George Washington could have planted tree Nor'easter just felled

March 5, 2018

227-year old Canadian hemlock on George Washington’s Mt. Vernon estate was toppled by Nor’easter on March 2, 2018, the estate says

Mt. Vernon estate / Facebook

The Nor’easter that battered the East Coast Friday blew down a tree from George Washington’s day on his famed Mt. Vernon estate in Virginia. The estate says it was a 227-year old Canadian hemlock:

Today at Mount Vernon, strong winds brought down a 227-year-old Canadian Hemlock, as well as a Virginia cedar that stood watch over Washington’s tomb for many years.

Posted by George Washington’s Mount Vernon on Friday, March 2, 2018

The estate’s senior vice president of visitor engagement, Rob Shenk, tweeted that the nation’s first president “likely knew the tree”:

The DC area lost a lot of #trees yesterday, but maybe none more significant than this 1791 Canadian Hemlock @MountVernon. George Washington himself likely knew this tree along his famous Bowling Green. #NorEaster2018 #dc #NBC4DC #CNNWeather #fxva #trees #1791 pic.twitter.com/SWZJ8zMVg1

— Rob Shenk (@robshenk) March 3, 2018

The storm is being blamed for at least 9 deaths across several states. Some 437,000 homes and businesses it left without power still didn’t have electricity as of Monday morning.