Two Dawn Redwoods on Preston Avenue
Common Name: Redwood, Dawn
Latin Name: Metasequoia glyptostroboides
Address: Preston Avenue at the RR tracks
GPS Coordinates: 38.035762, -78.486343
Mike Van Yahres Planted these trees in the mid 1980s as a memorial for Mary Victoria (Vicky) Craw, who was a quiet Charlottesville philanthropist. She started the first Charlottesville branch of Planned Parenthood, and was involved in the public housing foundation and Focus (now the Women’s Initiative). She was involved in many landscaping projects around the city, including the preservation of Ivy Creek Natural Area and RVF. Her name is honored at The Grove in McIntire Park East.
The back of one of the trees has been trimmed by the CSX railroad company, but both seem to be growing well. Dawn Redwoods existed 20 million years ago and were believed extinct until discovered backwoods in China in the 1940s. The species has returned vigorously around the world. Bald Cypresses are quite similar when young. The Redwood needles are larger and their stems are opposite. A Dawn Redwood can grow up to 100 feet high.