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Texas
| Features
| Texas Historic TreesTHE
GOOSE ISLAND OAKaka
The Big Tree
aka The Bishop's Tree
aka The Lamar OakGoose
Island State ParkAransas
County
12 Miles North of Rockport
On park Road 13 – very near the beach |
The
Big Tree AKA The Goose Island Oak
Photo courtesy Ken
Rudine, 2006 |
| Record
or Champion Trees are determined by their girth, their spread and their height.
There are many Live Oaks that surpass this tree's height, however when the tree's
girth is factored in, it makes this one the Champion Live Oak in Texas. |
Texas' largest tree
is found on the Lamar Peninsula within the Goose Island State Park
just off highway 35 before you reach the Copano Causeway (if you’re coming from
the north). Signage will direct you, but the signs are close to the ground and
infrequent.
The tree
has allegedly been a hanging tree, a pirate's rendezvous, and even a ceremonial
site for the cannibalistic Karankawa Indians. |
"Largest
Loveoak of the World, Rockport,
Texas."
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
The Big Tree / Goose Island Oak plaque
Photo courtesy David Armstrong |
The tree has disappointed generations of Texans who often feel that their
Live Oak back home is bigger – or at least taller. They may be right. Determining
a record tree involves three measurements: the spread of the crown, the circumference
and the height. An overall score is reached by these factors, and according to
the experts – this one is the winner.
In the case of the Goose Island Oak,
the factor least argued about is the tree’s massive girth. According to the book
Famous Trees of Texas, the tree’s circumference was recorded at 42 3/4 feet in
1966. The crown was 44 feet high and the spread was 89 feet.
The tree
is naturally linked to anyone remotely connected to the coast – from a meeting
place of the rude Karankawas to Cabeza
de Vaca and LaSalle.
The estimated age of the tree is 1,000 years old. Although a core sample
has not been taken, it shouldn’t be too long until technology allows for a reliable
determination of the tree’s age.
While the tree has had its immediate neighbor’s
thinned-out over the years, enough of the trees younger cousins have survived
to give an idea of how the mott appeared in the past. The unusual branching pattern
is a result of the near-continuous gulf breeze. |
 |
The
Goose Island Oak
TE Photo, August 2003 |
| Estimated
to be 1,000 years old, the tree can disappoint visitors who had been imagining
a Giant Sequoia. Our tip for visitors who don't want to be disappointed: Don't
visualize Giant Sequoias. |
The
trees immediately to the right (East) of the Big Tree
TE Photo, August 2003
|
The
Big Tree
Photographer's Note
I first saw the tree in the early
1960's while on one of many fishing trips to the coast. While living in Aransas
Pass in the 1990's I took my children there many times and it never failed
to impress me no matter how many times I saw it. Thinking of the history that
tree must have seen and the hurricanes it survived gives you an appreciation of
how sturdy and tough those old Live Oaks are. - David Armstrong, June 09, 2011 |
The Big Tree
Photo courtesy David Armstrong |
The Big Tree
Photo courtesy David Armstrong |
The Big Tree
Photo courtesy David Armstrong |
The Big Tree
Photo courtesy David Armstrong |
The Goose Island
State Park allows an opportunity for observing the migratory whooping cranes
and deer abound in the thickets.
Area Destinations
While
visiting the tree, you might consider visiting the picturesque Lamar
Cemetery - shown on detailed TxDoT maps. Lamar
was a town named after the Republic of Texas' second President that held great
promise in the 1830s. Lamar
is included in More Ghost Towns of Texas by T. Lindsey Baker, University of
Oklahoma Press, 2003.
Texas' second largest
Live Oak is in Columbus,
Texas. |
Directions
to The Big TreeLeaving
Fulton, heading N and
crossing over the Copano Bay bridge, the first right will be Park Road 13. This
will connect with Lamar Beach Road that can take you to the tree. Signage is adequate
for finding your way there after leaving Highway 35, and depending on the time
of day or the season, you may encounter deer on the narrow, densely shaded and
flowered road.
©
John Troesser |
More Texas
Historic Trees
Texas
Escapes,
in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that
anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, and vintage/historic photos
of their town, please contact
us. |
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