Randolph Crabapple Tree Designated Biggest In the Nation
By M. D. Drysdale

It’s official.

The old crabapple tree that sits in the middle of Randolph’s Municipal Building lawn—and also in the middle of the Municipal Building controversy—is the biggest sweet crab apple tree in the country.

At least for now.

On May 5, the Randolph tree, whose scientific name is malus coronaria, was designated a National Champion Tree in the National Register of Big Trees.

The tree is 98 inches in circumference (31 inches in diameter) at the trunk, with a crown spread of 30.5 feet. Most unusually for a crabapple tree, it reaches a height of 39 feet.

The information was sent to American Forests, which keeps the register, by Randolph historian Leigh Wright of Salisbury Street. He’s been a near neighbor of the tree for many decades.

Wright is one of the neighbors in the Summer Street area who have been fighting the latest expansion plans for the Municipal Building. Those plans, drawn up by a consortium of three firms, and accepted by the town years ago, would extend the building south along Summer Street. Construction would require elimination of the tree, as well as much of the green lawn that Wright has also become attached to over the years.

Legal action has been successful in delaying the expansion project. However, the town now would be officially permitted to demolish the tree if it wants to, due to a chain of rulings by the tree warden and the courts.

Wright welcomed the new designation of Champion Tree, but said he’s "not sure it will have any effect" on the building plans which, in any case, are in a state of flux right now.

However, he said, "It’s kind of a feather in our cap" to have such a big tree.

He noted that there is a 1869 photograph of the tree in Wes Herwig’s photo book, and it was a sturdy tree even then.

The measurements for the application process were made by the county forester in 2005. They may not be the last word, however. Wright confided that a crabapple tree in Waterbury Center may be even taller than the Randolph one and may be entered in the register.