Dedication of the Sam T. Weyman Laboratory

In 1539, this hemlock added a new ring during the same year that Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto passed through what is now the southeastern United States. Leading one of the earliest European expeditions into the interior of North America, De Soto and his party traveled through parts of present-day Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Alabama in search of gold and new territory for Spain.

While De Soto did not establish permanent settlements, his expedition likely passed near the southern Appalachian region, including areas close to present-day Highlands. At the time, these mountains were home to thriving Indigenous communities, ancestors of the Cherokee and other Native peoples who had lived, farmed, hunted, and stewarded this landscape for centuries.

As this tree quietly grew in the cool mountain forest, the world beyond these ridges was beginning to change—marking the early moments of European contact in the Appalachian Southeast.

In 1620, as this hemlock added another ring deep in the Southern Appalachian forest, English settlers known as the Pilgrims arrived on the northeastern coast of North America and established Plymouth Colony near what is now Plymouth. Their landing at Plymouth Rock has come to symbolize the beginning of permanent English settlement in New England.

Although this event took place hundreds of miles from the southern Appalachians, it marked a major shift in the balance of power among European nations competing for land and resources in North America. Over time, expanding English colonies along the Atlantic coast would push trade routes, migration, and conflict farther inland—eventually affecting Indigenous communities and landscapes throughout the Appalachian Mountains, including the region around present-day Highlands, North Carolina.

While political and cultural change accelerated along the coast, this hemlock continued its slow, steady growth—bearing silent witness to a continent in transition.

In 1565, as this hemlock added another year of growth, St. Augustine was founded on the coast of present-day Florida. Established by Spanish settlers, St. Augustine became the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in what is now the United States.

Although St. Augustine lay far from the Southern Appalachian Mountains, its founding marked a turning point in the history of the region. European presence along the southeastern coast intensified trade, exploration, and conflict inland, gradually reshaping the lives of Indigenous peoples across the Southeast—including those connected by long-established trade routes into the Appalachian highlands near present-day Highlands, North Carolina.

Here in the mountains, this hemlock continued to grow in relative quiet, even as permanent European settlement took root hundreds of miles away—setting in motion changes that would eventually reach these forests.

In 1670, as this hemlock added another year of growth, the first permanent European settlers arrived in what would become North Carolina. English colonists established communities along the coast, laying the foundations for the Carolina colony and beginning a sustained European presence in the region.

Although these early settlements were far east of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, their establishment marked an important step toward inland expansion. Over the following decades, trade networks, land claims, and population pressures slowly moved westward, setting the stage for future settlement in the Appalachian foothills and highlands. Indigenous peoples—who had lived in and managed these landscapes for generations—were increasingly affected by these changes.

Here in the mountains near present-day Highlands, forests like this one remained largely intact for many years, even as permanent settlement took hold elsewhere in North Carolina and the human footprint on the land began to grow.

In 1773, as this hemlock added another ring, unrest was growing in Britain’s North American colonies. That year, colonists in Massachusetts staged the Boston Tea Party, protesting British taxation and control. In response to escalating tensions, representatives from twelve colonies gathered in 1774 for the First Continental Congress, marking an unprecedented step toward collective political action.

Though these events unfolded far from the Southern Appalachian Mountains, their consequences would soon be felt across the colonies—including the backcountry of North Carolina. Revolutionary ideas traveled along trade routes and through rural communities, shaping political loyalties and daily life even in remote mountain regions. In the years that followed, the Appalachian backcountry would play a significant role in the struggle for independence.

As debates over liberty and governance intensified along the coast and in colonial cities, this hemlock continued its quiet growth—rooted in a landscape on the edge of a nation about to be born.

In 1776, as this hemlock added another ring, representatives of the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia adopted the Declaration of Independence, formally announcing that the thirteen American colonies would separate from British rule.

