This cache is part of the 25 cache Pennsylvania State Parks America250PA GeoTrail. Have fun exploring and discovering Pennsylvania's history!
This young tree is a symbol of our country’s awakening to independence over 250 years ago. Do not dig or disturb it in any way! This tulip poplar tree was planted in commemoration of a tree long ago that was a symbol of the ideas that led to our American Revolution.
Imagine we are in the year 1765. Ten years before the “Shot heard Round the World” starts the American Revolution. We get news that the British have imposed the Stamp Act, a tax on every paper necessary for business and everyday life in the colonies. Imagine every receipt, wedding, birth or death certificate, diplomas, wills. From Newspapers to playing cards, every item made from paper in any form must bear a tax stamp – meaning tax was paid. Every landmark of our lives, and even every trivial business transaction, was tracked and taxed by the crown. Early patriots gathered to discuss and plan what to do, often under trees near the town square. Liberty trees were in popular areas, where anyone coming or going could stop and see. Posters, perhaps pasted onto the tree, displayed the opinions and news of the day.
“Taxation without Representation is Tyranny!” was a popular slogan which no doubt was pasted onto liberty trees and Liberty poles for all to see. Chances are the poster it was printed on did not bear the King’s stamp.
While the original liberty tree was an elm located in the prominent Hanover Square in Boston, people in many other colonial cities were gathering to share their feelings in widespread meeting places. Liberty trees were chosen as gathering places and this custom sprang up across the Colonies. One of these was a large tulip poplar tree on the campus of St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. Patriots gathered under this prominent tree also, plotting actions, posting bills with essays putting their discontent into words for all who passed by to read, even inciting mobs to action. The tree stood until 1999, when it succumbed to hurricane Floyd. But a scion of the tree was preserved, and many trees have been carefully propagated from that genetic twin and are now being planted as Liberty Trees.
The current Liberty Tree project is aiming to plant a descendant of that Maryland tulip tree in every county of Pennsylvania leading up to the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence. Butler County’s Liberty Tree is here, in front of the Moraine State Park office. The America250 PA organization and the Pennsylvania Freemasons are partnered to provide and plant these trees in locations with some connection to that time in our country’s history.
Here at Moraine, located in Western Pennsylvania, our connections to the time period are often unwritten. Many Native American people certainly lived here. Finding connections to Colonial and Revolutionary history is a little more challenging. There is evidence that George Washington travelled through here on his mission from Virginia to Fort LeBoeuf in 1753. Washington’s Trail may even have passed through or very near our park along two different routes, coming and going. This trip was pivotal to the French and Indian War, which contributed to an increase in Britian’s debt, which was a prime motivation for the Stamp Act and similar attempts to tax and regulate the colonies. So, it may be a stretch, but our Liberty Tree is still connected to our nation’s story.
Our Liberty Tree is a symbol of the patriots’ independent spirit. With nourishment, protection, and care, this tree may grow to towering heights and be around for the next 250 years.
The following image is a re-creation of the original Liberty Tree in Boston:
For more information about this state park and its amenities please visit the website: Moraine State Park | Department of Conservation and Natural Resources| Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
