Treaty Oak (Jacksonville, Florida)
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Treaty Oak is an octopus-like Southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) in Jacksonville, Florida. The name's origin 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.[citation needed]
The tree is located in Jessie Ball DuPont Park on the Southbank of downtown Jacksonville. The land was donated by the Alfred I. duPont Foundation in 1964 with the stipulation that it be used "only for a public park, one of the purposes of which is to preserve the ancient oak commonly known as the Treaty Oak...for the benefit and enjoyment of the general public".
The trunk is over 25 feet in circumference, it rises to height of 66 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,[citation needed] possibly predating the founding of the city by Isaiah Hart during the 1820s.
