JERSEY CITY – “After a decade plus of slow moving construction, we made a commitment that we would finish the Apple Tree House in Ward C,” said Mayor Steven Fulop. “I just did the final walk through and it is officially finished/restored to how it was. We are now scheduling the community ribbon cutting. I believe that George Washington would choose to visit here again in the current condition.”
The apple tree that the legend made famous fell during a storm on Sept. 3, 1821. People came from far and wide to collect pieces of the tree as souvenirs. Some kids whittled its wood into various objects for gifts around Christmastime.
In 1824, Lafayette returned to New Jersey as an old man to tour places he had shared with Washington, including Paterson and Jersey City. This was a huge historic event for Jersey City and the state, since Lafayette was considered as much a hero of the American Revolution as Washington. Some towns in the state such as Cape May name streets after both men in tribute. During his visit to Jersey City that year, local officials presented him with a walking stick made from the wood of the fallen tree. The stick is on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
In seeking to preserve some of that history, local residents worked to preserve the house, which was later renamed “Apple Tree House.”
