American Liberty Anniversary Elm

Planted in November 2003 for the dedication of Veterans Memorial Park that year, the American Liberty Elm was named for the Liberty Tree, called the country’s first symbol of freedom. On the morning of August 14, 1765, people in Boston found two effigies hanging from an elm in protest of the Stamp Act, and from that day the tree became known as the Liberty Tree. For the next ten years it stood through countless meetings, speeches, and celebrations and often served as a rallying place for the Sons of Liberty. In August 1775, as a last act of violence before the evacuation of Boston, British soldiers cut it down because it bore the name Liberty.

Coinjock, North Carolina · United States