Although the document was signed far from the Southern Appalachian Mountains, its ideas quickly spread beyond cities and coastal settlements. Calls for self-governance and resistance to British authority reached rural communities and frontier regions, including the North Carolina backcountry. Many settlers in and around the Appalachian Mountains would soon be drawn directly into the Revolutionary War, through militia service, supply routes, and local conflicts.

While human history accelerated toward revolution and nationhood, this hemlock continued its steady growth—rooted in a mountain landscape that would soon become part of a newly independent United States.

In 1489, this eastern hemlock began its life as a seedling on the forest floor of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Long before European contact or permanent settlement in this region, dense hemlock forests shaded cool streams, stabilized soils, and created habitat for countless plants and animals.

At the time, the mountains surrounding present-day Highlands were part of a living cultural landscape shaped by Indigenous peoples through hunting, gathering, agriculture, and stewardship. As generations passed, this young tree grew slowly in the understory, adding a narrow ring each year—recording centuries of climate, disturbance, and change within its wood.

This first ring marks the beginning of a life that would span major shifts in human history, even as the forest itself remained a place of continuity, resilience, and quiet growth.

In 1584, as this hemlock continued its steady growth, English efforts to establish a foothold in North America began under the sponsorship of Sir Walter Raleigh. Raleigh’s expeditions led to the founding of the Roanoke Island Colony along the coast of present-day North Carolina—England’s first attempt at permanent settlement in the New World.

The colony, established between 1585 and 1587, ultimately failed and became known as the “Lost Colony” after its inhabitants mysteriously disappeared. Although Roanoke lay far from the Southern Appalachian Mountains, its story marks the beginning of England’s direct involvement in the region that would become North Carolina. These early coastal efforts foreshadowed later waves of exploration, settlement, and conflict that would eventually reach the Appalachian interior.

As England struggled to gain a foothold on the Atlantic coast, this hemlock continued to grow quietly in the mountain forest—rooted in a landscape still largely shaped by natural processes and Indigenous stewardship.

In 1607, as this hemlock added another ring in the Southern Appalachian forest, English settlers founded Jamestown along the James River in present-day Virginia. Jamestown became the first permanent English colony in North America, marking a turning point in England’s colonial ambitions.

Although Jamestown lay far east of the Appalachian Mountains, its survival helped secure England’s long-term presence on the continent. Over time, expanding settlements, trade networks, and land claims pushed steadily inland, increasing pressure on Indigenous nations and transforming landscapes far beyond the coastal plain. These changes would eventually reach the mountain regions surrounding present-day Highlands, North Carolina.

While Jamestown struggled through its early years, this hemlock continued its slow, steady growth—rooted in a forest that remained, for the moment, largely untouched by permanent European settlement.

As Aldo Leopold once observed in A Sand County Almanac, a tree can tell more than its own story. What appears at first as simple sawdust and wood is, on closer look, a record of time itself—written year by year in concentric rings.

Each ring marks a season of growth, but together they hold something larger: the passing of generations, the rise and fall of human histories, and the slow, patient rhythms of the natural world. In this slice of hemlock, ecological time and human time intersect—quietly preserved in wood.

To read these rings is to read a history measured not in moments, but in centuries.

In 1838, as this hemlock added another ring, the Cherokee people were forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands in the Southeast under the policy known as the Trail of Tears. Thousands were compelled to leave their homes and travel west to what is now Oklahoma, suffering immense hardship, illness, and loss of life along the way.

For generations, Cherokee communities had lived throughout the Southern Appalachian region, including the mountains and river valleys surrounding present-day Highlands, North Carolina. Their removal marked a profound rupture in the cultural and ecological relationships that had shaped this landscape for centuries.

As families were forced from their land and familiar forests, this hemlock continued to grow—bearing silent witness to one of the most devastating chapters in Appalachian and American history.

In 1863, as this hemlock added another ring, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that enslaved people held in states rebelling against the United States were free. Though it did not immediately end slavery everywhere, the proclamation fundamentally reshaped the Civil War and redefined its moral purpose.

