The Loss Of An Icon

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Springs is losing another of its few remaining historic American elms.  One of the most majestic, and certainly the most visible, of the City’s elms died of Dutch elm disease last season.  Towering above the northwest corner of Broadway and Van Dam, where it has welcomed every visitor arriving from Exit 15, this tree is scheduled for removal soon by the City’s tree crew, perhaps as early as Saturday, April 24.   

Ironically, the removal of this titanic heritage tree coincides with Sustainable Saratoga’s Tree Toga planting event, when volunteers will plant 15 trees around town.  Saratoga once had hundreds of American elms, the most graceful and beloved street tree of them all.  The arrival of the Dutch elm disease midway through the 20th century wiped out all but a handful of these beloved trees.