Equinox Sunset - Walk the Bluff
Sue A. Williams, Sierra Club - Chickasaw Chapter chairman, will lead the walk and probably head to dinner afterwards with those who are interested. Meet at Union & Riverside; parking meters along Wagner are free on weekends. Don't forget your camera.
You’ve passed by her many times on Riverside Drive. She’s that big leafy green mass that shades the west end of the pedestrian bridge from South Bluffs over to Ashburn-Coppock Park near the River Tower. This is also where the Bluffwalk and Riverwalk merge to continue south along the bluff to Martyrs Park and the Chickasaw Heritage Mounds. Her formal name is Quercus michauxii, but most folks know her as Swamp Chestnut Oak. Even fewer Downtowners know that she may just be the oldest tree on the downtown Memphis riverfront.
To read the full article and learn "how" Ashburn-Coppock Park got its name, click DNA Newsletter or "read more" below.
Queen Tree of the Riverfront
by Don Richardson, Sierra Club Chickasaw Chapter
You’ve passed by her many times on Riverside Drive. She’s that big leafy green mass that shades the west end of the pedestrian bridge from South Bluffs over to Ashburn-Coppock Park near the River Tower. This is also where the Bluffwalk and Riverwalk merge to continue south along the bluff to Martyrs Park and the Chickasaw Heritage Mounds. Her formal name is Quercus michauxii, but most folks know her as Swamp Chestnut Oak. Even fewer Downtowners know that she may just be the oldest tree on the downtown Memphis riverfront.
Well-known residents of the entire Mississippi Valley, Swamp Chestnut Oaks enjoy bottomlands and river banks such as our Chickasaw Bluffs. Their acorns are the largest in the oak family along with Bur Oak, and feel like small bumpy circles of solid wood. When you visit the tree, remember that these may look like the flimsy acorns you’re used to, but do not crunch when you step on them. Many a homeowner has challenged their durability and come up short with a damaged lawnmower.
So, how old is the “Queen”? At slightly over 13 feet in circumference and just over 30 feet tall, she isn’t the biggest around or the tallest. There are other oak trees in the park that are taller and wider and therefore may look older to the untrained eye, but due to Swamp Chestnut Oak’s slow growth rate, in reality the others are her juniors by as much as 50 years.
In calculating her age, we certainly don’t want to bore holes into her trunk in order to count growth rings, but we do have historic circumstantial evidence that suggests a pretty close estimate. This location was once part of Fort Pickering, a sprawling civil war structure, first built by the Confederates to utilize the ancient American mounds at Chickasaw Heritage Park. But after the Union army captured Memphis in June 1862, they enlarged and expanded the fortifications, enclosing supply houses, depots,horse corrals, and barracks with earthworks stretching from Beale Street south to the mounds, including present-day Ashburn-Coppock Park. Construction of fortifications at that time removed all trees and shrubs that would have interfered with sight lines for artillery and other weaponry, so this suggests that no tree on this section of our riverfront could be more than 150 years old. At most, if a sympathetic tree-lover at the time was able to save anything, it would have been a small sapling, which gives us a maximum speculative age of 160-170 years old.
Fast forward to the 1960’s. The nearby Rivermark Building is planning an expansion, and developers are planning to cut down the small wooded knoll to the north that is in the way. That is, until downtown advocate Paul R. Coppock stepped up to oppose them. Coppock was a well-known columnist for the Memphis Press-Scimitar (and author of later books like Memphis Memoirs) who had a passion for local history. Recognizing the beauty and long-term heritage value of this stand of trees, Coppock began his own crusade to preserve these trees for a future park, and by the mid-1960’s, had succeeded. In his honor, his name was added to that of an historic river barge line to become Ashburn-Coppock Park.
Who says trees can’t also have a romantic ending to their story. Drop by and pay your respects to the Queen.
by Don Richardson, Sierra Club Chickasaw Chapter
You’ve passed by her many times on Riverside Drive. She’s that big leafy green mass that shades the west end of the pedestrian bridge from South Bluffs over to Ashburn-Coppock Park near the River Tower. This is also where the Bluffwalk and Riverwalk merge to continue south along the bluff to Martyrs Park and the Chickasaw Heritage Mounds. Her formal name is Quercus michauxii, but most folks know her as Swamp Chestnut Oak. Even fewer Downtowners know that she may just be the oldest tree on the downtown Memphis riverfront.
Well-known residents of the entire Mississippi Valley, Swamp Chestnut Oaks enjoy bottomlands and river banks such as our Chickasaw Bluffs. Their acorns are the largest in the oak family along with Bur Oak, and feel like small bumpy circles of solid wood. When you visit the tree, remember that these may look like the flimsy acorns you’re used to, but do not crunch when you step on them. Many a homeowner has challenged their durability and come up short with a damaged lawnmower.
So, how old is the “Queen”? At slightly over 13 feet in circumference and just over 30 feet tall, she isn’t the biggest around or the tallest. There are other oak trees in the park that are taller and wider and therefore may look older to the untrained eye, but due to Swamp Chestnut Oak’s slow growth rate, in reality the others are her juniors by as much as 50 years.
In calculating her age, we certainly don’t want to bore holes into her trunk in order to count growth rings, but we do have historic circumstantial evidence that suggests a pretty close estimate. This location was once part of Fort Pickering, a sprawling civil war structure, first built by the Confederates to utilize the ancient American mounds at Chickasaw Heritage Park. But after the Union army captured Memphis in June 1862, they enlarged and expanded the fortifications, enclosing supply houses, depots,horse corrals, and barracks with earthworks stretching from Beale Street south to the mounds, including present-day Ashburn-Coppock Park. Construction of fortifications at that time removed all trees and shrubs that would have interfered with sight lines for artillery and other weaponry, so this suggests that no tree on this section of our riverfront could be more than 150 years old. At most, if a sympathetic tree-lover at the time was able to save anything, it would have been a small sapling, which gives us a maximum speculative age of 160-170 years old.
Fast forward to the 1960’s. The nearby Rivermark Building is planning an expansion, and developers are planning to cut down the small wooded knoll to the north that is in the way. That is, until downtown advocate Paul R. Coppock stepped up to oppose them. Coppock was a well-known columnist for the Memphis Press-Scimitar (and author of later books like Memphis Memoirs) who had a passion for local history. Recognizing the beauty and long-term heritage value of this stand of trees, Coppock began his own crusade to preserve these trees for a future park, and by the mid-1960’s, had succeeded. In his honor, his name was added to that of an historic river barge line to become Ashburn-Coppock Park.
Who says trees can’t also have a romantic ending to their story. Drop by and pay your respects to the Queen.
Don lives currently in Midtown, but his
spirit is all downtown where he spends as much time as possible. Implementing
strategic and sustainable growth strategies for non-profits and new businesses
by day, he is a recognized urban naturalist and tree-lover.
posted on 9/21/2012 | Permalink
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