{"id":1110,"date":"2018-06-26T15:44:18","date_gmt":"2018-06-26T15:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/?p=1110"},"modified":"2026-06-20T18:59:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T18:59:39","slug":"the-w-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/the-w-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"THE &#8220;W&#8221; TREE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/W-Tree-postcard-1907.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"984\" height=\"615\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1105\" srcset=\"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/W-Tree-postcard-1907.jpg 984w, http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/W-Tree-postcard-1907-300x188.jpg 300w, http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/W-Tree-postcard-1907-768x480.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 984px) 100vw, 984px\" \/> The oddly twisted piece of timber is the only existing remnant of Wildwood\u2019s famous \u201cW\u201d Tree, ages older than the city itself and symbolic of the primeval forest which inspired the resort\u2019s name. Our tree, an American Holly of magnificent beauty, was growing between what is now Pine and Wildwood Aves., {where the Wawa is today. } The island then was a wild stretch of sand dunes blanketed by a dense vine-tangled jungle in which strangely formed hollies abounded.<br \/>\nEarly settlers gave the hollies names, the most famous being the \u201cW\u201d tree, so named because as a sapling, its limbs had been lashed by the savage winds of Atlantic storms into an almost perfect W.<br \/>\nFor years the tree grew undisturbed, occupying a warm spot in the hearts of Wildwood residents and visitors. On a sunny August day in 1890, President Benjamin Harrison, while visiting Wildwood, insisted his photograph be taken by the tree.<br \/>\nFor many years the area surrounding it was maintained as Magnolia Park, with the \u201cW\u201d tree as its feature attraction. When eventual development forced removal of the tree, it was placed in front of the Baker Bros. Office. Later it found its way to City Hall, and when the boroughs of Holly Beach and Wildwood were consolidated in 1912, a picture of it was incorporated into the city seal. The Wildwood Historical Society moved this remnant of the venerable tree from City Hall to the Museum in April 1990 where it is on permanent display. Stop by the museum to see it!  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Rainbow-tree.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"741\" height=\"741\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1104\" srcset=\"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Rainbow-tree.jpg 741w, http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Rainbow-tree-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Rainbow-tree-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 741px) 100vw, 741px\" \/> You learn something new every day&#8230; especially at the Wildwood Historic Museum! {and a very good reason to visit!} Who knew that The \u201cW\u201d Tree was originally known as the Rainbow Tree? <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/W-Tree-RW-Ryan-son-first-baby.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1220\" height=\"1251\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1103\" srcset=\"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/W-Tree-RW-Ryan-son-first-baby.jpg 1220w, http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/W-Tree-RW-Ryan-son-first-baby-293x300.jpg 293w, http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/W-Tree-RW-Ryan-son-first-baby-768x788.jpg 768w, http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/W-Tree-RW-Ryan-son-first-baby-999x1024.jpg 999w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1220px) 100vw, 1220px\" \/> Five-year-old Norman W. Ryan, is shown sitting in the tree as his father, R.W. Ryan looks on in 1897. The child was the first boy to be born in Wildwood. In honor of the occasion they gave him the middle name of Wildwood. ~\u201cWildwood Middle of The Island\u201d, historian George F. Boyer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The oddly twisted piece of timber is the only existing remnant of Wildwood\u2019s famous \u201cW\u201d Tree, ages older than the city itself and symbolic of the primeval forest which inspired the resort\u2019s name. Our tree, an American Holly of magnificent beauty, was growing between what is now Pine and Wildwood Aves., {where the Wawa is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1,4],"tags":[98,9,97],"class_list":["post-1110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","category-general","category-wildwood-stories","tag-w","tag-wildwood","tag-wtree"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1110"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1112,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110\/revisions\/1112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}