American Chestnut in Bloom May 2003

Tree Fund Named For Nathan Marble

During the early years of the town, all trees were removed from the square and it was fenced fro grazing livestock.  Just as in Conrad Richter's novels, The Trees, The Fields and The Town, the residents of the community began to miss the trees.  The village council as Nathan Marble, local carpenter, to plant trees on the square.  He did so putting the in rings of 8 on each of the quadrants of the square.  He selected trees representative of the large native trees growing in the area when the settlers founded the town.  The American Chestnut shown above is believed to be one of his trees.

The trees were maintained in a three year cycle:  one year the trees were drastically pruned to remove the weight and the second the trees were fed.  All three years the trees were pruned of suckers, ringed and mulched by volunteers including Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts in May.  The village provided mulch from supply they made from leaves and brush picked up around town.   

The Marble Tree Fund operated on donations from the Flea Markets, the big users of the square, and individuals.  It operated until the village took over the care of the trees in the late 1980's. 

Marble Tree Fund:

(04/01/2006 )