These trees are among the oldest in MS and some may date back 1,000 years

Brian Broom, Mississippi Clarion Ledger
·4 min read

Trees are wonderful things. In spring they offer nesting sites for birds that start the day singing. In the heat of summer they provide cool, shady areas to relax. In fall, they brighten the landscape with splashes of purple, yellow and red before they go to sleep in winter.

But not all trees are created equal. All are beautiful in their own way, but some become wonders of the natural world.

Over time, some grow to enormous sizes with sprawling limbs that almost seem to defy physics. Some with twisted trunks and broken limbs speak to the forces of nature they've endured in their lifetimes.

Here are some of the oldest trees in Mississippi and if only they could tell us the things they've seen.

A 'sacred' tree at Ole Miss

Ole Miss is known for a lot of things; game days in The Grove, academic excellence and a deep-seated dislike of cow bells, just to name a few.

One thing that may go unnoticed to people who haven't spent time at its Oxford campus is a giant northern catalpa tree located there.

Terran Arwood, president of Woodland Tree Service, worked on the tree several years ago to prevent a large branch from breaking and said it's the largest example of the species he's ever encountered. According to the University of Mississippi Museum, the tree is 76 feet tall and the trunk has a diameter of 22 feet, 7 inches.

Some estimates online say it's 400 years old. While Arwood described the tree as "sacred" and "ancient-looking," he feels the age is more like the age of the university. The UM Museum website states the same, which would make this somewhere around 175 years old.

A giant northern catalpa tree on the campus of the University of Mississippi is thought to be as old as the university which would make it approximately 175 years old.
A giant northern catalpa tree on the campus of the University of Mississippi is thought to be as old as the university which would make it approximately 175 years old.

The Ruskin Oak, possibly the oldest in Ocean Springs

Live oaks are among the most majestic of trees in Mississippi and elsewhere, and they're basically icons of the city of Ocean Springs. Once you've walked on Washington Street where these giant oaks line the street, it's hard to imagine the city without them.

However, one just outside of downtown stands out. The Ruskin Oak, located on Ruskin Avenue, is generally estimated to be between 350 years old and 400 years old. If that is true, the tree saw the first French settlers arrive on the Mississippi coast on Feb. 10, 1699.

Coincidentally, the tree is located near where those early explorers built Fort Maurepas.

Age aside, the tree is acknowledged as the largest live oak in the city. According to an article written in 2013 by Warren Kulo of AL.com, the tree has a trunk diameter of 237.2 inches. It became the largest in Ocean Springs in 2013 after the Hasty Oak, which had a trunk diameter of 244.5 inches and was estimated to be 500 years old, split and had to be removed.

The Ruskin Oak in Ocean Springs is considered the largest live oak in the city and is estimated to be about 350 years old to 400 years old.
The Ruskin Oak in Ocean Springs is considered the largest live oak in the city and is estimated to be about 350 years old to 400 years old.

More: What are the deepest lakes in Mississippi? Here's how they stack up

University of Southern Mississippi Friendship Oak

If trees had eyes, this one would have seen a lot. The Friendship Oak on the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Park Campus in Long Beach dates back to 1487, according to the university.

That would make the tree 5 years old when Christopher Columbus first sailed to the Americas in 1492. It would have been 100 years old when Virginia Dare, the first Anglo-American born on Roanoke Island, was born in 1587. It would have been almost 300 years old when the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.

In more recent history, the tree has survived the hurricane of 1947, Hurricane Camille in 1969 and the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

According to the university, 2011 measurements included a 59-foot height, a trunk circumference of 19 feet, 9 1/2 inches and a foliage spread of 155 feet.

More: How to keep snakes away from your home: What works and what doesn't.

The ancient cypress trees at Sky Lake

Trees that have lived hundreds of years are truly majestic wonders of Mississippi, but the bald cypress trees at Sky Lake Wildlife Management Area near Belzoni take old to a whole other level.

According to conservation non-profit Wildlife Mississippi, some of the trees there are thought to be in excess of 1,000 years old. That dates them back to a time when Native Americans were enjoying the rich resources available by hunting, fishing and farming. During that time, they were also building ceremonial mounds such as Emerald Mound near Natchez.

The largest of the trees are truly massive. One has a circumference of 46 feet, 9 inches with a 15-foot diameter and 70-foot height.

Visitors can view these trees from a 1,735-foot-long boardwalk or when water levels allow, by canoe or kayak.

Do you have a story idea? Contact Brian Broom at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Here are some of the oldest, most magnificent trees in Mississippi