Do You Remember the Brewster / Danbury Jesus Tree and the Urban Legends Surrounding It?

Do you remember the Jesus Tree? It used to be right on the Brewster side by the Brewster/Danbury town line on Federal Hill Road/Joe's Hill Road. It got the name 'Jesus Tree' due to the way that the tree, branches, and knots came together into a form that resembled Jesus Christ hanging on a cross.

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I saw the Jesus Tree back in the late 1980's. I was with my buddy Ed from Danbury on a Sunday. Up until pretty recently actually, Connecticut prohibited alcohol sales on Sunday, or after 8PM, so we used to cross the state line into New York State to get our booze after CT shut us off. Ed used to live in the Aunt Hack neighborhood of Danbury, so we took a ride along Joe's Hill Road towards the promised land of late night Bud Lights.

As we drove up the Hill past just Farrington's Pond, my friend slowed down, turned on his high beams, pointed to it and said "Can you see Jesus?" Yeah, I did. Wow, it was truly striking. The Jesus Tree closely resembled one of the most iconic images in our world, Christ on a Crucifix. I hadn't thought about the Jesus Tree in years, but I recently reconnected with my friend Ed on social media.

I started looking into what happened to the tree, and according to numerous sources, the Jesus Tree was cut down around 1991ish, from what I can gather, after a group of local high school students hacked it up, so local municipal crews came in and finished the job.

Legend has it that the tree oozed out blood red sap from the area near Christ's wounds, and the twelve trees surrounding the Jesus Tree represented the Twelve Apostles. The area was also thought to be haunted, with rumors of Satanic rituals taking place, and apparitions suddenly appearing in the road.

According to More Connecticut Lore by Zachary Lamothe, local legend has it that numerous motorists lost their lives after being distracted by 'something' on the road, and driving right into Farrington's Pond. One of those motorists was a young girl on her way to her prom, and on certain hauntingly moonlit nights, you can see a prom dress hovering over the Pond.

What are some of your memories of the Jesus Tree? Do you remember it being thought of as a miracle? Holy? Or did you see, or believe the mysterious?