The Big Oak

[DanG]

I happened to be in my hometown, Thomasville, Ga. yesterday, so I stopped by and took a few pics to show y'all a tree I have known all my life.  The Big Oak is a major local landmark in that city.  We lived a block to the North of that tree when I was born, and later lived on the South side of the same block the tree is on.  It sits on the Northeast corner of that block.  There is a local statute against climbing in this tree, and I got my fanny whacked more than once for breaking that law. :D :D :D





A view from the North:





One from the South:





And a broader one from the North.





It is hard to get a really good shot of this tree because of nearby houses and other trees.  I was only about 150' away for that last shot and there are 2 more trees in the way. :-\   Mere photographs can't do it justice, anyway.  If any of you ever get the chance, just go stand under it and you'll know what I mean. ;)

[Jeff]

Do they change the sign every year?

[LeeB]

There was one almost that big on U.S. 183 as it passed through Seward Junction Texas right on the edge of the highway. I never saw any wrecks involving it, but the highway department in all thier wisdom decided it was more of a hazard than they could stand. Down it came. Just think of all the stories a tree like that could tell.

[DR Buck]

It don't look like there are many 16 ft fence boards in the tree.  :

[pigman]

  If any of you ever get the chance, just go stand under it and you'll know what I mean. ;)

Stand under it my foot! I want to climb it. ;D Of course in my condition I would need a ladder or a bucket truck to just get up in the tree. ;D

[nas]

if that tree isn't begging to be climbed i ain't seen one that is.

[DanG]

Nah Pigman, you could just get on one of those branches that touch the ground and walk up there. :D

Yes Jeff, they do update the sign every year.  I'm not sure how they know when the tree's birthday is, though. : :P

I noticed that the old gal has suffered an amputation since I last visited her.  As I was processing the pics, I started wondering what they did with that branch.  They missed a grand opportunity to make the Granddaddy of all park benches out of it.  There used to be a support tower that sat right next to the curb to keep that branch high enough for cars to pass under it.  It extended well into the yard of that house in the third pic.  That branch had removed the tops from many rental trucks over the years.  I'd hate to be the one that finally broke it. :D :D :D

[maple flats]

DanG, did you help plant it? Ha! ;D ;D 8)

[DanG]

No, but I ate the squirrel that did, Mr. Same-age-as-me Smartypants. ;D ;D :D

[Stephen1]

What a grand tree. We have a huge white oak that was donated as part of a land parcel to the town, on the promise that the tree would be saved. The town needed to widen the road and decided that it would cost $450,000 to move the road so they were going to cut the tree down. Well a little old lady with a lotta will power raised $500,000 to move the road. She was 85 years old at the time.

[stumpy]

About 15 years ago, I was in St Augustine FL. and there was a huge live oak tree. We were told it was the oldest in the U.S.  Course we were tourists, so they coulda told us anything. :

[WDH]

That made my day already ;D.  Simply inspiring.  I want to visit!

[nas]

What a grand tree. We have a huge white oak that was donated as part of a land parcel to the town, on the promise that the tree would be saved. The town needed to widen the road and decided that it would cost $450,000 to move the road so they were going to cut the tree down. Well a little old lady with a lotta will power raised $500,000 to move the road. She was 85 years old at the time.

An interesting side note.  When this was going on I know of a tree removal company that removed an even bigger oak just around the corner from that one in someones back yard.  They wanted to put in a swimming pool. ??? ???

[Dodgy Loner]

What a grand tree, DanG!  Thanks for the pictures 8)

[DanG]

  I want to visit!

WDH, I can think of few things that would be more fun than taking you to a few places I know, including that one.  I frequently think of you and your appreciation of a good tree when I go to certain places.  I know of a stand of mature pines outside of Thomasville that would make you drool to the point of dehydration!  If you ever make it back down here, we'll go for a little ride. ;D

[rebocardo]

> t don't look like there are many 16 ft fence boards in the tree.

There are in the limbs  :D

[WDH]

DanG, You got a deal partner ;D. 

[Lanier_Lurker]

Yep, my hometown in Lee County Georgia has a few live oaks in it that approach those dimensions.

Lee County pretty much straddles the northern edge of the live oak range.  In the lower elevations in the Flint River basin and floodplains, the range seems to extend on up into Crisp County in and around lower Lake Blackshear.

WDH, is it possible that there are any live oaks in Dooly or Houston Counties?  I usually drive up Coney Road from US280 to Vienna when I am down there, and while gazing around as I drive I see the occasional tree that could be a live oak.

There was one live oak deep in the woods behind the house I grew up in that had a limb that was about 2 feet in diameter and ran almost parallel to the ground at a height of less than 8 feet.  It was easily 30 feet long if not more, and we could run sprints back and forth on it.  We would play "chicken" with two of us approaching each other on this limb, and whoever fell rarely got hurt.   :D

I need to get back there and see if that tree is still there.

My Dad's current place had several free standing live oaks in the middle of cleared land and pastures.  Over the last 15 years, 3 of them have split apart and self destructed.  It is heartbreaking to see such a thing happen to such a grand tree that may be 200+ years old.  The growth habit of live oak seems to contribute to this phenomena.  One still survives along the side of the driveway.  I measured it a couple of years ago and it was over 6 feet dbh.

[LeeB]

Hope and pray oak wilt doesn't make it to you. It's devestating to live oak, exspecialy the old ones like that.

[WDH]

LL,

The only live oaks in my area are planted.  I have never encountered a wild one here.

[DanG]

I figure a "downdate" must be the opposite of an update. ;D

Today, the Thomas County Historical Society posted this pic of "The Big Oak" on Facebook.  The pic was taken in 1893, 116 years before the pics I posted to start this thread.  The tree was a pretty good sized speciman way back then, but I'm totally blown away by the growth in a mere 116 years! ;D

[fishpharmer]

Lets hope that tree doesn't have a "downdate" in our lifetime.

