The Wye Oak: Remembrance and Renewal
For 460 years,
the Wye Oak stood in the village of Wye Mills in Talbot County
on the Eastern Shore. When the Ark and the Dove landed at St.
Mary's City in 1634 to found the colony of Maryland, the great
tree was already almost 100 years old. Native Americans, believed
to be the Wiccomisses, lived and hunted in the area, and the Choptank
Trail, which eventually became a major route in the development
of the Eastern Shore, was nearby.
 The
tree was owned by a succession of private owners over the centuries
and was purchased by the State of Maryland in 1939. In 1941, the
white oak (quercus alba) was declared to be the Maryland
State Tree. The Wye Oak has long been recognized as the largest
white oak in the United States, and it was one of the last of
the original "Champion Trees" when it fell during a thunderstorm
on June 6 of this year. The core of the tree was so rotten that
pieces of it felt more like cork than oak.
In its final years, the Wye Oak was supported by miles of this
cabling. When the Wye Oak fell, it had just begun to produce a
new crop of acorns. Some of the buds from the tree are being used
to clone it. In April, a sapling cloned from the Wye Oak was planted
on the grounds of Mount Vernon and other clones are being nurtured
for future planting around the state and the nation.
 An unusual
feature of the Wye Oak was its huge "knees," or buttresses. No
one is sure how they came to be formed, but it has been speculated
that, at one time, an old country store was located near it, and
the hooves of horses tied to the tree may have caused damage to
its roots, resulting in these malformations. However they were
formed, the buttresses were a blessing, as they helped to support
the enormous tree.
Wye Oak Facts:
Until June 6, 2002, the oldest and Largest White Oak in the United
States
Age: 460 years Height: 96 ft.
Circumference of trunk: 32 ft.
Diameter of trunk: 10 ft.
Spread of crown: 119 ft.
Crown covered one-third of an acre
The White Oak (quercus alba) declared the Maryland State Tree
in 1941
Prepared by the Maryland State Archives with assistance from: The Department of Natural Resources; The Department of Agriculture; The Governor's Press Office.
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