"Herbie" was an American elm tree located in Yarmouth, Maine

Yarmouth, Maine

Yarmouth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, located approximately ten to fifteen miles north of Portland. Its population was 8,349 at the 2010 census....

, USA. It stood by present-day East Main Street (State Route 88

Maine State Route 88

State Route 88 is a state highway in southern Maine, United States. It runs south to north for just over miles, from U.S. Route 1 in Falmouth to U.S. Route 1 in Yarmouth. It runs to the east of Route 1, and its speed limit is 35 mph, whereas that of Route 1 is 45-50 mph north of Bucknam...

), at its intersection with Yankee Drive, between 1793 and January 19 2010. At 110 feet in height, it was, between 1997 and the date of its felling, the oldest and largest of its kind in New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

.The National Register of Big Trees: 2000-01 The tree, which partially stood in the front yard of a private residence, also had a 20-foot circumference and (until mid-2008) a 93-foot crown spread. It was so-named when children witnessed some of its diseased limbs being sawn off. "What are you going to do to Herbie? Don't cut Herbie!" they cried, and the name stuck.

A plaque on its trunk stated:


On May 1 1834, the town gave Herbie some company by planting rows of elm trees along East Elm Street. From 1957 onward, however, most of them succumbed to Dutch elm disease

Dutch elm disease

Dutch elm disease is a disease caused by a member of the sac fungi category, affecting elm trees which is spread by the elm bark beetle. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease has been accidentally introduced into America and Europe, where it has devastated native...

. As of 2003, only twenty of Yarmouth's original 739 elms had survived.

Yarmouth's resident former "tree warden", Frank Knight, celebrated his 100th birthday in October 2008. Succeeded by Deb Hopkins in 2006, Knight cared for the tree for half of his life, having accepted the role in 1956. Knight's efforts have been recognized by the town: the athletic fields at North Yarmouth Academy bear his name, as does a forest behind the town's community garden; a tree in front of Yarmouth's town hall was planted in his honor; and, in 1983, he was the fourth recipient of the town's Latchstring Award.
After battling fifteen bouts of Dutch elm disease, in 2007 stripes appeared under the tree's bark, indicating a worsening condition. In August 2009 it was revealed that Herbie would be cut down on January 18 and 19 2010, at a cost of $20,000. In October 2009, the plaque was removed from its trunk and replaced with a laminated version, and before the end of the year, "The Herbie Project" fund-raising campaign was set up to raise money to care for and plant other trees in the town. After the tree's demise, local woodworkers plan to use its wood to make usable products which will be auctioned off to raise money for the trust.

A snowstorm during the night of January 17 and 18 2010 postponed the removal. The tree was removed on January 19, just before noon. A preliminary count of the tree's rings, done on site, revealed its age to be at least 212 years. On February 4, however, the official count showed it to be 217.

The stump itself was removed over the weekend of May 29 and 30. A section of the trunk's base was on show at the 2010 Yarmouth Clam Festival

Yarmouth Clam Festival

The Yarmouth Clam Festival is an annual three-day event which takes place in the American town of Yarmouth, Maine, during the third weekend in July. Established in 1965 as a successor to the town's late-August Old Home Week, it is hosted by the Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce, with the aim of raising...

. It is now on permanent display outside Yarmouth's town hall, a project of the local Eagle Scouts.

External links

• "The Old Man and the Tree" - New York Times article, January 8 2010
• "Farewell to Herbie and a 'beautiful' relationship" - Portland Press Herald
  Portland Press Herald
  The Portland Press Herald publish daily newspapers in Portland, Maine, USA...
  
  article, January 19 2010