Fallen tree, fence uproots Niles history
Published 11:41 am Tuesday, July 30, 2019
- A split gravestone leans next to an uprooted tree and fence at Silverbrook Cemetery. A July 10 storm toppled the tree, taking a fence noted in “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” with it. (Leader photo/BEAU BROCKETT JR.)
NILES — The July 10 storm that blew through Niles felled numerous trees, including a tree dating back at least to the 1800s in Silverbrook Cemetery.
When it fell, it uprooted history with it.
Candace Skalla, president of Friends of Silverbrook Cemetery, said a fence placed in the 1850s once completely surrounded the tree and the family plot of A.B. Staples. Part of the tree eventually grew into the fence.
The combination of metal and wood attracted curiosity seekers’ attentions, Skalla said, resulting in the fence and tree to be featured in a syndicated “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” column in the 1930s.
Most of the fence was taken down in the 1940s, but the small section merged with the tree remained until the July 10 storm, when the tree was uprooted, taking the fence with it.
At least 10 gravestones were damaged when the tree fell.
