Taunton Schoolhouse Tree Comes Down

By Dottie Evans

One of Newtown’s oldest trees, long familiar to Taunton Hill area residents, had to be cut down Monday morning for safety reasons.

“It was rotten inside and last fall a large limb fell into the [nearby] property-owner’s yard. The town had already marked it to come down,” said Al Potter of Newtown Tree Service, the company hired to tackle its removal.

Mr Potter identified the tree as a silver maple, saying the species is fast growing and the branches are subject to breaking and falling. Boasting a trunk diameter of five feet, the maple had many thick limbs that rose the full 85-foot height of the tree. The largest of these limbs had to be removed with ropes and pulleys in sections.

The tall silver maple had shaded passersby on Taunton Hill Road just east of Taunton Lane, and it is likely that several generations of school children once played under its spreading crown.

It grew in front of what was once the Taunton District School, created in 1738, the first school district to be located on the outskirts of town, away from Newtown village.

According to town historian Dan Cruson’s book Educating Newtown’s Children: A History of Its Schools, published by the Newtown Historical Society, the land on which the tree stood was quitclaimed October 1 and 4, 1880, by Clark Blackman and Jabez Mead.

In July 1934, the Board of Education voted to close the Taunton school and transport its children to Hawley School. Nearly two decades later, on March 9, 1950, the old school house and the land beneath it were sold. The school building was eventually enlarged and converted into a private home by Newtown resident John Vorous, according to Mr Cruson.

Today it is possible to recognize the peak-roofed schoolhouse as it has been incorporated into the present residential structure. A sign posted near the road identifies the former Taunton School District landmark.

Michael McCarthy, town tree warden, said Tuesday that the Taunton maple was just one of many old trees in town that are diseased and rotting from within.

“Trees have a lifespan and people may not like it, but at some point they have to come down,” Mr McCarthy said.

“We’ll be back in a few weeks to plant two new trees in that very spot, maybe another silver maple and a red oak.”

The tree warden has a budget of $75,000, which he said is “two-thirds gone” since the town’s program of tree cutting, tree maintenance, and tree planting is ongoing.

“I have four contractors who do the cutting, and I keep an eye out to be sure they do a good job. They are usually very careful,” Mr McCarthy said.

Having just completed a course in roadside tree selection for municipalities, Mr McCarthy said there were many factors to consider when selecting replacements for trees that need to be taken down.

“You have to know about growth habit and what trees will do best in what places. Whether there are overhead wires, how far back from the road they will sit,” he added.

Sugar maples do not do well near roads because they suffer damage from road salts. Red oaks are sturdy but do not grow fast. White oaks are majestic but even more slow-growing.

“It will cost between $600 and $700 for each new tree I plant, since I also have to figure in maintenance and watering,” Mr McCarthy said.