Pines trees can live a long time. The oldest living known plant is a bristlecone pine, currently approaching its 4,842nd birthday. Eastern white pine, common in the Catskills, is the tallest tree in eastern North America. In natural pre-colonial stands it grew to about 70 m (230 ft) tall, but current trees typically reach 30-50 m (100 - 160 ft) tall with a diameter of 1-1.6 m (3-5 ft). Very few of the original trees remain. Extensive logging operations in the 1700s and 1800s harevested most of the pines for their valuable wood. We rarely see pines above 80 feet these days, since reforestation has only been going on in the Eastern US within the past hundred years.
The white pine is an excellent tree of many virtues, but to the Europeans arriving on the east coast of North America during colonial times, it was an amazing tree--twice as tall as other trees back in England and continental Europe. Huge, straight, lightweight, durable, the least resinous of all pines, it provided the lumber for houses, furniture, coffins, and boats as well as masts for the tall ships.