Simon Hunt House & Liberty Tree Markers

Liberty trees were an early tradition for many towns and cities in the freshly founded United States. Inspired by the original Liberty Tree in Boston, municipalities across the fledgling country planted or designated their own trees as an affirmation of national identity and dedication to the nation’s founding principles.

Acton chose a stately American elm on the farm of Simon Hunt, Jr. to be the town’s Liberty Tree at some point during the Revolution. Hunt, a First Lieutenant in Major Francis Faulkner’s West Acton militia, led the company to the battle at Concord on April 19, 1775.

In August 1899, the Bunker Hill Historical Society placed two bronze markers at the Simon Hunt Farm, one on the house and the other on the tree, both of which have since disappeared. They read, "The Hunt House 1735 to 1821" and, "Liberty Tree 1776," respectively.

With the introduction of Dutch elm disease in the early twentieth century, concerns for the tree’s health prompted the town’s schoolchildren to plant a maple nearby in 1915. The children’s contribution, dubbed the “Peace Tree,” became the designated successor to its Revolution-era forebear.

Unfortunately, the town’s Liberty Tree succumbed to the disease in 1925; however, the Peace Tree remains today.

A faded sign adorns the Peace Tree. Its lettering reads:

THE PEACE TREE
PLANTED WITH DUE
CEREMONY BY THE
SCHOOL CHILDREN OF
ACTON ON ARBOR DAY
1915 AS A STAND-IN
FOR THE LIBERTY TREE