History of the Heritage Live Oak
In January of 2009 a volunteer group of citizens initiated an endeavor called the Beaufort Three Century Project (B3C). It would comprise a dynamic group of activities, historical seminars and other educational and informational proceedings that would celebrate the 300th anniversary of Beaufort’s founding.
Being an arborist in the Lowcountry, we are often asked how old our massive and majestic live oaks are. As a rule the general public has an inflated vision of their age. Arborists always try to make educated, more practical estimations even though there are no concrete principles in which to follow as each tree is so unique and distinctive, with a wide varied historical care. Our goal was to find several trees that we could, by comparing historical references, somehow connect each of them to a point in time when our founding fathers first arrived 300 years ago. Our ultimate hope was that we would “discover” a tree with the size and grandeur of our neighboring Charleston’s, Angel Oak.
The search yielded data on 149 trees. The average trunk diameter measured at 4.5 feet was 73 inches, the largest being 113.75 inches and the smallest at 40 inches. The average height was 60 feet; the tallest was 70 feet and the shortest 30 feet. The average branch spread was 110 feet, the widest 182 feet and the smallest 75 feet. In among this field we reached our goal.
Cherry Hill Plantation Live Oak
On a bluff overlooking the shores of the Western bank of Battery Creek is a 255 acre area where the former Cherry Hill Plantation once stood. Here sits the Cherry Hill live oak, Beaufort’s largest and oldest documented tree.
The tree is 113.75 inches in diameter measured at 4.5 feet with a circumference of 30 feet 1 inch. It is 55 feet tall and has a 114 foot spread. For such a large diameter trunk, this may not seem like a very broad spread. What stands before us today is only one half of the tree, the other half was destroyed in 1959 when Hurricane Gracie hit. The petrified trunk of that half of the tree was the source of material that the Heritage Collection was honed from. During a Symposium held by B3C on the big tree search, the grounds where the tree resides were opened up by the present owner for tours. The owner has extended his permission for interested residents to visit at any time. The tree is very accessible and sits in an open field, 30 yards from the end of, appropriately, Oak View Drive. Click Here for Google Map location.
The Beaufort office of the F.A.Bartlett Tree Expert Company, formally Preservation Tree Care, is continuing Conservation Arboriculture measures in order to reduce the chances of future limb or lead failures. Future plans are to continue weight reduction and crown reduction pruning procedures as needed, install a lightning protection system and increase the mulch ring around the trees’ base.
Mary Pope
In the early 1850s the Coffin family purchased the acreage to add to their other Beaufort County holdings, the Coffin Point and McTeer Plantations. There is not much known about the number of slaves or of the number of buildings present on the plantation, yet there remains a grave under a live oak tree where Mary Pope, a former slave is buried. The Coffin family had great respect for their “workers”, an almost unheard of practice at that ignoble time in our country’s history. Mary was especially close and dear to the family. Lore has it that she learned to read and studied under the shade of a magnificently large and beautiful tree on the grounds. The Coffins abandoned all of their Beaufort County holdings when they fled the area in advance of Union troops. The plantation has had no less than 20 owners since then. Whether by luck or just good fortune the property has for the most part stayed undeveloped.
Stewardship
The Cherry Hill Plantation Live Oak is the 2013 TreesSC Heritage Tree of the Year!
Conservation Arboriculture measures are being employed in an effort to assure the longevity and sustainability of the trees physical and structural well-being. These procedures have been used in Europe for over 800 years. The Ancient Tree Forum, headquartered in Bristol, UK, has documented many trees that are known to be well over 600 years old. We can only hope that this grande specimen will wind up on a similar list in the United States in the future.
The owner has no immediate plans for the land. He is very aware of the unique and magnificent resource that he is stewarding and is dedicated to keeping it open to the public for the near and distant future.
It is a scientific fact that trees, because of their vegetative nature, could have an indeterminable life span. Man has been striving for immortality since the beginning of recorded history. Trees are the only living things to even come close. Dr. Seuss’s Lorax chose quite a complex group to speak for.