Abstract:
In 1915, the world's largest recorded chestnut tree stood in Haywood County and measured seventeen feet in diameter. Today, North Carolina's largest recorded chestnut stands at Wayah Bald and measures sixteen inches around. In the intervening years, chestnut trees in the Appalachian region were nearly wiped out by a devastating blight. In Asheville, a branch of the American Chestnut Foundation is working to restore these once-mighty trees to the forests.