I appreciate the update.  The old picture looks to me like it may be a view from the north.  IMO the profiles match your north view pic.

You reckon that women in the fancy giddup is the local garden club president "supervising" that fella with the ox cart on the limb cleanup? ;) :D 

[WDH]

That old tree will probably survive us all.

[StephenRice]

That is a really big live oak, for sure.  Do you know about what the diameter of that trunk is?  I have seen two or three big oaks up north and several live oaks down here that appear to be close to that size, if not quite as big, but it is hard to say by looking at a picture without anything to really judge the diameter by.  One of the oaks up north was a squatty old oak was real close to the main building on the grounds of the Michigan Old Soldiers' Home (Michigan Veterans' Home now) in Grand Rapids, MI.  I cut some of the limbs from that tree when it was damaged in a storm in 1989.  It was not a live oak, but I remember the base was somewhere close to ten feet in diameter.  I could not touch the trunk that a tree service dropped.  I did not see the tree service drop that trunk, but I do remember a bunch of huge wedges laying around where they kept cutting into the tree to stick their saws in deeper into the trunk.  I could hardly handle the limbs that went 3'-4' in diameter.  My biggest saw back then only had a 24" bar and I had to cut from both sides and sometimes that would not even cut through some of the logs and limbs.

There are also a few pretty big live oaks that I have seen down in NW Florida as well.

With that twisted up old gnarly oak, can you imagine them using that stuff to build Old Ironsides?  No wonder cannonballs bounced right off that ship!

[Piston]

Well a little old lady with a lotta will power raised $500,000 to move the road. She was 85 years old at the time.

That's an awesome story, god bless her!

[DanG]

Stephen, according to the sign in the first pic, the trunk is 24' in circumference, which would put the diameter in the 8' range.  It is not a record tree by any means.  There are larger ones in Georgia, and I think the largest Live Oak is in Texas.  It is remarkable for its glorious limb spread and its location though, as it is only a couple of blocks from the center of town.

[WDH]

BTW, the national champion live oak is in St. Tammany Parish, LA.  It has a DBH of 12.4 feet.

[Texas Ranger]

Well, Louisiana beat us out on this one, but, got a gooden here in Texas.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/goose_island/big_tree.phtml

[Texas Ranger]

OK, just Texas trees, I have one in there.

[SwampDonkey]

I like those big old trees to. I forget what species of tree it was in Busch Gardens, but it was all moss covered and big old lateral branches with those "structures" coming off the limbs back to the ground. Whatever that is termed, because we don't have trees doing that here. Kind of like they were roots. Maybe it was some type of layering habit to clone itself.  Around here it's interesting to see a big old aspen over 30", a maple over 30", or a yellow birch over 30". White pine is a little exciting when it towers far above the main canopy by several feet. Most folks around here don't let trees get too big before they get cut.  :-\

[WDH]

Big trees are inspiring, like these two live oaks pictured in this thread.

[Tom]

That sounds like it might have been a Banyan Tree, Swamp Donkey

[StephenRice]

Well, Louisiana beat us out on this one, but, got a gooden here in Texas.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/goose_island/big_tree.phtml

Wow!  That is one spectacular tree!

[StephenRice]

That sounds like it might have been a Banyan Tree, Swamp Donkey

Do they have some of those planted here?  I thought that they were pretty much just overseas in SE Asia.

[SwampDonkey]

Now that I think a bit more on the location, it was Cypress Gardens. It didn't look native, so Tom is probably right since he's been in Florida, since for ever. ;D

We have trees that layer up here in the north, like black spruce and cedar. But, this tree was a bit different as the limbs where still aerial. With layering the snow over the years trains the limbs to make contact with the ground and root. You have a big spruce in the middle and a circle of little ones around it. Big being relative as they do this is less hospitable environments so many of the big ones are not even log sized.

[customsawyer]

Dang I am glad I didn't grow up around that tree with them laws in place, my mom would have broke every branch/limb off of it and used for a switch on me. Don't ask how I know but where I grew up all the trees were under pruned.

[DanG]

Fortunately, Live Oak don't make very good switches.  My Mama favored Ligustrum, but would use Privet, Peach, or Cherry in a pinch! :D :D

I bet you didn't know that that fabulous old tree is just 25 miles from the showgrounds at Moultrie, did you?   If anybody was interested, I'd be up for taking some folks down there for a look. ;D ;D

[SwampDonkey]

It was willow and hazel switches around here. The more you prune back the larger the bush gets. :D :D

[Coon]

Willow was the choice for switches around these parts too.  :D  I learned at a young age to keep my distance from anyone with a switch  ;)  :D   Come to think of it I think I still have a scar or five on my backside cuz gramps wasn't the slightest bit too happy with me the one time.  I was about 10 years old or so and was playing lumberjack with gramps' axe.  There weren't any aspens around the yard that were safe from me.  ;D  When gramps came to check on what I was up to and noticed all the trees were knocked down and it looked like a beaver had cut loose.  He found his choice of fresh green willow for a switch and came a grumbling lookin' for me.  I am not sure how many lashes I got cuz after five or six I couldn't feel em anymore.  :(  I ran for the house like a spooked deer and grams heard me coming.  Gramps came a walking behind still grumbling to himself.   Somehow grams got ahold of the switch from gramps and she proceeded to give him a couple of good lashes of his own medicine.  At this point I can remember grams hollering at gramps while she was giving him his whooping " Robert you %&^ &^% SOB what the H&!! you trying to do? Kill the boy?  You said we were getting low on firewood and he was only trying to help!"   :D  :D

Brad.