page_title: The Senator (tree)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: The Senator (tree) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: "Senator", large Baldcypress tree in Florida, looking upward.
context_page_description: The Senator was the biggest and oldest bald cypress tree in the world, located in Big Tree Park, Longwood, Florida. At the time of its demise in 2012, it was 125 feet tall, with a trunk diameter of 17.5 feet. The tree was thought to have been destroyed by a fire from a lightning strike, but it was later discovered that the fire was started by an arsonist.
context_section_description: The Seminoles and other Native American Indians who lived throughout Central Florida used this tree as a landmark. In the late 19th century, the tree attracted visitors even though much of the surrounding land was swamp; reaching the tree was done by leaping from log to log. A walkway was later constructed by the Works Progress Administration. In 1925, a hurricane destroyed the top of the tree, reducing its height from 165 feet (50 m) to 118 feet (36 m).
  The Senator was named for Florida State Senator Moses Overstreet, who donated the tree and surrounding land to Seminole County for a park in 1927. In 1929, former US President Calvin Coolidge reportedly visited The Senator and dedicated the site with a commemorative bronze plaque. A photo that was published of Coolidge and his wife near the tree was reported by the Orlando Sentinel to have been doctored. The plaque and portions of an iron fence were stolen by vandals in 1945 and never recovered.
caption: Looking up from the base of The Senator, 1967
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