Staff Photo by Tim Barber
The Hamilton County Courthouse is seen through the many hardwood trees that make up the landscape at Walnut and Seventh Streets.WHAT’S NEXT
The new Osage orange tree will be planted at the Hamilton County Courthouse at Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
It may take 150 years, but Hamilton County officials hope an Osage orange seedling they are planting in front of the County Courthouse this week will one day become as storied as the large, legendary tree that once stood there.
The seedling’s origin will be the first chapter of that new story. The Orange Grove Center – a center for local residents with developmental disabilities – donated the replacement for the county’s more than 150-year-old Osage orange tree.
The old tree, which was beloved by county employees and the hundreds of residents who married under its branches, fell in September. Since then, the county mayor’s office has been flooded with people wondering what would happen to the old tree, and whether it would be replaced.
“The Orange Grove Center is pleased to provide this tree to the county,” said Kyle Hauth, executive director of the Orange Grove Center, in a media release. “We hope that this gift will have a long and healthy life in its new home.”