Shellbark Hickory at Saint John the Apostle
Historic Leesburg
Approximate location.
Seven metres apart on the grounds of Saint John the Apostle Catholic Church stand two trees that could hardly be built more differently. One is a Japanese chestnut, short and broad. The other is this shellbark hickory, and at 98 feet (29.9 metres) it is almost twice as tall, the tallest of the four county-registered trees on the site. The Loudoun County Big Tree Registry's 2025 measurements give it a trunk 113 inches round, about 2.9 metres, and a crown 73 feet across, for 229 points. It is not a state champion, and it does not need to be. Shellbark hickory is a native of river bottoms and rich lowland woods in the eastern United States, known for the largest nuts of any hickory and for bark that comes away in long, loose plates. Together with the chestnut it makes one stop, and you can stand between the two and see both. The silver linden and the Atlantic white cedar complete the set within about a hundred metres. No source gives this hickory an age or a planting date, and nobody seems to know whether it was planted at all. If you know, tell us. Check for services or funerals before walking onto the grounds.
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Getting there
Saint John the Apostle Catholic Church grounds, Church Street NE, Leesburg, VA 20176
You can recognise it by its height, about 30 metres, twice that of the broad Japanese chestnut seven metres away. It stands near the sharp turn of Church Street on the Saint John the Apostle grounds.
Church grounds and parish cemetery beside Church Street NE, Leesburg. The county flags this tree as visible or accessible from public property. Check for services or funerals before walking in; no published hours.
Downtown Leesburg; Loudoun County Transit stop Union St and King St is about a 3 minute walk (OSM stop ref 29).
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from. The story was written with AI from these sources, and readers who know the tree correct it.