The Sitka Spruce
The 700-Year-Old Christmas Tree
December 18, 1958
On this day, the Statesman Journal out of Salem, Oregon, reported on a 700-year-old Tree Saved From Axemen.
“[In Seaside, Oregon], a giant 700-year-old Christmas tree has been added to a five-acre tree farm park dedicated to the public.
The Sitka Spruce, 195 feet tall and 15 feet, 9 inches in diameter… contains enough wood to build six two-bedroom houses.
The ink was barely dry on England's Magna Carta when the spruce sprouted. The tree passed its 500th birthday before the American Revolution.
The American Forestry Association, which keeps records on big trees, lists a 180-foot Sitka Spruce in Washington's Olympic National Park as the largest tree.
While it boasts an eight-inch edge in diameter, it is 15 feet shorter than Oregon's champion.”
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