Arbutus Oak
Arbutus Oak tree square view
The Arbutus Oak in March 2019 as seen on a partly cloudy day facing north
SpeciesWhite oak (Quercus alba)
LocationArbutus, Maryland
Coordinates39°15′03″N 76°40′57″W / 39.25086°N 76.6825°W / 39.25086; -76.6825
Date seededc. 1690 (1690)[1]
CustodianArbutus Community Association

The Arbutus Oak was a large white oak tree in Arbutus, Maryland, situated in the southwest corner of the I-695/I-95 interchange approximately four miles southwest of Baltimore. It split and half and fell in 2019, due to internal decay that caused its trunk to become unstable. At that time, it was thought to be 329 years old.[2]

Significance

The Arbutus Oak was over 70 feet (21 m) tall and about 5 feet (1.5 m) in diameter, making it one of Maryland's largest and oldest white oak trees.[3][2] It has been said that General Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette passed by the oak tree in 1781 with his troops while en route to Elkridge during the Revolutionary War.[1] When the highway interchange was being constructed in the 1950s, the government found Native American artifacts surrounding the tree.[4] The historic nature of the tree prompted highway planners to adjust the highway ramp southward in order to save the tree.[5]

Site

Located on Maryland State Highway Administration property and surrounded by interstate freeways and ramps, the tree was inaccessible to the general public. The tree and a sign bearing its name were visible to motorists on I-95 southbound, just south of the I-695 underpass.

The Arbutus Lion's Club installed a fence around the tree in 1972.[1] A plaque on the fence reads:

THE ARBUTUS OAK / DEDICATED TO THE CITIZENS OF ARBUTUS AND HALETHORPE / 1972 / SPONSORED BY THE LIONS CLUB OF ARBUTUS / ESTIMATED TO BE 300 YEARS OLD IN 1990

Emanuel Wade, the original landowner of the area on which the tree stood, is buried in the vicinity of the tree; his gravestone was moved from its original location to inside the fence that surrounded the tree.[5][2]

See also

  • Wye Oak, a larger white oak in Wye Mills, Maryland that was destroyed by a windstorm in 2002.
  • Linden Oak, a white oak tree in Bethesda, Maryland that was saved during the construction of the Washington Metro Red Line.
  • Three Mile Oak, was a white oak tree near Annapolis, Maryland that was the site of George Washington's resignation as a commissioned army officer.
  • Presbyterian Church in Basking Ridge, which was home to another oak tree with connections to the American Revolution and George Washington.
  • List of individual trees

References

  1. 1 2 3 Goldfarb, Bruce (2010-11-02). "Historic Arbutus Oak is Hidden in Plain Sight". Patch. Archived from the original on 2018-10-10. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  2. 1 2 3 Boteler, Cody (2019-09-23). "Hidden among the highways, three-century-old Arbutus Oak tree split and fell this summer". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  3. ↑ "The Historic Oak Tree in the Middle of I-95". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  4. ↑ "What Happened to the Arbutus Oak?". Arbutus Life. 2018-05-22. Archived from the original on 2018-08-30.
  5. 1 2 Shields, Gerald (2002-04-20). "Arbutus Oak at root of community". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
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