Tree Information

Common Name: English elm

Scientific Name: Ulmus procera (syn. Ulmus carpinifolia, Ulmus minor)

Native/Naturalized: Not Naturalized

Database ID: 3270

Status: alive

National Champion: no

Virginia Champion: yes

Circumference: 208 in.

Height: 81 ft.

Crown: 81 ft.

Points: 309

Date Last Measured: 2024

Last Measured by: Tiffany Hannas and Eric Wiseman

Date First Measured: 2024

Comments:
2024 comments: Trunk measured at 4.5' above ground level reference outside the heaved root plate about 6' from the base of the tree to the southwest. Tree is healthy and free from Dutch elm disease. It is estimated to be around 125 years old.

The English elm is on the grounds of the Wilson Warehouse (also known as the Wilson Community House), one of the few buildings still representing Buchanan’s early days. The Warehouse, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1839. The extensive property borders the James River. It was home to the John S. Wilson Company, a shipping, warehousing, and retail business. The left side of the building was for business purposes and the right side the Wilson family residence. The company reached its peak during Buchanan’s “Canal Era” which began when the James River & Kanawha Canal reached Buchanan from Richmond in 1851. There were plans to extend the canal to the Ohio River with construction continuing until 1856 but the canal never made it beyond Buchanan because the advent of railroad transit reduced demand for river transit.

The Wilson Warehouse was the leading business of its type in Buchanan. It pre-dated the canal when shipping and receiving was by bateau boat or wagon. It is thought that the company continued well into the late 1860s. The canal closed in 1881 being replaced by a railroad. The building remained in the Wilson family until 1936 when a local business leader purchased it. He renovated the building and donated it to the Buchanan Town Improvement Society, the present owner of the Wilson Warehouse. Much care was taken during the renovation to retain the original architectural details. To this day the original man-powered hoist system remains on the third floor. This was used to raise and lower merchandise among the warehouse’s three floors. Remarkably, Wilson Company records, dating to 1834 had been kept in the building and recently rediscovered.