Liberty Tree Guitars

The Last Liberty Tree

The last of the original Liberty trees stood on the campus of St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, the alma mater of Francis Scott Key. In 1999 the nearly 600 year old 96-foot tulip poplar was damaged by Hurricane Floyd and was felled. Maryland resident and landscaper, Mark Mehnert rescued the historic wood.

Roughly half of the Liberty Tree wood was purchased by Taylor Guitars in 2000. The Providence Forum purchased the remaining wood in 2001 and began a preservation and educational program through the development of gifts honoring American history and American heroes.

Taylor Guitars

Taylor Guitars crafted and sold 400 Limited Edition guitars. As Bob Taylor noted:

“We’ve never made a guitar that inspired actual reverence. Awe, perhaps, but not reverence. Never have American history, craftsmanship, a special wood, the concepts of democracy and freedom, and the promise of a lasting legacy converged as completely, to convey a time and an ideal as powerfully, as in the Liberty Tree Guitars.”

Is there any wood left?

Follow the journey of our Liberty Tree Wood on OUR PROJECT EXPERIENCE PAGE »