Orestes Oak Tree
N 40° 16.204 W 085° 43.663
16T E 608174 N 4458509
A massive white oak tree located in Orestes, Indiana
Waymark Code: WMDNJP
Location: Indiana, United States
Date Posted: 02/05/2012
Views: 13
Since about 1670 this oak has been a landmark for a Delaware Indian Trail, for the Fort Wayne Trace, for the village of Orestes and for God.
Madison County Histroical Society
1972
This waymark is dedicated to the OLDEST tree in Indiana: the Orestes oak tree. (over 350 years old!)
There used to be a geocache here. It is now archived but the pictures from geocachers are worth a look!
(
visit link)
The heart of Orestes has been decorated for approximately 350 years by a magnificently beautiful white oak tree. The late Raymond Davis led citizens of Orestes to gain recognition for the tree. The age was approximated by arborists from Purdue University and in 1970 the tree measured 77 inches in diameter and towered over the Christian church parsonage. Those examining the oak described it as monstrous for any hardwood. It miraculously survived the tornado of 1922 not to mention numerous lightning, wind and ice storms.
Then the Big Tree began to come into the limelight. Books were written with articles about it, pictures were made of it, and etchings were made. The Madison County Historical Society led by such prominent Andersonians as Elwood Phillips, Gene Bock, Howard Eldon, Russell Davis, Charles and Esther Dittlinger, Helen Baumer, and David Bucove secured and dedicated a bronze plaque to the Oak in 1973. And suddenly the Big Tree was a celebrity. Many came to see it and tourists were attracted by highway markers.