The War of 1812 Willow Oak

Mary Debutts, of Mount Welby, the house Dr Samuel Debutts built on this land, wrote in 1815 of the Battle of Bladensburg: "we heard every fire. Our house shook." She also saw the Capitol burning. A forestry blog says this willow oak was standing that night too. That is the blog's claim, and the honest version is narrower. The National Park Service registered the tree in its witness tree program as survey MD-13 and says it was likely planted in at least the early nineteenth century. The Forest Foundation, writing in May 2023, believes it is at least 200 years old. Neither has a planting record, and neither date reaches back to August 1814 with any certainty. What the register does tie it to is the land. Oxon Hill Manor, the Godding Croft farms and the long working life of Oxon Hill Farm, now run by the Park Service, are all part of its story. The trunk measured 56.5 inches across at chest height, about 4.5 metres round. It stands alone in a grassy field by the parking lot, with picnic tables near it and a view of Washington, and the 2023 visit found it still standing. The farm is open every day from 9:00 to 4:30. This is Maryland, a short drive south of Anacostia, and a car is the practical way to reach it. Two hundred years old or not, it is a large oak with the open field to itself.