The Famous ‘Shawshank Redemption’ Tree in Mansfield is Officially Gone

[image-1]After hanging by a thread the last few years, the once-majestic oak used in the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption has been chopped into pieces and removed from its Mansfield, Ohio, property. The rotted-out tree, which was partially damaged back in 2011, and again last summer, was a popular site along The Shawshank film trail.

Film buffs on that journey, which still has stops throughout the Mansfield area, will now have to imagine the leafy oak as it was depicted in that pivotal moment near the end of the Academy Award-nominated movie.

Although the 200-year-old tree is gone, at least we know that property owner Dan Dees has plans for its future. He told the Mansfield News-Journal last week he wants to make a table out of its viable wood, or a bench. We hope he makes a good thing out of it, either way.

This article appears in Apr 5-11, 2017.