New England Diary

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Elms' gorgeous tunnels

Lafayette Street in Salem, Mass., from a 1910 colorized postcard β€” an example of the high-tunneled effects of American Elms planted along streets in New England towns. Most of them were gone by the 1950s.

β€œThe elms of New England! They are as much a part of her beauty as the columns of the Parthenon were the glory of its architecture.”

β€” Henry Ward Beecher (1813-87)

Then came Dutch Elm Disease