SOUTH CAROLINA: One of Beaufort’s best-known trees topples. Will its other half survive?
One of Beaufort’s most famous and historic trees split in two over the weekend, with half of it falling to the ground with a crash heard around the Lowcountry.
The towering live oak is located in a parking lot at the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office at the corner of King and Bladen streets, near the Pat Conroy Literary Center.
It had survived wars and hurricanes. But in the end, its very strength, which kept it alive for few centuries, likely caused its demise. Its immense weight, experts said, likely became too much to bear.
“There are moments when history reminds us that even the strongest things are not immune to time,” said The Pat Conroy Literary Center. “This weekend, our beloved Witness Tree suffered a significant split, leaving a wound on one of Beaufort’s oldest living storytellers. “
But it’s not necessarily a goner, says Michael Murphy, a tree expert in Beaufort. Even if there is decay, he said, the live wood on the portion of the tree still standing could be trimmed to reduce the weight.
“A tree doesn’t have to come down, even with a lot of decay,” Murphy said. “The tree would continue to grow with less weight.”
Ginger Olszewski, executive director of the Pat Conroy Center, said Monday morning the center was waiting to speak with its arborist before deciding on next steps.
The center leases the property from Beaufort County. A few years ago, it improved the tiny park with plantings and benches. The center has taken a keen interest in the tree because of its beauty and historical significance, Olszewski said.
Social media “has been on fire” and foot and vehicle traffic has been “unbelievable” since part of the tree came down, Olszewski said. “Beaufort, “ Olszewski said, “does love its trees.”
Even in Beaufort County, which is known for its ancient moss-covered live oak trees, this one stood out.
The tree is believed to be the same one that appears in a photograph taken in early 1864 of the 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry Regiment as its members stood in formation.
Even 162 years ago, the tree’s canopy was impressive.
The regiment included many free-born Black men from Connecticut. An interpretive sign underneath the fallen tree explains the important history of the so-called “witness tree” that witnessed Connecticut’s first all-Black volunteer unit. The unit mustered on March 8, 1864 and trained in Beaufort before fighting in key Virginia battles. They were the first Union troops to enter Richmond.
“If that picture is accurate, if it is the same tree, it could be one of the most historically important trees in the city because of the history that follows it,” said Murphy, who owns Preservation Tree, LLC.
The iconic 1864 photograph does not have a definitively credited individual photographer, but it is preserved by the Pat Conroy Literary Center and Beaufort Garden Club
What knocked the tree over?
There was no big storm in Beaufort over the weekend. Murphy adds that it probably wasn’t disease or insects. Live oaks, he says, are highly resistant to both.
Murphy had not inspected the tree. But he suspects its weight did it in, as that’s usually what kills live oaks.
Not only is the species’ wood very heavy, but the limbs also extend great distances without much support. The lower branches can grow nearly as thick as the main trunk. They can easily reach 80 feet high, but it’s often the horizontal growth of the branches that’s most notable.
Eventually, Murphy said, the trees reach a tipping point.
“Just think of yourself holding up two dumbbells for 20 years,” he said. “At some point, your arms are going to get tired. It just got to that point it could not hold the weight up. That’s just an observation I have from the pictures and from other trees that have fallen apart in the same manner.”
The Secession Oak, another well-known live-oak in Bluffton, fell apart in the same way about five years ago, he said.
These trees are like slingshots growing in two directions. Eventually, one of them can’t hold itself up any longer and breaks, Murphy says.
Murphy isn’t exactly sure how old the Beaufort tree is. He notes that estimating the age of live oaks is very difficult because they don’t have rings like other trees. If he had to guess, it’s 200 to 250 years old. That’s about how big they are when they are 80 inches in diameter, he said.
–islandpacket.com
