As part of Covington’s 2013 Bicentennial Celebration, Keep Covington Beautiful sponsored the “Historic Tree Hunt” this spring. The goals of the project were to find Covington’s largest and oldest trees of any species and to discover both historical and anecdotal information about the city’s oldest residents, its heritage trees.
What makes a tree “historic”? According to the Arbor Day Foundation, “heritage or historic” trees are those that are important because of their great size, age, unusual form or association with local history. Tree-based lumber and ship-building industries played an important role in the city’s early growth and economy. Today, Covington’s trees make an important contribution to the overall beauty of the city as well as to the health of its environment. Identifying and saving our historic trees extends a link across generations as we act as temporary stewards of our natural environment.
The data on entries submitted in the Historic Tree Hunt was verified by members of the Covington Tree Board. Tree owners were notified of the results on April 26th, National Arbor Day. The following awards selected from the 35 trees entered were presented to their owners at the Covington Tree Board meeting, May 1, 2013, at The Chimes Restaurant. Awards were limited to owners with Covington zip codes. Please be respectful by observing the trees only from the street as they are located on private property.
Trunk circumference was used to determine the largest live oaks (same standard used by La Forestry Assoc. for their champion tree list)
Live Oaks:
Largest outside city limits: 26’ LaJuana Huhn, Country Club Estates
Largest inside city limits: 23’7” Private Residence
Runner-up outside city limits: 22’6” Nova Mauthe, Stafford Road
Runner-up inside city limits: 17’8” Charlie Maestri, W. 13th Ave
Largest non-residential: 18’7” St Scholastic Academy
Due to difficulty in determining age of trees (LOS standard of 16’ for 100 years of age) Most Historic Trees (rather than oldest)
Live Oak inside city limits: Roger Salter – 6 oaks at Rutland & New Hampshire on site of Covington’s first bank, appear in image of Old Bank Hotel built in 1834; trees & garden appear in 1850’s hotel ad
Live Oak outside city limits: Fay Hill, Sunnybrook Oaks: Andrew Jackson camped under these trees during trip to Battle of New Orleans 1812-1814 2 spies said to have been hanged from one of them
Most Historic Tree inside city limits: Bald Cypress at Chimes Restaurant Site of first parish courthouse & jail built in 1818, later served as a private residence, a Catholic seminary & the Claiborne Cottage resort, opened in 1880.
Runner-up Historic Tree inside city limits: Eddie Murphy’s Crapemyrtle Pictured on a 1938 postcard, in St. Tammany Postcards by Ashley Austin
Most Interesting Personal Story: “Gleason Oak”, Tyler & Columbia, Annie & Buddy Spell Dedicated tree to James Gleason for his many years of service to the community and as personal friend & teacher in matters of law & life
Runner-up personal Story: Smart Residence, Old Landing – Camellia Granthamiana Mr. Smart was 1 of 4 to obtain a scion shortly after the species was identified in Hong Kong in 1957; one of oldest of species in US
While the tree hunt was open to trees of all species, most of the entries received were Live Oaks. Locally well known for keeping records of large Live 0aks is the Live Oak Society. The membership of this society is made up of Live Oak trees. A tree must have a circumference of 8 feet to become a member. The largest tree is the president, currently the “Seven Sisters Oak” in Mandeville. Those with a circumference of 16 feet or more are known as “Centenarians” with an estimated age of 100 years or more. There are currently over 7,000 members in 14 states, approximately 72 of them with Covington addresses. The entries in the tree hunt provided valuable information for both historical background and future planning for the growth of our urban forest. Citizens are encouraged to plant young trees to replace the city’s aging, iconic Live Oaks, as well as pines, cypress, magnolia and other species to add to the community forest. Although the contest portion of the tree hunt has ended, we would like to continue adding trees of all species to this data base. Data entry forms are available at www.keepcovingtonbeautiful.org. Completed forms can be mailed to Keep Covington Beautiful, 427 N. Theard #114, Covington, LA 70433 or emailed to kcb@covla.com.
Keep Covington Beautiful is a 501 c 3 non-profit organization dedicated to the beautification of the city of Covington. KCB’s projects focus on beautification, including bi-annual planting of the downtown street-side planters, environmental education, litter prevention and recycling activities. To become a member or volunteer, contact KCB at 985-867-3652 or email kcb@covla.com; forms are available on the KCB website, www.keepcovingtonbeautiful.org. Follow Keep Covington Beautiful on Facebook.
Photo of attendees at results presentation: At table – John K, Mendow, Debbie Mendow, Roger Salter Standing – Priscilla Floca (KCB), John Grimm, Mary Kathryn Villere, Eddie Villere, Nova C. Mauthe, Stephanie Grimm, Lucile Smart Hawkins, Richard Celestin, Marguerite S. Celestin, Lane Smart, Keith Villere (Tree Board) Back row – Ray Jenkins (Tree Bd), LaJuana Huhn, Jan Armand (Tree Bd)