The effects of this decision reached far beyond the battlefields. In North Carolina and across the Southern Appalachians, the war disrupted communities, economies, and daily life. Enslaved people sought freedom where they could, Union and Confederate forces moved through mountain regions, and long-standing social systems were irrevocably changed.

As the nation struggled through war and transformation, this hemlock continued its steady growth—rooted in a mountain landscape enduring both human conflict and profound change.

In 1789, as this hemlock added another ring, North Carolina became the twelfth state to ratify the United States Constitution and formally join the new nation. This decision followed years of debate about federal power, representation, and the future of the former colonies after independence.

For communities across North Carolina—including those in the Appalachian backcountry—statehood brought new systems of governance, land policies, and economic development. Roads, settlements, and trade continued to expand westward, gradually increasing the human presence in mountain regions like those surrounding present-day Highlands.

As political structures took shape and the young nation grew, this hemlock continued its quiet, steady growth—rooted in a forest that still reflected centuries of natural continuity amid accelerating change.

In 1828, as this hemlock added another ring, Macon County was officially chartered from land that had previously been part of Haywood County. The creation of Macon County reflected continued westward expansion into the Southern Appalachian Mountains and the growing presence of permanent settler communities in the region.

At the time, the area was still largely rural and forested, shaped by rugged terrain and limited access. Small farms, trade routes, and emerging towns began to take hold, gradually altering landscapes that had long been defined by dense forests and mountain watersheds. The county would later become home to communities such as present-day Highlands, founded decades afterward.

As local governance and settlement expanded around it, this hemlock continued its steady growth—rooted in a mountain forest witnessing the gradual transformation of the land around it.

Dendrology is the study of trees—their growth, structure, age, and relationship to the environments they inhabit. One of the most powerful tools in dendrology is the study of tree rings, where each ring represents a single year of growth. Wide rings may reflect favorable conditions such as ample rainfall, while narrow rings can record years of drought, competition, or disturbance. Together, these rings form a natural archive of environmental and historical change.

This Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) began its life in 1489, sprouting in a Southern Appalachian forest long before European settlement reached this region. Over the next 439 years, it added one ring at a time—silently recording centuries of climate variation, ecological shifts, and human history. When the tree was cut down in 1928, its cross-section preserved a continuous record spanning nearly four and a half centuries.

By studying this slice, dendrology allows us to connect biological time with human time—linking world events, regional history, and environmental change to the steady, patient growth of a single tree. What you see here is not just wood, but a living timeline written in rings.

In 1875, as this hemlock added another ring, surveyor and developer Samuel Truman Kelsey surveyed the town of Highlands. Drawn by the cool climate and dramatic mountain scenery, Kelsey envisioned a planned mountain community that would serve as a health retreat and summer destination.

Kelsey’s survey laid out streets, lots, and public spaces, marking the formal beginning of Highlands as a town. While development initially progressed slowly due to the area’s remote location, this moment signaled a lasting shift in land use and human presence in the surrounding landscape.

As roads, homes, and infrastructure began to take shape nearby, this hemlock continued its steady growth—rooted in a forest that had witnessed centuries of change and was now entering a new era of transformation.

In 1927, as this hemlock added one of its final rings, the Highlands Nature Center was founded, reflecting a growing appreciation for the natural history of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Established to educate visitors and residents alike, the Nature Center became a place for learning about local plants, animals, geology, and the unique ecological richness of the Highlands Plateau.

The founding of the Nature Center marked an early commitment to conservation and environmental education in the region—recognizing the value of protecting and understanding the very forests, streams, and species that had shaped Highlands for generations.

As this community began to more formally study and celebrate its natural surroundings, this centuries-old hemlock continued its quiet growth—its long life nearly complete, and its rings preserving the story of a landscape now learning to tell its own.