‘Liberty Tree’ planted Tuesday in Warren as part of the nation’s 250th celebration

Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton Joe McClellan, county liaison to America250PA, helps plant a Liberty Tree at Gen. Joseph Warren Park in Warren on Tuesday. The tree will be dedicated as part of a ceremony set for Saturday at 1 pm

At the outset of the American Revolution, the Sons of Liberty would frequently gather under what became known as the Liberty Tree.

The trend grew, with Liberty Trees popping up throughout the colonies.

The last one fell in the 1990s but seeds from an offshoot of that tree have been preserved.

And now one has been planted in Warren.

It’s a joint project by Masons in Pennsylvania and America250PA, an organization created by the General Assembly to coordinate the celebration’s 250th birthday in 2026.

This part of the celebration will culminate with a dedication ceremony at the Gen. Joseph Warren Park in downtown Warren on Saturday at 1 pm

Joe McClellan, the county liaison to America250PA, said the “whole public” is invited to the event to “celebrate the planting of the tree.”

According to America250PA, the last Liberty Tree was located on the campus of Saint John’s University in Maryland until it was destroyed by Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

“Today, seeds from a scion of the original tree are being collected, grown into seedlings, and planted across the Commonwealth,” they say. “Generously sponsored by and in partnership with the Pennsylvania Freemasons, America250PA’s Liberty Tree Project includes a certified Liberty Tree planted in each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties beginning in the Fall of 2021, through 2026.”

Warren’s tree was planted at Gen. Joseph Warren Park Tuesday morning.

Ryan Knopf, District Deputy Grand Master with the Masons, said Saturday’s ceremony is a “nice, public event, something to unite everybody.”

It’s no secret that Warren’s Liberty Tree is planted where it is, adjacent to a statue of Dr. Joseph Warren, the city and county’s namesake who was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Knopf said the goal was to plant the tree in a place “that’s tied to the revolution.”

Given that Warren was frontier land during the 1770s, he acknowledged that was “kind of a difficult task.” That led to working with the city to place it by the Warren statue.

The 250th of the country is still a couple years off but McClellen stressed that the celebration is “really coming around at a time… that is really beneficial to the country that sometimes feels divided.”

McClellan said the America250PA organization has four objectives – educate, preserve, innovate and celebrate.

“They want to make 2026 epic,” he said.

The planning is still early but the effort will include innovation challenges for students, volunteer opportunities and events aimed at “involve the whole community” and emphasize “not only that America is a great place to live but Pennsylvania has a key role in the founding of the country” with a “rich past but hoping to lead the way to America’s future.”

The Liberty Tree planted Tuesday is a tulip poplar.

City of Warren Arborist Joe Reinke called it a “really fast growing tree.” While year one might not show much, he speculated the tree will be double its current size in a couple years.

These trees can live over 100 years, he said, and feature a “really pretty” flower.

He noted that there are two tulip poplar trees located adjacent to the fountain at Crescent Park.