Roadside Arboretum
of
Washington Township

The idea for a roadside arboretum sprang from a project for the Museum of Local History in Fremont, California.  The project was to locate and photograph the trees on the Landmark Trees list the city approved in 1974.  In preparing the project, many additional trees were seen in Fremont (and in the surrounding cities of Newark and Union City) that could have, even should have been included.  A few interested individuals got together and started the Roadside Arboretum of Washington Township to rectify this oversite, and to create, on our streets and boulevards, a world-class arboretum. 

Washington Township

Washington Township encompasses one of the best areas in the state for growing a wide variety of trees and plants.  Winters are mild with only occasional frost, and Summers are warm and sunny.  Adjacent to San Francisco Bay, it has the moderate weather of Coastal California without the harsh winds or chilling fog of the seaside.  Here was also the site of several of California's first commercial nurseries.  When California became the nation's premier agricultural state, Washington Township supplied the trees for orchards, groves and gardens.  John Rock and later George Roeding of the California Nursery Company, combed the world for trees of all varieties and had them brought here to cultivate.  The legacy of this endeavor is the wealth of trees and plants we see about us today. 

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