The Environmental Group
Heritage Tree Project

Since beginning a survey of historically significant trees in late 2000, we have found that “pride of ownership” takes on a new dimension when a Heritage Tree is identified. Property owners are pleased to show off their huge specimens and readily share any known history of the trees and any associated old dwellings or other structures. With this interesting anecdotal information, we can relate Heritage Trees to our area’s history, including structures, events, and personalities.

In addition to the historical information, we document the size of each Heritage Tree by calculating 3 measurements: height of the tree; diameter of the trunk at 4.5 feet from the ground; and crown spread, or farthest reach of the limbs. Photographs are taken of the trees (usually with the proud owners) and any notable structures. All of this information is then incorporated into articles for the SNCA Newsletter. The articles also may be submitted to the White County News and the Northeast Georgian, where 18 have been published through the years. Such widespread dissemination of Heritage Tree information raises public awareness of our primary goal, which is to promote appreciation and preservation of our oldest and tallest trees.

The old Lumsden home (right) and surrounding trees is one of several historic places mentioned in the following summary of our Heritage Tree Survey. Please call Ted Doll at 706 878 2526 or Lark and Tom Hutto at 706 865 7017 if you: would like to nominate a tree for Heritage Tree review; are interested in helping to survey the trees; or have any questions about caring for and maintaining old trees.

Heritage Tree Observations

Sixteen tree species in eight botanical families are represented so far in SNCA’s ongoing survey of Heritage Trees in White and Habersham Counties.

Baldcypress Family

The Baldcypress is the only member of this family occurring in our area, and quite unexpectedly, it is found in Helen. Typically found in swamps and bottomland forests where its enlarged base is surrounded by root extrusions called knees, this large, needle-leaved tree is kin to the even larger Redwood of the West Coast. Unlike many needle-bearing species, Baldcypress is deciduous.

There are four Baldcyress in Helen just off White Street, three in front of Linda Kay’s property and the other in the yard of Hoyal and Judy Presley. The latter is 90 feet tall and has a trunk diameter of nearly 4 feet. The two that were measured in front of the Kay property are 110 and 102 feet tall, with 41- and 47-inch diameters, respectively.

Pine Family

An immense Yellow Shortleaf Pine was identified on the property of Tom McConnell, which abuts Smithgall Woods. Measuring 100 feet tall (generally tops for this species) with a 4-foot, larger-than-normal trunk diameter, and a 70-foot crown spread, this tree is the largest of its kind in Georgia. Thus, it has been certified a Champion Tree by the Georgia Forestry Commission. Like others in the hard, yellow pine complex (based on the color of their wood), the Shortleaf Pine has commercial value and has been extensively logged out. It is being replaced primarily by the aggressive Virginia Pine.

The Eastern White Pine, generally larger than the Shortleaf, has soft, white wood and is less valuable in the lumber market. It reaches its southern limit in the upper Piedmont Plateau. A huge Eastern White Pine is associated with other Heritage Trees on the historic homeplace of Louis and Joan King in Sautee Nacoochee. Like some other historic sites in the area, the King homestead traces back to Major Edward Williams, one of the first settlers of the Sautee and Nacoochee valleys. Louis King is a descendent of Major Williams.

White Pine at Sautee Manor

Eastern Hemlock.

This highly prized forest and ornamental tree is also at its southern limits in the upper Piedmont. In forest openings and in yards, the hemlock produces a broadly pyramidal, evergreen crown composed of gracefully drooping branches. Years ago when hemlock bark was the major source of tannin used to cure hides into leather, large stands of stripped, dead and weathered hemlock were common. Now the trees are being ravaged by a minute aphid that pierces the twigs and feeds by sucking sap from tissues beneath the bark. Commonly called the Woolly Adelgid because it secretes a white waxy substance over its body, the imported pest has no native predator and thrives by producing 200-500 eggs twice a year. (See Save the Hemlock for control measures)

The Lumsden homeplace (shown above) boasts a huge Eastern Hemlock that measures 93 feet high, has a 4-foot trunk diameter and a 53-foot crown spread. It was planted in the late 1800s, about the same time the house was built. This historic house was built by Major Williams for his granddaughter, who married a Lumsden, and is still owned by their descendents.

Another huge Eastern Hemlock stands at Starlight, a homestead in the Nacoochee Valley that Major Williams himself occupied and is now owned by Richard and Jimmie Tinius. The hemlock is 80 feet tall and has a trunk diameter of 4 feet.

Eastern Hemlock at Starlight

Walnut Family

Walnut. Two walnuts are native to Eastern U.S.: Black Walnut and Butternut. The Georgia Forestry Commission has not found Butternut south of Rabun County, and it may not be in our area.

