The previous owner of this property, Abner Houseknecht (1913-2008), worked for the Pennsylvania Forestry Department and planted one of the first Dawn Redwoods in the county on private property.
Although this tree is only about 50 years old, no Dawn Redwood in America is older than around 70 (as of 2018). This specimen already shows the wide buttresses on the lower trunk that older Metasequoia often develop.
This amazing species existed at least 150-million years ago, well within the dinosaur era of 66-245 MYA (we Homo sapiens have only been here a little over 300,000 years).
