Saying goodbye to the giant oak, referred to as Jonesborough’s oldest resident.

On August 14, a terrible thunderstorm hit Jonesborough. In the process, knocked down a giant oak, with the estimated age of at least 500 years old.

Town staff started working at 1 a.m. on August. 15. No one was injured in the tree fall.

You may have seen white placards with green numbers and a tree on it throughout town on historical buildings. The oak tree in the placard is the same tree!

The following info was provided by an article originally from 2015 in the Herald & Tribune along with its description on the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council website

‘The first written evidence of the tree was found in an 1884 land deed for Washington County, where it was mentioned as a boundary tree.

The white oak was the first tree inducted into the town’s Heritage Tree program. As a Jonesborough Heritage Tree, it is protected and its maintenance is shared with the Town of Jonesborough.

The giant oak was once listed as the state co-champion white oak with a circumference exceeding 22 feet, a height over 112 feet, and a crown spread of an impressive 129 feet.

Just a reminder to the community to remember the oak is on private property, please refrain from walking in their front or backyard or up on their porch to take pictures without the homeowners permission. The tree is currently being removed and distributed for future preservation of its legacy.