Black Walnut, the larger of the two, is a scarce tree, primarily by nature but also because it is a very valuable lumber tree. The historic homestead of Linda Jordan in Batesville has a large Black Walnut that is 85 feet high, 42 inches in trunk diameter and 78 feet in crown spread. The house was built in the late 1800s by Robert Frankum, whose wife Stella was a pioneer educator in the area.

Hickory

Hickories are divided into two subgroups: true hickories and pecan hickories. True hickories have hard, strong wood that is used for heavy duty items like tool and wheelbarrow handles. Pecan hickories have softer wood with pretty grain patterns that is used for furniture. Pecan, of course, is even more valuable for its fruit, and several easy-to-shell varieties have been developed for cultivation.

Pecan, although native to the mid-western states, grows well here and has been brought in as an edible ornamental. An old Heritage Tree Pecan planted on the grounds of Starlight measures 110 feet tall and nearly 3 feet in diameter. This compares well with a range of 100-140 feet by 3-4 feet in its native environment.

True hickories average 85 feet tall (rarely 100 feet) with 2-3-foot trunk diameter. A native Hickory stands 97 feet tall on the property of Tom and India Lumsden in Sautee Nacoochee. In addition to this Heritage Tree, the property has other historical significance, including artifacts associated with the Unicoi Turnpike. The Lumsden’s house was built in 1916 for the Nacoochee Institute. The first occupant was the Rev. Charles Gibb who taught at the institute and was pastor of the Presbyterian Church.

Beech Family

Members of this family include beeches, oaks, chestnuts, and chinkapins. Only one beech is native to America, as is (or was) only one chestnut. Of the few native chinkapins, only the Alleghany Chinkapin would be found in our area; it is being decimated by the same blight that destroyed the American Chestnut. Oaks comprise the largest group in this family, and several are native to our area.

Oak. Four oak species are recorded in the Heritage Tree survey: Southern Red, Post, Water, and White. Oaks vary considerably in size. The Post Oak, for instance, normally tops out at 50-60 feet with a trunk diameter of 2-3 feet and has relatively short branches; the White Oak usually grows from 80 to 100 feet tall with trunk diameter of 3-4 feet and broad crowns; the Water and Southern Red oaks, at 70-80 feet tall, generally fall in between these sizes. One of the smaller oaks commonly found here, the Blackjack, rarely is more than 30 feet tall and 1foot in trunk diameter. Oaks may be placed in one of two complexes based on the color of the wood: the Post and White are white oaks; the Water, Southern Red, and Blackjack are red oaks.

The Lumsden homeplace (shown above) has several large Post Oak that, like the house, appear to date from the late 19th century. The largest is an exceptional 94 feet tall with a nearly 3-foot trunk diameter and a crown spread of 69 feet.

Colonial Oaks Plaza, an aptly named row of shops on the Cleveland end of the Helen Hwy, boasts 3 large Water Oak and a huge Southern Red Oak. Estimated to be 100 years old, the red oak measures 85 feet high, 4 feet in diameter, and has a crown spread of 67 feet. The Water Oak, a species that was commonly used as an ornamental in the past, are in a line across the front of the property and could have been planted there decades ago when the site was perhaps a homestead. Preservation of these large trees by plaza owner Royal Jackson is a prime example of environmentally responsible development. Luckily, despite recent widening of Hwy 75, all four trees still stand.

Several historically significant White Oak have been identified as Heritage Trees. The tallest, at 130 feet, is on the John and Nancy Kollock property north of Clarkesville. This huge specimen, nearly 6 feet in diameter with a 100-foot crown spread, graces a homeplace built by Kollock’s grandfather in 1847.

Not so tall at 95 feet, but of somewhat greater trunk size and a10-foot greater limb spread, is a magnificent White Oak at Jack and Helen Mott’s homestead in Sautee Nacoochee. This oak is thought to be 150 years old.

Similarly impressive White Oaks are found on the properties of Chuck and Millie Edwards near Helen; Louis and Joan King in Sautee Nacoochee; Rush and Sharon Mauney in Cleveland; and Cleveland’s First Presbyterian Church. The church occupies the renovated, historic Mauney House where Rush’s grandfather lived; other large old trees are on the church grounds with the White Oak.

For their homeplace, Rush and Sharon Mauney moved Cleveland’s historic Logan-Henley House to a site chosen in large part because of a beautiful White Oak. This Heritage Tree, which stands beside a spring and is estimated to be 150 years old, is 95 feet high and has a 100-foot crown spread.

American Beech. A large beech tree shades several unmarked graves in the historic England Cemetery on the Comer Vandiver property in Helen. Usually topping out at less than 80 feet, this Heritage Tree is 95 feet tall with a 4-foot diameter trunk and a broad, compact crown measuring 100 feet in diameter.

