15. Coast Redwood
(Sequoia sempervirens)
Location: Davis Community Church, 4th Street
Nominator: Alan Hirsch
This 110-ft tall Coast redwood has stood guard over Davis Community Church for nearly 100 years. But it is still just a juvenile, as the species are among the oldest things on Earth, living over 2000 years and reaching up to 380 feet in height.
A gigantic Coast redwood was nominated as a Great Tree by Alan Hirsch because it stands like a guardian at the entrance to the Davis Community Church. According to Dennis Dahlin, the tree was planted in about 1926 when the sanctuary building was completed.
Dahlin also notes that the cypress tree just east of the main entrance is known as the “Gethsemane Tree” as it was reportedly grown from a seed gathered in the Garden of Gethsemane in Palestine. Both of these trees are on the City of Davis Landmark Tree List.