The Newport Way Giant Sequoia

Seward Park's Big Tree, the old-growth Douglas fir counted as the city's oldest, is around 150 feet tall. This giant sequoia in Madrona is 148, and it grows on the frontage of a house. The figures come from Seattle's tree inventory, which lists it as a Heritage Tree at 1116 Newport Way, with a trunk 100 inches across, about 26 feet round, and a crown about 63 feet wide. The city last checked it in August 2023 and recorded it in service. The record carries a three-letter comment, BIC. Seattle classes some of its Heritage Trees as Best in City, and that is the likeliest reading, but the register does not spell it out, so take it as probable rather than certain. Giant sequoias grow wild only in a narrow band of California's Sierra Nevada, so somebody planted this one. Nobody has written down who or when. A tree of this height invites a guess at its age, and we would rather leave the line empty than fill it with one. The inventory is the only source we have, and it supplies the pin, which has not been checked against the crown; go by the address. The ground is private, so look from the street. The nearest other tree on this page is the Heritage tulip tree in Leschi Park, about 1.2 kilometres to the south. If you know this sequoia's story, tell us.