Mulberry Family

Osage Orange, predominately found in the southern Midwest, and Red Mulberry, more widely distributed, are the only trees in this family native to the U.S. Two others, the Fig and White Mulberry, were imported for cultivation, the Fig as an edible and the mulberry as the host plant for the silkworm; only the Fig was successfully established.

Osage Orange, distinguished by thorny branches and large (3-5 inch diameter) fruit that resembles a green orange, was planted in the South to form protective hedge rows along property lines. In time, barbed wire replaced the scrubby tress, leaving a few naturalized specimens near former plantations. A very old Osage Orange, origin unknown, is found along with other Heritage Trees at historic Starlight.

Red Mulberry, although scarce, is native throughout Georgia and found primarily in fertile valleys and hillsides, according to the Georgia Forestry Commission. However, according to historical accounts, Red Mulberry found here was brought in to raise silkworms. This was a futile undertaking since, unbeknownst to the would-be entrepreneurs, the caterpillars are host-specific. A large remnant of this adventure stands 54 feet high along Lynch Mountain Road in Sautee Nacoochee; its trunk is exceptionally stout at 5 feet diameter, and its crown spread is 60 feet.

Magnolia Family

Yellow-Poplar. Also known as the Tulip Tree, Yellow-Poplar often is hyphenated or written as a single word to indicate it is not a true poplar (such as Cottonwood or the Lombardy Poplar, a relatively tall, slender European import that may be seen planted in rows to serve as windbreaks on large expanses like farms). Although used far less frequently, Tulip Tree probably is the better common name, as indicated by its botanical name Liriodendron tulipifera, which refers to the tulip-like shape of its large, 4 to 6-inch broad leaves.

Yellow-Poplar is a fast-growing tree that usually reaches at least 100 feet in height and occasionally may reach 200 feet. It is so tall and leafy by maturity that the small (2+ inch), pretty green and orange flowers rarely are seen unless they fall to the ground. The trunk size of Yellow-Poplar may rival that of old oaks, but the crown spread is narrower. This deciduous member of the magnolia family is an abundant and important component of naturally reforesting sites in our area; however, as the forest matures, many may be crowded out.

Our Heritage Tree survey has identified two super-sized Yellow-Poplar, one on the Edwards property and the other on the Graham Dellinger property near Clarkesville. The Edwards’s tree (left) measures 125 feet tall, 4.5 feet in diameter, and has a crown spread of 75 feet.

The Dellinger’s Yellow-Poplar (right) is in the midst of an old growth forest near the banks of the Soque River. It stands 100 feet tall and has a trunk diameter of 5 feet, 5 inches. Remarkably, it is hollow up to about a third of its height. It survives because nutrient-supplying tissues are located in thin outer layers of wood under the bark.

Southern Magnolia. In its native state, this widely cultivated tree is found in wet areas of the southern Coastal Plain and, most abundantly, along the southernmost reaches of the Mississippi River Valley. The shiny, persistent, dark green leaves, large white flowers, and pyramidal crown make it a pleasing ornamental, and it has been planted in southern plantations and yards since the mid 1800s. It can grow 60-80 feet high, with a 2-3-foot (rarely 5-foot) diameter trunk.

A huge Southern Magnolia, 75 feet tall, 4 feet in diameter with limbs that spread out 70 feet, is part of the landscape at John and Nancy Kollock’s homeplace (below left), where the lawn is laid out in long, narrow “rooms”, or grassy areas surrounded by trees. In addition to this magnolia and the White Oak mentioned previously, several good-sized Southern Red Oak and a large Chinese Chestnut also stand on these uniquely landscaped grounds.

Another large old Southern Magnolia is on Linda Kay’s property in Helen (below right).

Sycamore Family

The American Sycamore is the only widespread species among the three sycamores native to the U.S.; the others are found only in the Southwest. Sometimes call Planetrees, sycamores often are used for plantings, and several horticultural varieties exist. The native American Sycamore is a very large tree, topping out at 140 feet occasionally. The Heritage Tree sycamore at Yonah View in Sautee-Nacooche measures 4 feet in diameter, is 100 feet tall and has a limb spread of 100 feet (below left). Yonah View was built by Richard Tinius’s grandfather, and is now owned by Richard’s nephew, Tim Tinius.

Maple Family

Red Maple is the only maple native to our area, although other species have been brought in as ornamentals. Ordinarily topping out at 50-70 feet, the Heritage Tree Red Maple is exceptionally tall at 92 feet; also exceptional, the trunk diameter is 3 feet and the limbs spread 58 feet. This huge tree also stands at Yonah View.

Check out the Environmental Group’s News and Announcements page for the latest Heritage Trees.