventured into the forest beyond the Bronx Victory Memorial and traveled through the trails, perhaps you also stopped and stared in awe at this huge monument to nature’s grandeur as I did the first time I stumbled upon it as a teenager.
To think it survived hurricanes, blizzards, superstorm Sandy, and of course, humans, all these centuries but alas, it could go on no more.
It is a sad day in our borough when a tree that so many have loved is now gone but such is the circle of life.
Header image taken today by Nilka Martell of Loving The Bronx.