The Auction Oaks
at least 190 years, and already large in the 1830sLive Oakpin approximate
Which one is it? A tight stand of broad live oaks in the southwest corner of an otherwise open square, noticeably older than everything planted around them.
In August 1839 the lots of a city that did not yet exist were sold in the shade of these trees. Judge Edwin Waller had staked out the grid that spring and held back the best ground for the capitol. The rest went under the hammer here: two hundred and seventeen lots, three hundred thousand dollars, which covered the public buildings of the new Texas capital. The grove is the reason this square exists. Then the twentieth century happened to it. For decades the square was a parking lot with asphalt run right up to the trunks, which is close to the worst thing you can do to a live oak, and the trees came through anyway. The city rebuilt the square in 2017 and they now stand in open ground again. Aim for the southwest corner. The square is a single block and the grove is unmistakable once you are inside it. One thing nobody has settled is which live oak these are. Central Texas has two that look much the same, and the sources that tell the auction story do not name the species. If you know, tell us.
The button above opens directions in your maps app. Ten minutes on foot west from Congress Avenue, at Guadalupe and West 4th.
The pin marks the right spot roughly, not the tree itself. It stands here, but we have not confirmed the precise position on the ground yet. Know exactly where it is?
- Species
- Live Oak (Quercus sp.)
- Age estimate
- at least 190 years, and already large in the 1830s
- Location
- Republic Square, southwest corner, Guadalupe Street at West 4th (Downtown)
- Access
- Free. A public downtown square, open at all hours.
- Getting there
- Ten minutes on foot west from Congress Avenue, at Guadalupe and West 4th.
Trees nearby
Ticking this one off, walks past several more, and your collection growing city by city: that is the Ancient Trees app.
Get the appThis page was researched from a distance. If you know this tree, you know things we do not: the species, the age, the size, whether the photo shows the right tree, or that it is gone. Every field on this page can be corrected.
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