On the warm Thursday afternoon of Sept. 10, 1959, the earth shuddered as a giant toppled to the ground on Kankakeeâs southwest side.
The giant â an 80-foot-tall tree believed to be the largest American elm in Illinois â was located at Eighth Avenue and Water Street, in Gov. Small Memorial Park, just southeast of the Dr. A.L. Small Historic Home. It had been growing there for several decades by the time the pioneer physician began building his home in 1855.
âThe tree is believed to be about 135 years old,â noted an article in the Kankakee Daily Journal on Sept. 11, 1959. âIt reached nearly 80 feet into the sky. It measured 22 feet, 9 inches in circumference at a point 3 feet off the ground where it was cut. Its circumference at ground level was nearly 36 feet. Diameter of the tree was 6 feet.â