Hangman's Elm

Hangman's Elm, or simply " The Hanging Tree " is an English elm, which is located on the northwest corner of Washington Square Park in New York City. It is 110 feet ( 33.52 m) high and has a diameter of 56 inches ( 1.42 m).

In 1989, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation determined the age of the English elm with 310 years, making it the oldest known tree in Manhattan. The elm has survived the other historic trees: the Peter Stuyvesant pear tree at the northeast corner of 13th Street and Third Avenue and the large tulip tree at Shorakapkok on Washington Heights.

Whether really took place at this location hangings, as suggested by the name basing on traditions or not, is still under discussion. According to a legend traitors were hanged during the American War of Independence at this location. Later, supposedly the Marquis de Lafayette has testified the solemn hanging of 20 highwaymen here in 1824. Rose Butler, who was hanged here in 1820, was the last person in the State of New York, who was hanged for arson. The infamous road on which the hangings to have been completed, in 1992, removed by the park administration.

But other historians including Luther S. Harris, author of Around Washington Square: An Illustrated History of Greenwich Village, are of the opinion that the name is a misnomer and that no hangings have taken place on this tree. Public executions were carried out on the gallows on site, which has caused confusion.