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September 26, 2005
WASHINGTON TULIP
POPLAR PLANTED
 Over 200 years ago George Washington stopped in Rahway on his
way to his inauguration in New York City. As a living monument
to our founding father’s visit to Rahway an authentic George
Washington Tulip Poplar now stands near the very spot in the
city where Washington was met by his troops in 1789.
Purchased by the Rahway Environmental Commission and donated
to the city, the tulip poplar was planted by Rahway’s
Public Works Department. It stands nearby Rahway’s Veterans
Memorial on parkland located on the corner of St. George Ave.
and West Grand Ave.
What is unique about this particular tree is that it is a
direct descendant of the two tulip poplars planted in 1785 by
Washington at Mount Vernon, his home on the Potomac River in
Virginia. These majestic trees still stand more than two
centuries later.
Through hand pollination by arborists from the National
Arboretum, the trees have produced over 1,000 descendants. They
are sold through American Forests’ Famous & Historic Trees
Program. Some have been planted at the Vice-President’s
residence at the U.S. Observatory in Washington, D.C. Others
were sent to replace tulip poplars at the Versailles Palace in
Paris that were destroyed following a 1999 windstorm.
Rahway’s own tulip poplar replaces a large European Purple
Beech tree that died in the late 1990s and dated from the time
that Veteran’s Park was a private estate. The Rahway
Environmental Commission will also be providing a commemorative
marker to be installed at the foot of the tree.
“Trees are vital to maintaining our quality of life and our
property values,” said Mayor James Kennedy. “It’s great to have
a tree with environmental as well as historical value growing
right here in Rahway.”
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