Locally Salvaged Trees

Centre County Grange Fairgrounds – Centre Hall, PA

Centre County Grange Fairgrounds – Centre Hall, PA

In 2015, I began working with the Fairgrounds to salvage the trees that were being taken down due to disease. Initially, pieces were sold at the Emporium, and in 2018 I began displaying the items in Building 31, along the midway. For the most up to date information on...

The Elms – University Park, PA

The Elms – University Park, PA

I have been using Elm for smaller boxes, letter openers, and pencil boxes. The logs were salvaged from the Penn State University Park campus during the winter storms of 1995 and 1996. Many trees were removed after being severely damaged by the heavy snow. Elm is one...

The Majestic Courthouse Maples – Bellefonte, PA

The Majestic Courthouse Maples – Bellefonte, PA

From the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, PA.I have been making the smaller boxes and letter openers from the Courthouse Maple trees.I was shocked to open up the morning paper and find the trees on the Courthouse lawn had been removed to make way...

Big Spring Spirits – Bellefonte, PA

Big Spring Spirits – Bellefonte, PA

Many of my Shaker boxes are made utilizing lumber from salvaged trees with historic or sentimental interest.  Philip Jensen, the head distiller at Big Spring Spirits, in Bellefonte inquired about using scrap pieces from these trees in processing of some of...

White Oak – Pine Grove Mills, PA

White Oak – Pine Grove Mills, PA

This tree was taken down in October of 2011, and had to be taken to a larger mill to be quartersawn.  The tree provided five 8' long logs, the largest was 32" in diameter and the smallest being 23".  This was the tallest and straightest tree I have been...

White Willows – Talleyrand Park, Bellefonte, PA

White Willows – Talleyrand Park, Bellefonte, PA

I have made the No.3, 4, and 5 Shaker boxes from the Willows in Talleyrand Park. The history of these trees date back to the earliest settlers of Bellefonte.Reference: Williams - McKeehan   Genealogy 1928Not long after Bellefonte was laid out in 1795,...

Apple –  near Colyer Lake, PA

Apple – near Colyer Lake, PA

I have made the No.1, 2, and 3 size Shaker boxes from this unusually large apple tree that grew near Colyer Lake, here in Centre County.This wood has an interesting mix of reddish brown colors throughout the grain.

Staghorn Sumac – Howard, PA

Staghorn Sumac – Howard, PA

This is usually a small tree, commonly seen along roadsides.  They have dark red cone shaped seed clusters, that remain attached through the winter.  No, not poison sumac; this is a totally different species.  The trees were some of the largest Sumac's I...

Sycamore – Wolcott, NY,

Sycamore – Wolcott, NY,

Made utilizing a massive tree that came down during a wind storm in Wolcott, NY, on Labor Day 1998.The lumber was quartersawn, which refers to first cutting the log into quarters and then cutting boards with a radial grain.  This type of cut shows the...

Beech & Honeylocust – Shaker Heights, Ohio

Beech & Honeylocust – Shaker Heights, Ohio

BeechThis 32" diameter tree that grew along Marchmont Road came down during a July 2011 storm.  Shaker Heights is the original site of the North Union Shaker Village, which was in existence from 1822 thru 1889.At 140 years old, this tree dates back to...

Silver Maple – Linn Street, Bellefonte, PA

Silver Maple – Linn Street, Bellefonte, PA

This massive tree, 60" in diameter, was taken down in 2001 after most of the tree had become hollow.  For just over 100 years, this maple tree shaded one of the Victorian homes on Linn Street.  The home was built in 1882 by Calvin Bower, a local attorney,...