The Lakeside Tree Advisory Committee has identified more than 100 trees that are Founding Trees because they are at least 150 years old. They were here when Lakeside was founded in 1873. A brochure is available in the Administration Office that gives the location of these 112 trees. Some of the prominent trees are marked with a green ribbon and a sign. The age of the trees was estimated based on tree diameter and a table of yearly growth based on species. Some of the trees are more than 200 years old with one an estimated 295 years.
The land for Lakeside was purchased over several years. Two purchases in 1873 ran from the west side of Sycamore Ave. to the east side of Cedar Ave./Kenton Row. This wooded lot was the site of the first environmental protest in Lakeside as the women objected to the cutting of so many trees, in what was to be a park, for the construction of the first portion of the dock.
Six years later in 1879, Lakeside made three additional purchases – the wooded lot from Sycamore Ave. to the current west boundary, the farmland from Peach Ave. to Poplar Ave., and the farmland from Vine Ave. to Peach Ave. Finally, in 1888, Lakeside was able to purchase the farmland from Cedar Ave. to Vine Ave. to complete the Lakeside land holding. This division between wooded and farmland is still reflected in the mature trees today as 46 of the trees are from Cedar westward while east of Cedar there are only 12 old trees.
