The Coolest Tree (Granby)

This Tree Is A-Oak-Kay!
The Dewey-Granby Oak, Granby

September 23, 2007

Update 1: On 5/11/2010 a box truck hit the tree. Here’s the tree health assessment.

Update 2: On 10/28/2011 a historic snowstorm hit northern Connecticut. With the foliage still on the trees and the snow being heavy and wet, The Granby Oak suffered severe damage. See picture at bottom.

cur2d1.jpgOn a beautiful September day my family made the pilgrammage north to the area of the state affectionately known as, “Am I still in Connecticut?” Like a Wiccan or a Druid, I had picked the Autumnal Equinox as the exact day to experience the Dewey-Granby Oak. I had stumbled across a website touting this particular white oak (Quercus alba) and CTMQ has an affinity for cool trees – so we made a date.

At one point in CTMQ’s maturation (still very much ongoing), I had a list of stuff to see and merely had written, “The Coolest Tree.” One day I received a very thorough and appreciated email from a “Doug42351″ (thereby becoming “Friend of CTMQ Doug42351″) who instantly knew I must have been thinking of the Granby oak, and sent me some good info on the tree. In a state with a few million trees, Doug42351 and I both agreed that the Granby Oak was our “Coolest Tree.” This, in the face of Connecticut’s largest tree, The Pinchot Sycamore. (CTMQ visit) That’s how cool this tree is.

Still not convinced? The Internets yielded the following, from a site for people who do brevets – long distance bike rides with pre-determined points of interest (see links below).

Bernie and I were scratching our heads at this point wondering how we had missed the cue and that’s when the little light went on in my head. It turn out that the cue was a landmark not a turn and it was the tree at the top of the hill that had caused me to shout “HOLY S— THAT’S THE COOLEST TREE I’VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!!!!” The old oak would have made a fine home for Pooh Bear. The trunk must have been 10 or more feet in diameter. And lying on, not sitting or straddling, one of the branches was a 15-16 year old kid. It was fantastic.

That pretty much seals the deal, but if not, the Granby Land Trust has the tree’s image in its logo:

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Once we were driving on Day Street, very near the Massachusetts border, Hoang and I asked each other how we’d know where the tree is? We poked along looking intently into the woods and trying to pick up visual clues or signs. Once we crested a hill, we immediately became aware of how silly our concerns were – there, right alongside the road, stood the majestic 450-to-500 year old tree. Wow.

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For a sense of scale, Hoang and Damian are standing above the giant banana. Damian loves bananas.

“That’s the coolest tree I’ve ever seen on the East Coast!” blurted Hoang. (We’ve seen Sequoias in CA, banyans in Lahaina, and the Octopus Tree in Oregon, so we have to qualify these things.) While Hoang and Damian cavorted among the twisting low branches, I struggled to find a suitable angle from which to take a good picture. (I never really found it.)

cur2c1.jpgJoining my wife and son, we marveled at how one low branch actually goes underground, resurfaces, and continues outward for another 100 feet or so! I didn’t know oak trees could do that. The Granby Land Trust, who owns the land, keeps the area clean and tidy, which is certainly nice. The three of us sat on the branches, walked around the tree several times, and just sort of enjoyed the tree – for lack of a better term. It’s almost like the tree purposely grew in the Middle-of-Nowhere, CT in order to live long enough to impress us fans.

I know that’s stupid, but I’m not Wallace Stegner here! So I’ll let someone else do the writing for a moment; the following paragraphs are culled from a piece written by Carol Laun entitled, “EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE OAK.”

Much has been written about the ancient oak tree on Day Street in Granby, Connecticut. It was growing around 1600, long before there was a Granby or a Day Street. The land it is on has been in the possession of the Dewey family since 1734, when Isaac Dewey ventured into the frontier wilderness of the Salmon Brook district of Simsbury. [It's not much different in 2007 - steve]

Eight generations of Deweys farmed the land, and added another 100 acres. When the old homestead was sold in 1976, the family kept a little over an acre of land, which included the Granby Oak. The Oak has had a special place in Granby’s heart for a long time.

cur2e1.jpgIn 1975, the Town of Granby started using the Oak as a symbol in the Town Seal. A year later, when the farm sold, The Dewey family considered selling the tree, and the Granby Conservation Commission and the Granby Land Trust started a fund drive. However the family decided not to sell. The Oak was too important to them.

