The Southbury Record

A piece of Southbury’s early history has found its way home.

The “Pine Tree Corners Table”, crafted from a towering white pine tree that once stood prominently at the intersection of Routes 172 and 67, has been relocated to the Old Town Hall Museum in South Britain.

Before numbered highways or modern street signs, the original white pine tree was estimated to be at least 164 years old and stood over 110 feet tall, guiding locals and travelers through the town,

The effort to bring one of the town’s most recognizable landmarks of the 19th century out of storage and into preservation was spearheaded by Tim O’Neil, who was raised in and still owns the house that stands on the corner of Roxbury Road and South Britain Road.

O’Neil, a current member of the Board of Selectmen – as well as a candidate for Southbury’s First Selectman this year – arranged for the table to be salvaged and transferred, with the help and coordination of the state’s Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, and the Southbury Historical Society.

With the help of his son Chris, O’Neil personally picked up and delivered the table to its new home at the Old Town Hall Museum, located at 624 South Britain Road.

“This table tells the story of Southbury itself, of resilience, connection, and community pride,” said O’Neil. “It’s a reminder that our past still has lessons for our future. We have a responsibility to preserve our history, manage our present, and plan for what comes next.”

On September 21, 1938, the Great New England Hurricane tore through Connecticut, toppling the mighty pine. 

But the fallen tree was not forgotten. 

As the Southbury Training School was being constructed under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Work Program in the late 1930s, a section of the historic pine was salvaged, crafted into a table, and donated to the new state facility.

For decades, the table was proudly displayed in the Moser Library at the Training School, before being moved to storage, where it sat for years, unnoticed and even used to support filing cabinets.

Today, a message on the preserved historic landmark reads, “This table is made from a section of the white pine tree which stood at the corner of South Britain Road (Rt. 172) and Roxbury Road (Rt. 67) in Southbury. The tree fell on September 21st during the Hurricane of 1938. To this day, the intersection is still known as Pine Tree Corner.”

In a statement, Lieutenant Governor Bysiewicz said this endeavor would not have been possible without the help and advocacy of O’Neil, a fourth-generation Southbury resident.

“I was happy to work with the Southbury Training School to secure the donation of an important piece of furniture for the Southbury Historical Society,” she said.

As part of O’Neil’s larger vision, he has pledged to have an open dialogue with state officials about the future of the Southbury Training School and surrounding state-owned properties.

“The Pine Tree Corners Table, crafted from the mighty pine that once stood watch over our town, is a symbol of Southbury’s enduring spirit and my promise of putting forward leadership that is committed to honoring the past while shaping the future,” said O’Neil.