#greatelm

In our third post about stereographs, we’ll show you a close-up view of a glass stereograph, made in the 1850s, of the Ancient Elm, or more commonly known as the Great Elm on Boston Common. The dome of the Massachusetts State House can be seen behind the tree at right. Great Elm was purchased in 1634, and stood at the center of the Boston Common until February 15, 1876. Though the Great Elm eventually became a beloved icon for many Bostonians, it had also served as a site for dark history including the corporal punishments and executions of Native Americans during King Philip’s War (1675-78.) During such executions in the seventeenth century, a limb of the Great Elm was used.[1] In 1855, this enormous tree was measured at "seventy-two feet and a half feet high; height of the first branch to the ground, twenty-two and a half foot; girth four feet from the ground, seventeen feet; average diameter of the greatest span of branches, one hundred and one feet." A tree of this tremendous size and age attracted many visitors after the site became a recreational ground for the townspeople, and many Bostonians regarded the tree as the greatest icon for the city. 

 Today, the visitors to the Boston Common can see a plaque commemorating the site of the Great Elm.