This is my neighbor's tree. I have walked past it 1000 times and not bothered to ID it probably because it's so scraggly - yesterday I looked closely and found the cones are a perfect match for eastern hemlock.
I didn't know this tree was used as a planting - I just thought it was wild.
Did I ID this correctly?
Yep, spot on.
Maybe the people who planted it wanted a native?
The downside is its susceptibility to hemlock woolly adelgid (an invasive pest originally from Asia), which slowly but eventually defoliates and kills the plant (which may well be why this one looks poorly)
Resin
I remember my neighbor said the previous owner was heavily into plants and trees - I bet you are right Resin that he wanted a native.
