Historical Trees of Downtown Renton

The Burnett Linear Park Plane trees

Common Name: London Plane

Scientific Name: Platanus x acerifolia

Diameter: 32”

Fun Facts: These trees are part of the Sycamore family and are some of the best ‘performers’ in the City’s tree inventory. They have fine hairs on their leaves which help purify the air by trapping fine airborne particulates. Burnett Linear Park marks the location of the Northern Pacific Railway Depot; the NPRR ran right through the center of the city on Burnett.

History: Photo shows Northern Pacific R. R. Depot c.1912. This was Located at Burnett Ave S and 5th St. between the tracks and shows the station in relation to the south end of city of that time. Tracks passed on either side of depot. Depot handled freight as well as passengers. Built in 1906-1907, using parts of the Black River Junction Depot, it was demolished in 1906. Burnett Linear Park marks the location of the Northern Pacific Railway Depot; the NPRR ran right through the center of the city on Burnett.

The South 5th Street Birch trees

Common Name: Paper Birch

Scientific Name: Betula papyrifera

Diameter: 31” inches DBH

Fun Facts: It is unusual to see birch trees this large in an urban environment, but these seem happy despite having been topped sometime in the past. The tree is named for its paper-like bark which peels off in sheets. Native Americans in the East originally used it for making their canoes.

History: Photos show houses typical to the South Renton neighborhood. Some were craftsmen or ‘Victorian’ as the design in the early 1900s was known, and often these were built from Sears plans. Interior wood trim was often a dark stained pine and can be seen in houses across the United States from the same period.

The Whitworth Ave South Maple tree

Common Name: Silver Maple

Scientific Name: Acer saccharinum

Diameter: 98” inches DBH

Fun Facts: On the other side of the tracks from Houser Way, this huge 3 stemmed tree lives up to its billing as a fast grower and great shade provider. The ‘silver’ comes from the fact that the underside of the leaf is a pale silvery shade. The wood is commonly used for veneers, palettes and musical instruments.

History: If you look carefully at this photo from 1992 you can see the trunks of the Silver Maple tree leaning out over the tracks behind what is now the Chamber of Commerce. In the current day the track is largely used to shuttle 737 Max airplane fuselages from Boeing Field in South Seattle to the Boeing assembly facilities in Renton.

South 4th Street Linden trees

Common Name: American Basswood or American Linden

Scientific Name: Tilia americana

Diameter: 28 inches

Fun Facts: This is the northernmost of the Linden trees, sometimes nicknamed the ‘bee-tree’. The tiny white flowers are very fragrant and attract plenty of bees from which a strong-tasting honey can be made.

History: Trains were certainly featured in Renton’s history. One photo shows the remodeled Renton Train Deport with the engine of the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train in front of what is now the Chamber of Commerce, 1993. This train went up to Woodinville. The train and commerce theme continues in photos showing an electric train from 1944 in the downtown and one from 1950 in the same area.

A Private Chestnut Tree

Common Name: Horse chestnut

Scientific Name: Aesculus hippocastanum

Diameter: 51” inches DBH

Fun Facts: Other varieties of Chestnut trees like this one can be found along the Cedar River trail and in Liberty Park. They are related to Buckeyes. The nuts from Chestnuts are edible but NOT Horse Chestnuts. The nuts are called ‘conkers’ and European schoolkids will drill a hole and feed a string through to play a game of trying to smash your opponent’s nut, similarly strung. This restaurant was originally the home of Record-Chronicle newspaper publisher Dan McGovern. It was built in 1936 by local builder George W. Custer. 

History: 212 Third Avenue. McGovern house at 212 3rd Avenue built by George W. Custer, completion photo taken in 1936.Dan B. McGovern was a newspaper publisher and editor, and the postmaster for the Renton station. This house in now an Asian restaurant and a large Safeway store is next to it. Although the house is just out of view at the the top right side of frame, the second photo shows the block between S 2nd and S 3rd, East of Rainier.

The High school Oaks

Common Name: Northern Red Oak

Scientific Name: Quercus rubra

Diameter: 35” inches DBH

Fun Facts: This glorious avenue of stately oaks is composed of trees which trace their origins to the Northeast of the county. They are more numerous now than White oak as the latter was overexploited when forests were cleared for lumber and White oak was preferred. The wood nonetheless compares favorably for furniture and interior house trim. The Savage Lumber Co., across Second St. from the high school, manufactured moldings, windows, and doors from 1923 until 1958.

