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 Treaty Oak - Jacksonville, FL
N 30° 19.018 W 081° 39.482
17R E 436736 N 3354092
Treaty Oak is an octopus-like Southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) located in the Jessie Ball duPont Park in Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
Waymark Code: WM2X16
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 01/02/2008
Views: 145
The origin of the tree's name is believed to be related to some local apocryphal stories about peace accords between Native Americans and Spanish or American settlers signed under its branches. The tree was immortalized by a journalist who, in an attempt to rescue it from deforestation by developers, wrote an article claiming a treaty had been signed under its branches by native Floridians and early settlers.
The tree is located in Jessie Ball DuPont Park on the Southbank of Downtown Jacksonville. The trunk is 25 feet in circumference, it rises to height of about 70 feet, and its crown spreads over 145 feet, with twisting branches that bow to the ground and curl back up. The oak shades a roughly circular area, about 190 feet in diameter. Though less than 200 years old, it may nonetheless be the single oldest living thing in Jacksonville, possibly predating the founding of the city by Isaiah Hart during the 1820s.
Genus/Species: Southern live oak (Quercus virginiana)
Height: 70
Girth: 25
Method of obtaining height: Reliable source
Method of obtaining girth: Reliable source
Location type: Park
Age: 200
Historical significance:
Jessie Ball DuPont Park, home of the Treaty Oak, is located in the Southbank area. An amusement complex known as Dixieland Park, which included most of the site, opened in 1907. In the 1930s, the Garden Club, Mrs. Jessie DuPont, and a Times Union reporter, Pat Moran, began efforts to preserve the tree. Moran coined the name Treaty Oak while writing a fictitious story about how white settlers and Indians met under the tree to sign peace treaties. Mrs. duPont and the Alfred I. DuPont Foundation purchased the land containing the tree around 1934 and donated it to the City in 1964. The City acquired the remainder of the property between 1964 and 1971, the year the park was named in honor of Jessie DuPont (1884-1970), an ardent philanthropist and part-time Jacksonville resident. Through the efforts of the City and private groups and individuals, a major project was completed in 1995 to preserve the tree and enhance the park.
Website reference: [Web Link]
Parking coordinates: N 30° 18.992 W 081° 39.486
Walk time: 1
Planter: Not listed
Photograpy coordinates: Not Listed
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Visit Instructions:
A closeup picture of your GPS receiver in your hand, with the tree in the background, is required. If the tree is on private property, this closeup photograph with the tree in the background may be taken from the nearest public vantage point without actually going to the tree.
The required photograph does not need to show the entire tree, but the individual tree must be recognizable.
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