Baltimore plants Liberty Tree in Druid Hill Park for America 250

A tulip poplar rooted in Druid Hill Park now ties Baltimore’s America 250 commemoration to the city’s everyday tree work. Planted on May 14, 2026, the small Liberty Tree is meant to do more than mark a milestone. It adds to the canopy in a park that already serves as one of Baltimore’s major green spaces and as the headquarters of the city’s Forestry Division.

The tree was propagated from the historic Maryland Liberty Tree that once stood at St. John’s College in Annapolis, part of a statewide project to place a Liberty Tree in each of Maryland’s 23 counties and Baltimore City by the end of 2026. The Maryland Liberty Tree Project is being organized by Preservation Maryland, the Maryland Center for History and Culture, the Southern Maryland National Heritage Area and the Maryland Heritage Areas Coalition. The seedlings come from the only surviving genetically identical Liberty Tree scion in the United States, descended from Maryland’s original 1775 Liberty Tree.

Baltimore leaders cast the planting as both symbolic and practical. City officials say Baltimore has about 2.8 million trees, and the Forestry Division cares for more than 125,000 trees in parks and streets. The city also plants about 8,000 new trees each year with volunteers. Baltimore says replacing every tree in the city would cost about $3.4 billion, a figure that underscores how central canopy management is to public spending, infrastructure and neighborhood quality of life.

That context matters in a city where tree cover helps determine whether a block feels livable in summer heat. TreeBaltimore says the city’s planting efforts support air quality, water quality, cooler temperatures, energy savings and neighborhood resilience. In Druid Hill Park, additional grove plantings are planned, making this Liberty Tree one piece of a broader effort rather than a standalone ceremonial gesture. The park itself, home to the Druid Hill Reservoir and the Maryland Zoo, gives the planting a highly visible setting in Northwest Baltimore.

U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen had been scheduled to attend the ceremony, but his staff read remarks on his behalf. His message framed the Liberty Tree as a symbol of civic participation and shared purpose. Maryland’s archival record gives that symbolism a long lineage, tracing the tradition to Boston in 1765 and to Annapolis citizens who returned to their Liberty Tree in September 1775 to denounce oppression and support resistance to British rule.

The original Annapolis tree was a 96-foot tulip poplar that fell after Hurricane Floyd in 1999. A sapling from that tree was planted on the Maryland State House grounds in 2017. Baltimore’s new planting extends that lineage into a city where the value of trees is measured not just in history, but in shade, stormwater control and the daily condition of neighborhoods.