Page 74 - Heavenly Signs III by Mel Gable

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The early American colonists planted sycamore trees because of its resemblance to the English sycamore maple.
The American sycamore is North America's largest native broad-leaf tree which is planted in yards and parks.
Manhattan farmers planted sycamore trees in the 18th century, and today’s American sycamore has adapted well
to urban areas. It is New York City's tallest street tree and the most common tree in Brooklyn, New York.

Sycamore trees have broad, maple-like leaves and a trunk and limbs of mixed green, tan, and cream bark that
eventually turns to a smooth white bark when the tree matures. Sycamores belong to one of earth's oldest family
of trees, called Platanaceae. Sycamore trees can live as long as 600 years, and can grow as high as 100 feet. The
family consists of only a single living genus Platanus, of six to ten species of tall trees, native to temperate and
subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
The Sycamore Tree:

The roots of a sycamore tree at
Ground Zero from Sept. 11, 2001,
have been preserved as a
memorial to the terrorist event in
New York City.

A local rabbi believes it's a visible
fulfillment of an Old Testament
prophecy about God's current
judgment on America.

A continuing pattern of American
leaders will fulfill an ancient
biblical prophecy and a curse of

judgment on the United States.
St. Paul’s Chapel Sycamore Tree Stump (CCASA)

St. Paul's Chapel which is part of Trinity Church stands across the street from where the World Trade Center
Towers once stood. It was built sometime between 1764 and 1766. St. Paul’s Chapel goes back to before the
United States’ Revolutionary War and is the oldest building in continuous use in Manhattan. It survived the
Great Fire of 1777, which was set by the British to punish New Yorkers for their support of the rebels. The fire
destroyed most of what was then New York City. For more than 250 years the chapel has served as a quiet place
of prayer and meditation for workers and residents of New York City’s financial district. Even after George
Washington was inaugurated a few blocks away on Wall Street, he stopped at St. Paul’s to pray. It was at the
previous location that the United States was dedicated to God during George Washington’s first inauguration. It
is the reason why ground zero and the Twin Towers were important to God’s Judgment of this nation.
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When the World Trade Towers collapsed on September 11, 2001, a 70-year-old sycamore tree fell at St. Paul's
Chapel. The very fact that the force of the collapse was enough to knock down such a large tree made the
complete survival of St. Paul’s Chapel all the more remarkable. It was almost as if all the power and fury of the
disaster surrounding the church had somehow been directed at that one tree. While much larger, newer buildings
suffered massive structural damage, tiny St. Paul’s Chapel was barely touched, leaving it available to provide
desperately needed support to those workers clearing the Trade Center rubble. One tree, sacrificed to save the
church. Even though the tree itself did not survive, the sycamore's role as the chapel's protector has been
memorialized by Pennsylvania artist Steve Tobin. Tobin cast the tree's remaining stump and root system in
bronze to create a 20-foot-long, 12-foot high life-like sculpture. The piece was installed in the Trinity Church
courtyard and dedicated on Sept. 11, 2005. 118

118 Rachel Snyder, (Jan. 18, 2011) “New York City’s Tree of Hope,” Banner Magazine of the Christian Reformed Church.