Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
From tree trunks to tall ships. How Navy foresters in Indiana help preserve USS Constitution.
Tucked in the hills of southern Indiana, NWS Crane hides a forest of national importance. Within the world's third largest naval base stand white oak trees with an unlikely job: keeping the USS Constitution, the Navy's oldest commissioned warship and hero of the War of 1812, afloat. Across Indiana producer Jonathan Papoutsis uncovers the connection between these trees and Old Ironsides.
Thank you so much to @GBH, @GBHArchives, and the USS Constitution Museum for providing footage and photos for this story!
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Media Attributions:
1. Recoppering the CONSTITUTION, by Aiden Lassell Ripley, c. 1965. USS Constitution Museum Collection, 282.2. Courtesy Paul Revere Life Insurance Co. © Aiden Lassell Ripley.
2. Launching Constitution, Hartt’s Yard – Boston – October 21, 1797, by Paul Garnett, 2013. USS Constitution Museum Collection, 2263.1. © Paul Garnett.
3. Plate 18, lithograph by Henry Stone, in Peter Guillet's Timber Merchant’s Guide (Baltimore: James Lovegrove, 1823). USS Constitution Museum Collection,1742.1.
#oldironsides #navy #america250 #tallships #ships #indiana #boston #wfyi #gbh #usa #history #sailing #1812 #lumberjack #ussconstitution #navalhistory #july4 #military
From tree trunks to tall ships. How Navy foresters in Indiana help preserve USS Constitution.
Tucked in the hills of southern Indiana, NWS Crane hides a forest of national importance. Within the world's third largest naval base stand white oak trees with an unlikely job: keeping the USS Constitution, the Navy's oldest commissioned warship and hero of the War of 1812, afloat. Across Indiana producer Jonathan Papoutsis uncovers the connection between these trees and Old Ironsides.
Thank you so much to @GBH, @GBHArchives, and the USS Constitution Museum for providing footage and photos for this story!
FOLLOW WFYI
Instagram: instagram.com/wfyi_indy
TikTok: tiktok.com/@wfyipublicmedia
Facebook: facebook.com/wfyipublicmedia
X: twitter.com/wfyi
The WFYI programs you love are possible thanks to your support. Donate today: wfyi.org/give
Media Attributions:
1. Recoppering the CONSTITUTION, by Aiden Lassell Ripley, c. 1965. USS Constitution Museum Collection, 282.2. Courtesy Paul Revere Life Insurance Co. © Aiden Lassell Ripley.
2. Launching Constitution, Hartt’s Yard – Boston – October 21, 1797, by Paul Garnett, 2013. USS Constitution Museum Collection, 2263.1. © Paul Garnett.
3. Plate 18, lithograph by Henry Stone, in Peter Guillet's Timber Merchant’s Guide (Baltimore: James Lovegrove, 1823). USS Constitution Museum Collection,1742.1.
#oldironsides #navy #america250 #tallships #ships #indiana #boston #wfyi #gbh #usa #history #sailing #1812 #lumberjack #ussconstitution #navalhistory #july4 #military
