Exceptional Tree: Endecott Pear Tree - Danvers. MA

Endecott Pear Tree

Danvers, MA

N 42° 32.897 W 070° 55.807

Quick Description: 

The Endecott (a.k.a. Endicott) Pear Tree is located down slope from the parking area behind the Osram Sylvania building at 104 Endicott Street in Danvers, MA. It is both the oldest cultivated tree in America and the oldest fruit tree in America.

Long Description:

The Endecott Pear Tree is a European Pear (Pyrus communis) tree first planted in its current location by the Governor of the Massachusetts bay Colony, John Endecott, sometime about 1632. The tree was brought over from England on the sailing ship Arbella in June 1630.

In 1964 tree was attacked by vandals. They chopped off all the branches and cut the trunk off 6 feet above the ground. However it re-sprouted. The Endecott Pear Tree is now protected by its sheltered location and surrounded by an iron fence. It is doing quite well in its protected location and still bears fruit. A bronze sign at the edge of the parking lot has the emblem of the Colonial Dames XVII Century and is inscribed:

THE ENDECOTT PEAR TREE

GROWING ON THIS SITE IS THE OLDEST

CULTIVATED TREE IN AMERICA, PLANTED ca. 1632

BY JOHN ENDECOTT, FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE

MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY. THE "ENDECOTT

PEAR TREE" IS A LIVING LINK TO THE EARLIEST

EUROPEAN SETTLERS OF OUR NATION. ENDECOTT

WAS GRANTED 300 ACRES WHERE HE SETTLED

AND FARMED, CALLING THIS PROPERTY "ORCHARD

FARM." THIS ANCIENT TREE LIVES AS A SYMBOL

OF HERITAGE, STRENGTH AND RESILIENCE.

PRESENTED BY

GOV. JOHN ENDECOTT CHAPTER, NSCDXVII

16 SEPTEMBER 2011