History: The historical photo shows Renton High School with the old Junior High wing. The Northern Red Oaks in the median are considerably smaller than they are today, even though this photo was taken as recently as 2001.

The Jones Park London Plane trees

Common Name: London Plane

Scientific Name: Platanus x acerifolia

Diameter: 55” inches DBH

Fun Facts: These are the biggest sycamores in the City tree inventory and bulbous burls on the trunks are pretty interesting. If you have ever been around a mower or a chipper when the dried fruit - about the size of a ping pong ball - gets chewed up, you’ll know why some people refer to them as ‘itchy scratchy cough balls’!

History: In 1924 David H. Jones (1834 – 1925) donated the land for the city’s second public park, named in his honor. Born in Wales, after he immigrated Jones became a coal mining pioneer in Washington state, opening mines in Newcastle and Black Diamond in the 1890s. His small park became a site for regular picnics, and playground equipment was added in the 1970s for neighborhood kids.

The Sugi Redwoods

Common Name: Taiwan Cryptomeria

Scientific Name: Taiwania cryptomerioides

Diameter: 25” inches DBH

Fun Facts: These trees are Japanese native and are revered for their curative properties. Shinroku, or forest bathing, is recognized there as a prescribed process for immersing oneself in the volatile organic compounds - like terpenes and limonenes - that are emitted into the air by certain tree species. Studies have shown that simply walking through the forest can measurably improve your health. 

History: Renton signed a Sister City agreement with Nishiwaki City, Japan in 1969, beginning a fifty-plus year relationship of cultural exchanges. Members of the Renton Lions Club visited Nishiwaki for the first time in July 1969 and a delegation from the Japanese city, including Mayor Shinji Takase, visited Renton in October 1974. Mayor Takase is pictured here with Renton Mayor Avery Garrett. Nishiwaki donated 63 cherry trees, planted around Renton.

The Liberty Park Elm

Common Name: American elm

Scientific Name: Ulmus americana

Diameter: 51” inches DBH

Fun Facts: Sister to the 2 elms in Jones Park, this giant is unusual in as much as it has so far survived the Dutch Elm Disease which laid waste to millions of American Elms across Europe and North America in the 1960s and 1970s. The city continues to lose trees to the disease, and several have been removed from Jones Park in recent years. Renton’s first city park, Liberty Park was named to commemorate the values Americans fought for in WWI. The park was originally outfitted with a “Sweet Center” for ice cream and other treats and a baseball diamond with a huge wooden grandstand.

The Disconnected Oak

Common Name: Northern Red Oak

Scientific Name: Quercus rubra

Diameter: 34” inches DBH

Fun Facts: This oak may not be ‘connected’ to an avenue of brethren like those in front of the high school, but it does serve to nicely frame the location of an important piece of logging history – The Disconnect rail car. The rail car was built by PACCAR for transporting huge logs; it is called a “disconnect” because only the logs connect the two trucks, or wheel assemblies, on which they ride. Together with coal mining, logging gave Renton its economic start.

History: The yard of Fire Station No. 1 has gone through several transformations, but the most important was when the Chief Seattle fountain was relocated here in 1939. An exact replica of the statue in Seattle’s Pioneer Square, the fountain was donated to the City of Renton in 1910 by the Renton Volunteer Fire Department. After 1910 the fountain was moved three times before landing in the Fire Station yard. Its last move was in 1982, from the southwest corner of the building to the northeast.  

Veterans Cedar

Common Name: Deodar cedar

Scientific Name: Cedrus deodara

Diameter: 47” inches DBH

Fun Facts: In Hindu culture the tree is worshipped for its divine nature. It is used in Ayurvedic medicine and is known for its fragrant oil. The cones are uniquely upright and of a distinct glaucous or blue-green color. The cedar was planted not long after the completion of Renton’s Fire Station No. 1 in 1942.

History: Members of the Renton VFW and the American Legion began organizing to create a Veterans Memorial on this site as soon as the Holm Building was torn down in 1998. After five years of fundraising, design, and planning the All-Veterans Memorial Park was dedicated on Memorial Day, May 26, 2003. The memorial honors all veterans who served in the military services and features plaques honoring named service members.