Alamo Live Oak Eating Steel Pipe & Wire - The Alamo - San Antonio, TX
N 29° 25.556 W 098° 29.178
14R E 549828 N 3255286
The Alamo is at 300 Alamo Plaza, San Antonio, TX 78205. Even while renovations are going on, people may still visit the Alamo grounds and the chapel. This giant Live Oak eating a pipe is at the exit from the Alamo grounds, near the Long Barracks.
Waymark Code: WM131BY
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/24/2020
Views: 7
This massive Live Oak tree was transplanted from a road building project 12 miles away to the Alamo grounds in 1912. Things were still very rural, agricultural and San Antonio was one of the largest cities in Texas even then! An arborist named Walter Whall accepted the bid to transplant a 40+ year old tree to save it from being destroyed to clear land for a new roadway 12 miles from the site of the Alamo. Part of Mr. Whall's deal to move the tree was that he would be allowed to transplant it on the Alamo grounds. He got approval and moved the large Life Oak tree on ox-cart and planted the mature tree between the Chapel and the Long Barracks. His care in digging up the tree and his care in preparing the hole at the new site was critical in the way the tree was able to re-root and become reattached to the soil after the move. The conventional thought in that era was that old trees could not survive transplanting. Whall definitely proved the skeptics wrong! The Live Oak has thrived in the Alamo area and is now providing welcome shade and cooler area for tourists to pause and admire the historic events that occured at this Texas Shrine of Liberty.
The massive limbs of an oak trend to grow upward and outward when young to middle=aged. Then, the limbs tend to arch downward toward or to the ground before growing upward toward the sky again. Trees that are old enough to complete their growth cycle often loose large limbs once the branch heads to ground. The physics of weight distribution and fiber strength of the wood often result in the large limbs cracking or completely breaking off the tree. This tree has been offered some manmade help with supporting some of its limbs close to the perimeter wall of the Alamo compound with pipes with a curved brace on top being placed strategically under a branch to help support the limb from breaking and damaging the surrounding stone structures.
As a result, one of the limbs that has been properly braced has been successful in upholding the ever growing limb. The diameter of the limb has continued to get lager as the whole tree grows proportionally. This has caused the limb to grow around the curved brace and has covered it with the equivalent of a wooden callus or scar tissue that has wrapped around and
"swallowed" the top of the metal brace support as well as a few inches of a thick wire cable used as a supplemental support to the same limb. This Live Oak is literally incorporating its manmade support into its own structure.
The carnivorous limb is close to the dedication plaque stating Mr. Whall dedicated this tree to honor the heroes of the Alamo which is next to the information board that tells the history of how Walter Whall transplanted the tree you now admire.
Type of Tree: Live Oak (Quercus Virginiana)
Did you supply 2 photos?: yes
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Visit Instructions:
Visit the location using your GPS and take a photo of the tree and what it's growing over If you have more information about the tree or circumstance, please share it in your visit log.