Rochester NH History - A Nightmare on Elm Street

Did you ever notice in Old pictures of downtown Rochester that the city streets were lined with large, beautiful Elm trees? In the 19th century, Rochester like many New England towns planted elm trees In order to beautify the downtown streets. The Elms grew fast and soon the streets of Rochester were lined with majestic Elm trees. In the 1930's it is estimated that America had over 25 million elm trees but That was then, and this is now. For the majority of us the Giant Elms of downtown are the memories of our ancestors. This venerable tree is nowhere to be found today. You might ask; What happened? Where did all the Elm Trees go? This episode we will look at the infamous Dutch Elm Disease and its affect it had on our beautiful Elm Trees.