Fig Tree

Fig trees in this vicinity were planted in the early 1880s by the Swenson family, early Mount Crosby settlers whose descendants have remained in the area. The Swensons were Swedish and German immigrants who were among the first inhabitants of the Mount Crosby district, a remote and sparsely populated area primarily devoted to farming and timber-getting before the 1890s. The site on which the tree stands, near the corner of Wattle Street and Flaggy Creek Road, was close to Victor Swenson’s dairy farm and residence. The trees were possibly planted to provide shelter for Swenson’s cattle. The trees provide evidence of the development of the Mount Crosby area during the late nineteenth century, particularly of the dairy and timber industries and the efforts of European immigrants to establish themselves in their new community, and are valued by local residents.