Treaty Oak - Jacksonville, FL - Exceptional Trees on Waymarking.com

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

Visit Instructions:
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Date Logged Log User Rating   03/15/2023 stevepre2 visited it 01/12/2020 Casper&Aero visited it 06/28/2016 Castor007 visited it 06/09/2015 Islamorada visited it 12/27/2014 2KatzHunt visited it 09/15/2014 mrahudson visited it 11/11/2012 whttiger visited it 07/09/2009 geoholic28 visited it 12/19/2008 Six Little Spookies visited it 07/05/2008 the federation visited it 03/22/2008 The SuzyQs visited it 03/14/2008 macleod1 visited it 03/02/2008 lazyCachers visited it 01/02/2008 Marine Biologist visited it

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