The so-called Berry elm, named for the property owners on Route 4 in Northwood and acclaimed as the largest of its species in the state was estimated to be “as much as 250 years old” in 1983, when it had to be taken down due to Dutch elm disease.
The so-called Berry elm, named for the property owners on Route 4 in Northwood and acclaimed as the largest of its species in the state was estimated to be “as much as 250 years old” in 1983, when it had to be taken down due to Dutch elm disease. Credit: Courtesy of N.H. Historical Society

Dutch elm disease, which arrived in America from Europe around 1930 in infested logs imported for furniture veneers, reached New Hampshire in 1949, decimating the thousands of elm trees that had been planted in the previous century to beautify cities and towns across the state.

The N.H. Department of Agriculture, at the urging of UNH Prof. James Conklin, sent five two-man teams around the state searching for infected trees and recommending that owners remove them.

Among the many celebrated trees that these teams marked for removal was Hampton’s “Grand Old Elm,” which had graced the town for more than three centuries.

Before the blight, New England had the largest concentration of elm trees in the United States, and the loss of the elm dramatically changed the appearance of the Granite State in both towns and countryside.

N.H. Historical Society