110a Sycamore Mlk
Quarryville Elementary School,  211 South Hess Street, Quarryville PA

This tree is a certified direct descendant of the sycamore under which Martin Luther King Jr. gathered with 3,200 supporters at Brown Chapel in Selma AL on March 20, 1965. The nonviolent demonstrators then marched 54 miles over five days to the steps of the state capitol in Montgomery, by which time their ranks had swollen to 25,000 (photo below is from expressnews.com).

​The Q-Elementary tree, planted in 1999, is unusual because the school is permitting it to grow as a multi-stem tree.  Multi-stem Sycamores are common in nature but rare in cultivation.

This amazing species lives so long that a famous old sycamore, still living today, provided shade to General George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette on September 6, 1777 while they spoke of troop deployments before the ill-fated Battle of Brandywine (last photo).

[Last photo is from “Brandeywine Valley Trees” by Steven Renzi, The Hunt Magazine, Nov. 3, 2016]

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