Jamestown Oak Tree Has
Stood Test Of Time
There is a special place in the heart ol
all those who remember a tree from
their childhood they used to climb on
for houiv
Generations and generations of
Guilford Comm residents have memo¬
ries of such a tree — a large oak tree that
has lived lot centuries.
I he white oak tree stands behind the
residence ol Harlan and Kav Cato in the
southwest Guilford County town of
Jamestown. Local arborists estimate lin¬
age ol the tree to Ik* alxnit
ГИИ)
years,
according to Maty Ragsdale, who has
lived in Jamestown for 54 seats.
People driving by the tree may not
realize how unique it really is and may lx*
fixiled into thinking it is a cluster of
trees. Ragsdale says. In reality, though, it
is a single tree that branches out to cover
a spread ol 1 13 feet 3 inches.
Tile Jamestown Kngineering Group
Inc. smveyed the old oak and obtained
the following measurements: 93 feet 3
1/2
inches tall, with the trunk diameter
(taken 3 leet alxive ground) being f> feet
2 I
/*1
inches.
"To my knowledge it is the largest liv¬
ing white oak in Guilford County."
Harlan Cato says. He thinks ii has sur¬
vived this long because it hits not had to
compete with taller trees for light. As a
result, it has stayed fairly short over the
years. Ix-ing less likely to lx* blown over
or struck by lightning.
The limbs are so heavy and long that
they can touch the ground and then
spread upward again on windy days. Cato
savs his 5-year-old twin girls and his 3-
vearold boy love to step up on the limbs
and walk up the tree. But then, they are
afraid to come down and Harlan savs he
lias to get the ladder. He says the same
thing happens when friends come and
climb up the tree.
Cato savs that about four years ago two
men in theii 70s stopped by the house
out of the blue and told him about how
they used to climb the tree when they
were children.
I he tree has lived to see it all — from
the* Revolutionary War to the Civil War. If
it continues to stay .is healthy as it is
trxlay. it will live* see the turn of the cen¬
tury.
The tree- is so healthy, in fact, that at its
thinnest point the circumference
77ic gargantuan Jamestown oak tree
around the trunk is 195 inches. Harlan
( ato says.
To Ragsdale, the tree is a hidden trea¬
sure and a survivor. She has made it her
goal to make sure it receives the recogni¬
tion it deserves. With all the new com¬
mercial and residential development
going on in the Greensboro area these
days, she d«x*sn'i want to see the tree
paved over.
"It's an inspiration of what nature can
do if left alone." she says.
For anyone interested in seeing the
tree, it’s located on the west side of
Guilford College Road, north of Devon
Court and southwest of downtown
Greensboro.
— Rachael landau
Undcruood, Mangum, Caddy and
Kinard have combined on a new book.
New Book Uses Art, Prose
To Depict Beauty Of N.C.
Three of North Carolina's Ixst-known
broadcast journalists have combined on
а 1хюк
venture that is certain to send
state Travel and Tourism officials swoon¬
ing.
North Carolina: Behold the Beauty, written
by longtime far Heel television personal¬
ities < :j. I 'nderwiKxl. < Ihai lie Gaddy and
Lee Kinard. is a celebration of the state if
there ever was one.
"North Carolina is the artist's ultimate
studio,” writes Underwood, who
charmed audiences of Charlotte’s WBTV
for years by uncovering little-known char¬
acter on his "Carolina Camera” show.
"In our glorious state there is a painting
behind every mountain and knob, down
every winding road and on to the waiting
sea."
Underwood, along with co-authors
Charlie Gaddy of Raleigh’s WRAL and
Lee Kinard of Greensboro’s WFMY takes
readers on a reflective, well-planned tour
of the state that chronicles the beauty of
the people and the grandeur of the land¬
scape.
In many respects. North Carolina: Behold
the Beauty is a celebration of the sane.
More than 100 water colors by
Greensboro’s William Mangum grace
the pages of the coffee-table volume.
With each turn of the page there is a
stunning new painting to treasure:
"Sarah’s Porch.” "Intracoastal Sunset."
"Evening at Marshallburg.” “Ashe
County Foothills." “Lick Ix>g Mill Store"
and “Bald Head Light.”
Each of the book's authors has more
than 25 years of writing and broadcast
experience. Interestingly, however. North
(Carolina: Behold the Beauty is the first book
for each.
Gaddy’s section on eastern North
Carolina traces his roots to small-town
Biscoc. where, he recalls. "People didn’t
lock their doors at night because most
doors in the town didn't even have locks
on them.”
In his Piedmont section of the book,
Kinard, a Concord native, remembers
elementary school afternoons spent
“skinny-dipping with my buddy Quincy
Collins in the Three-Mile Branch, bat¬
tling chiggers while picking blackberries
for Mom and tormenting the mules in
my grandparents' bam."
Underwood's mountain and foothills
section includes delightful visits with
gravedigger Charlie Lewis of Gastonia,
veterans gathered on the courthouse
square in Newton, soda shop proprietor
Cary Wade of Davidson and cotton gin
owner V.I.. Wall of Morvcn.
Says famous Tar Heel Charles Kuralt
about the new Ixxik: “How fortunate that
we can share in this vision of our state’s
boundless beauty — its splcndorous sun¬
sets, shimmering harbors, breathtaking
Blue Ridge vistas and peaceful evenings
in the front porch rocker. This is
а 1хюк
of down-home masterpieces that distills
North Carolina to a pure artistic essence."
The Slate/AuguM 1995
4