A deluge of advice has been offered about the Oak, and few of the experts seem to agree. Should the road be moved or will road work damage the roots? Should the surrounding area be cleared or left natural? should the poison ivy be removed? Should the tree receive deep or surface fertilizer or none? Should the limbs be cabled or not? (They cannot be lifted, only supported.) Should trucks of a certain height be banned from Day Street?

cur2f1.jpgAll things living are mortal, and as we attempt to achieve a kind of immortaltiy with our children – so it is with the Oak. About 1981, an acorn from the Granby Oak was planted. The tiny seedling was moved to the grounds of the Salmon Brook Historical Society in 1986 to celebrate Granby’s Bicentennial. It is thriving, and is spreading out small branches just like the mother tree.

The book of Notable Connecticut Trees calls the Granby Oak the “most picturesque” in the state. The huge branches of the Oak lean on the ground, spreading out nearly 130 feet. For centuries, this tree has stood – enduring, deep rooted, wide spreading, and a symbol of the roots that have been established here in the town of Granby.

Just get your butts up there to see the tree for yourselves!

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Another visit, May 2009:

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tree1.jpg

And here is a picture (from reader Doug M.) after the “Halloween 2011 storm”. I have no idea what will happen to the tree now.

Back to Arboreta, Gardens & Greenhouses, Labyrinths, Trees & Plants

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For the Curious

Better pictures of the oak
More better pictures of the oak
White oak fact sheet
What is a brevet?

12 responses to “The Coolest Tree (Granby)”

  1. Dave says:

    I live in Southwick.just north of Granby.We tell everyone about”THE TREE”

  2. Don says:

    I read that the largest Black Oak tree in the Country was in East Granby, CT. It is not reported to be the largest tree in CT or even the largest Oak in CT but is supposely the largest of that species (Black Oak) in the Country. I would like to visit it but I can not find any information on where it is exactly. Another quest for you, perhaps?

  3. Steve says:

    Don –

    Thanks. I haven’t heard that and can’t find any info either. In fact, this site says “The largest living black oak known measures 274 cm (108 in) in d.b.h. and 37.8 m (124 ft) in height. This tree grows in the Siskiyou National Forest, OR.”

  4. Don says:

    Here’s the web site where I found out about the East Granby Black Oak. It’s a cool web site for CT trees. I especially found the Constitutional Pin Oak info facinating and have visited a few already.

    http://oak.conncoll.edu:8080/notabletrees/

  5. Elaine says:

    I’m have got to see this tree! And it’s going into my blog for sure.

  6. Bo says:

    Hi….Some idiot attempted (and miscalculated) to drive his truck under a low section of the tree….Gouged a pretty good chunk off of it…..I hope it doesnt harm too much of the tree

  7. Randymarie Dewey says:

    I have lived so close, and yet I never new about this wonderful, beautiful tree! I recently learned of it and I can not wait to visit it!

  8. Jason Franklin says:

    My son and I drove by this tree on 10/30/10 and stopped to snap a few photos. I had vague memories of this oak from when I was kid driving by it on my way to my grandmothers on West Granby Rd.
    I have a larger appreciation of trees now that I am older and was simply amazed at this beautiful landmark.
    Its well worth side trip because the pictures cannot do it justice.

  9. Hana says:

    Hi! where is this? I’m looking for the granby that is in the park with the trails? I went there a very long time ago and would love to find it again! It’s not the granby on the road it’s in a park with this large field. Well please let me know the address or park name! Great article! Such beautiful places! Thank you.

  10. Steve says:

    Hana,

    As the page says, the tree is right on Day Road north of route 20 on the way to the MA line.

  11. Wow, What a Ride « MFR Biking Blog says:

    [...] Crossing route 20 in Connecticut, we were soon at the tree. Again, you have to stop at the tree! The Dewey-Granby Oak. The way its branches undulate along, sometimes diving toward the ground just makes you feel like a [...]

  12. Roxy says:

    Hi I’m actually from granby and reading people’s reaction to a tree I have seen my whole life is really interesting to me. But I’m really glad it brings many people much joy(:

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