Mulberry Tree Removal at the Georgetown Visitor Center

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park » Mulberry Tree Removal at the Georgetown Visitor Center » Document List

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park will remove a mature Mulberry Tree at 1057 Thomas Jefferson Street, Georgetown, District of Columbia. The tree is located adjacent to the circa 1879 row house that currently serves as the park's visitors center. It has been determined that the roots from the tree have been causing structural damage to the building's foundation and basement slab.

While the tree does provide shade and is in good general health, consultation with the National Park Service's Chief Horticulturist has determined that roots from the tree will continue to incur damage to the structure and the tree should be removed. Consultation with NPS cultural landscape specialists will be undertaken to determine if there is more appropriate vegetation for the site.

"The Secretary of Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings" recommends to provide continued protection of masonry, wood and architectural metals which comprise building and site features through appropriate surface treatments such as cleaning, rust removal, limited paint removal, and re-application of protective coating systems; and continued protection and maintenance of landscape features, including plant materials. The standards do not condone the failure to provide adequate protection of materials on a cyclical basis so that deterioration of building and site features results.

This project was open for public comment for ten days, between August 4 and August 14. No comments were received regarding this project. This project has been reviewed for impacts to cultural and natural resources by the park's Interdisciplinary Team, including staff from the National Capital Regional Office. The project does not pose any serious or long-term effects to the environmental, historical, cultural, archeological, or visual resources. It meets Categorical Exclusion #C.4 - Routine maintenance and repairs to cultural resource sites, structures, utilities, and grounds if the action falls under an approved Historic Structures Preservation Guide or Cyclic Maintenance Guide, or if the action would not adversely affect the cultural resource. The project also meets the National Historic Preservation Act, Section 106 Programmatic Agreement, Exclusion #IV.B.9 - rehabilitation work limited to actions for retaining and preserving, protecting and maintaining, and repairing and replacing in kind materials and features, consistent with the Secretary of Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and the accompanying guidelines.


Contact Information

Exhibits Specialist (Restoration)
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal NHP
1850 Dual Highway, Suite 100
Hagerstown, MD 21740