Maine Forest Service: Herbie the giant elm tree lived to a ripe old age of 217

Officials: Herbie the tree was 217 years old

YARMOUTH, Maine — The giant tree nicknamed “Herbie” — New England’s champion elm — was 217 years old when it was cut down, the Maine Forest Service said Thursday.

The revised age means the massive tree dates to 1793, the year President Washington began his second term and Eli Whitney created his cotton gin.

The 110-foot tree, which was the tallest American elm in New England, survived 14 bouts of Dutch elm disease thanks to his caretaker, former tree warden Frank Knight, who’s now 101 himself. Eventually, though, the fungal disease claimed the tree, which was removed on Jan. 19.

There was considerable speculation about the tree’s age. Knight estimated Herbie to be about 235 to 240 years old, meaning the tree was older that the country itself. Peter Lammert of the Maine Forest Service made a preliminary count of 212 on the day the tree was cut down.

The revised estimate was made by counting the tree’s growth rings under magnification in Augusta and was confirmed Thursday when Maine Forest Service senior planner Jan Ames Santerre took a piece of the trunk to the entomology lab for further examination under microscope.

“That means Herbie was ‘born’ in 1793 as best as we can determine and lived in four different centuries,” Lammert wrote in an e-mail. “As he was beside the road that went to Freeport and points north eventually to Fort Kent anyone going north would have passed by Herbie.”

Although the tree is gone, it won’t be forgotten.

Herbie’s remains are being kiln-dried in a mill, and artisans will create furniture, cutting boards, Christmas ornaments and other items from the tree’s remains. The wood itself could be worth up to $200,000, which will be used to create a tree trust in Yarmouth, Santerre said.