Texas Mountain Laurel, National Co-Champion - San Antonio, TX
N 29° 31.900 W 098° 34.100
14R E 541827 N 3266969
At the back southwest corner of the Youth building on the property of St. Francis Episcopal Church, 4242 Bluemel Road, San Antonio, TX, stands the Co-Champion Texas Mountain Laurel tree.
Waymark Code: WM126RG
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 03/14/2020
Views: 3
The St. Francis Episcopal Church at 4242 Bluemel Road, San Antonio, TX 78240 champions a lot of causes for its community around it. It has a Little Free Library to encourage reading, it sponsors an International Community Garden where homegrown food can be grown by refugees admitted to the US who live nearby, it provides counseling and a Medical Clinic to the neighborhood residents, and has its regular church outreach and preaching services.
St. Francis Episcopal also has a National Champion Texas Mountain Laurel tree on its campus. In 2011, the Texas A&M Forest Service documented and submitted this tree as an entry into the National Big Tree Registry as a Co-National Champion tree. This large Texas Mountain Laurel was listed in 2011 as having a circumference of 72 inches, Height of 37 feet and spread of 33 feet for a Tree Index total of 117. The tree is estimated to be 100 years old.
This tree is on church property and thus is on private property. St. Francis Episcopal Church has a practice of welcoming visitors to participate in its ministries and activities. When visiting the church property to see this tree, please be polite and respectful of the church property and landscaping. Permission was granted by the church administration for visitors to come to view the tree. It was specifically asked that any guest to the church campus area follow the CDC health guidance and County and City mandates for wearing a face mask while on the church grounds. This will protect both your and other people you may pass by or be near while visiting. Also, the church staff asked that you be respectful of the columbarium (the sepulchral structure with recesses designed to receive ashes of the dead) that is within sight of the tree. This is part of being respectful to the wishes of the property owner.
The tree can be viewed easily by parking on the southwest corner of the parking lot and walking toward a curved sidewalk that will take you to a small circular memorial area know as a columbarium. Looking westward toward the corner of the Youth building from the end of the memorial area, you will be able to see this tree. When viewed from here, the left side of the tree is very close to the side of the building and the right side of the tree is close to a utility pole with power lines extending to various building nearby. There is also a small parking area next to the Youth building that may allow better and closer viewing. It would be good to use if walking the distance to and from the main parking lot to the tree and back would be difficult.
St. Francis Episcopal Church has a practice of welcoming visitors to participate in its ministries and activities. When visiting the church property to see this tree, please be polite and respectful of the church property and landscaping. Permission was granted by the church administration for visitors to come to view the tree. It was specifically requested that any guest to the church campus area follow the CDC health guidance and County and City mandates for wearing a face mask while on the church grounds. This will protect both you and other people you may pass by or be near while visiting. This is part of being respectful to the wishes of the property owner.
This Texas Mountain Laurel is listed as a Co-Champion tree which means there are two trees that essentially are tied for the title of most massive Texas Mountain Laurel. The OTHER tree is already a waymark (WM11Z3Y) which also happens to be in San Antonio about 8 miles away, "as the crow flies!" If you want to see both of them, here is its link to the waymark on the OTHER co-champion Texas Mountain Laurel: (
visit link)