Remember The 'Jesus Tree' In Danbury? There's A Song About It [VIDEO]

DANBURY, CT — There's always that one spot. Every small city has one. The creepy stomping ground the Old Timers tell their grandchildren about, the one where middle schoolers dream about hanging out when they get just a little bit older.

In Danbury, in the 1980s, that spot was The Jesus Tree.

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.

Located on Joes Hill Road just over the Danbury/Brewster town line, the shape of the tree was extraordinarily reminiscent of Jesus on the cross, or so the story goes, and backed up by a posse of 12 "apostle trees." It was a preferred meet-up place and cultural touchstone for Hat City residents Of A Certain Age, a spot to drink, smoke, stay out late and tell ghost stories.

According to the Thunderbird-fueled legend, the tree bled red from the areas of the Savior's wounds, which, if it happened at all, was likely sap run-off. The late-night meet-up spot was hacked down in 1991 by a group of high school students, as high school students are inclined to do. Municipal crews later finished the job, removing every trace of the gnarled, twisted, iconic timber.

Like all good creepy high school hangouts, The Jesus Tree had its tales of satanic rituals and murder associated with its location. What separates the local from the other urban legends, is the murder story was real. A Hofstra University student was lured into a robbery-homicide in the area on July 5, 1989. The thrill-killers were caught, convicted and are still serving time — even as the story, amazingly, has gotten even more bizarre.

Hall, a Georgia recording artist who grew up in Bethel, told Patch he decided upon an acoustic approach to tell the tree's tale, as it would fit the "fall, Halloween, windy, dark road mood" he associated with the subject.

It was "kind of risky," Hall said, to write a song about the tree, as he did not want to trivialize any of the tragedy some people associated with it.

"So I just lyrically decided to approach it by trying to tell what it was like to sit by this tree with some friends," the Americana songwriter told Patch. "I've got a bridge where I talk about the passing of time and how, you know, sometimes you have to be exposed to some darkness to appreciate the light."

It's not the first time Hall's songs have found their inspiration in southwestern Connecticut locations and lore. "Winter With Old Put," a track on his 2021 album "Clouds Turn Black, is sung from the perspective of a Colonial soldier serving in Major General Israel Putnam’s division of the Continental Army, bivouacked in what is now the Redding park that bears his name.

As for his latest Connecticut story-song, Hall said he understands the fascination with the location's negative vibes, but prefers to accentuate the positive.

"I always thought it was interesting that there's this horror associated with the tree, but also you could just see it as a symbol of peace, as a reflection of the Son of God."