For years, it stood on the border of Danbury & Brewster where Federal Hill Road and Joe's Hill Road meet, the infamous Jesus Tree.

The tree appeared to have an image of Jesus Christ on the cross woven into its knots and branches. The legends surrounding the tree were passed down from generation to generation with the lure growing each time it was handed down. I-95's Large Dave shared some of those tales in a 2021 article, writing:

"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."

The same report says the fate of the tree was decided in the early 90's. Apparently, a group of teenagers attempted to cut it down and the towns folk finished the job. I grew up in Brewster and the stories about the area around the tree were wild. I remember being told several murders took place right on the road, by the tree. I even took several "dare trips" with my friends to hangout by the tree when I was young.

The Jesus tree was one of those things that helped pass the time for bored teens in a relatively quiet town. Now, I graduated in the 90's and visited the tree before it was taken down but this was very much a thing from before my time.

That is why it comes as no surprise to me to learn that the tree has it's own song. I found out about the song in a March 6th 2023 Patch Article. The Patch had this to say of the artist(s):

Singer/songwriter/recording artist Glenn Edward Hall has written a song about his time growing up in the shadow of The Jesus Tree's branches, and it's included on his latest album "Red Clay Live," released last week.

We talked about the tree and the song on the I-95 Morning Show on Wednesday, listen below.

THE ETHAN, LOU & LARGE DAVE SHOW PODCAST ON APPLE & SPOTIFY

Red Clay Live from Glenn Edward Hall is available now for sale on Hall's website. Hall's background and music are described in his we bio as:

"Glenn Edward Hall is a New England bred, Atlanta based singer-songwriter with a soft spot for underdogs. His Americana  EP, CLOUDS TURN BLACK, gets us rooting for -and relating to- a myriad of long shot characters, including a lovesick lumberjack with frozen toes, a beleaguered Revolutionary War General, and a heartbroken trucker."

That murder story I'd heard as a kid was "real" according to the Patch report. They even shared a link to the court docs of what was categorized as a "thrill kill."

P.S. This is not the last we will talk about this on the I-95 Morning Show. Now that I have a few different threads between my fingers, we will revisit this because it is not just the area directly near where the tree was that is interesting. The entirety of Federal Hill Road has stories to tell. There is a lot of mystery in that area and I shared an odd claim about it in 2022.