Balmville Tree

The Balmville Tree is the oldest Eastern Cottonwood on record in the United States. A core sample taken by a Harvard University scientist in 1953 indicated it startedgrowing in 1699. When it began life, Bach was a 14-year-old captivated by the music of Vivaldi, who was a young man of 24, and Shakespeare had been dead for only 83 years.the balmville tree
The Balmville Tree is thus older than the American Republic. A 19th century fable held that the tree sprang to life from the riding crop of George Washington who made his headquarters in Newburgh 1783-84. But the Balmville Tree began its life 33 years before Washington, and nine years before his mother, Mary Bell Washington.