Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Lone Oak Tree taken down - 4/10/1984
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Eagan s Lone. Oak
a symbol is no more
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By Ellen Foley "Some of th : old things just have to
Staff Writer go," she sai. 1.
Part of Eagan's heritage was Blomquist a greed that the tree's
uprooted Monday when the Lone removal we; inevitable. It stood in
Oak tree, a symbol of the city's the median strip at the busy
growth and strength, fell to a buzz intersectior of Hwy. 55 and Lone
mow, Oak Rd. ant. couldn't get proper
nutrition be muse its roots were
The 200-year-old tree showed signs covered wit h asphalt and they were
that it was dying recently and state being poiso ;ed by road salt, she
I transportation officials said they said.
wanted to remove the tree to
improve Hwy. 55. Federal off cials also insisted that
the tree be removed if federal
"I felt like I was going to a funeral funds were to be used for the road's
(Monday) when 1 went over there," improvement, city officials said.
said Mayor Bea Blomquist.
Blomquist s aid Eagan hopes to
The tree was a gathering place for keep the sp irit of the tree alive by
residents since the area's farming transplanti ig its trunk in the form
days. Farr.~ers dropped cans for of a sculpth re in the city's library.
mail pickup and delivery at the The city cc incil is working out
K tree, and township officials began details.
posting official notices on it in
. 5 about 1860, said Alyce Bolke, Holly Duff; administrative
former city clerk. assistant to City Administrator Tom
Hedges, sa d their office has
Bolke said the posting practice received se veral letters from
' continued during her years as residents P ho want to use the wood
clerk-treasurer from 1961 to 1980. to make cc mmemorative items,
She said that in the late 1970s, the such as cle *s.
tree became the city's logo and
inspired its motto: "The Lone Oak She said to 3st of the requests are
Tree - The symbol of strength and from longt me residents for whom
growth in our community." the tree he; special significance.
Resident groups opposed plans in Blomquist ;aid the tree will be
the early 1970s by state highway saved and 3ranches, branded with
officials to cut down the tree, Bolke a special a ik tree insignia, will be
said. They tied yellow ribbons given to dr nors who contribute
around it, and schoolchildren money for preservation of the
protested, she said. tree's woo l and toward the cost of
a possible ;culpture.
However, last year the tree
produced few leaves and no acorns, In additio; , she said, the city will
. t Blomquist said, and city officials place a pl; que near a living
agreed that its days were memorial to Lone Oak tree, a
r:. numbered. young oak planted last year by the
Minnesota Department of
i Bolke said it was sad to see the tree Transport. lion. It is about a block
removed, but she didn't think it was away, at l rinity Lone Oak Lutheran
appropriate for the city's symbol to Church.
stand in the way of progress.
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Stef: Photos t j C, caries Bjorgen 010
The lone oak tree that Inspired the Eagan city motto fell to a buzz saw Monday. The 200-year-old tree
near Hwy. 55 and Lone Oak Rd. was the spot where Eagan homesteaders posted official notices In then
late 1800s. City officials hope to keep the spirit of the tree alive by preserving the trunk in the form of a
~,c% loture in the v,ity library.