Historic Wading River tree is cut down, after one last hug

The historic white oak at the intersection of North Country Road and Wading River-Manor Road in Wading River has dropped its last acorn.

Riverhead Highway crews took most of the tree down Thursday. But not before local residents showed the venerable old oak some love.
Highway Superintendent George Woodson joined hands with local residents, forming a circle around the hefty 15-foot circumference of its trunk, and gave the oak a hug. 

Saws buzzed away at the tree’s limbs and trunk for most of the day. Workers took it down to a stump of about 12 feet in height. The stump that’s left is believed to contain two granite stones that once guided travelers on their journey along the north shore, marking the mileage from that corner to Port Jefferson (11 miles) and Riverhead (10 miles). The tree is thought to have grown around and absorbed the stones.

The highway chief said he will use equipment to get inside the trunk — which is partly hollowed by rot — to search for the mile stones within.

Joyce Wood, who lives in the home in front of which the tree has stood since at least 1750, was one of the residents who encircled the tree for a hug.

“It’s very painful,” she said as she watched crews work Thursday morning. “Especially when you hear the crack. That tree is part of the family.” It holds many memories, she said. “My children were born here. My father-in-law bought the house in 1949 and moved it back from the road 100 feet,” she said.

Her brother-in-law, Harry Wood, who grew up in the house, stood by as the limbs came down. “I used to play in that tree,” he said. He said he wanted to make sure the granite mile stones were salvaged for the Wading River Historical Society.

“It’s a historic tree. It’s been here since the American Revolution,” Wading River resident Jane Alcorn said. “Something that’s been here that long desrves some respect.”

Dr. Gaynell Stone of the Suffolk County Archaeological Association said she hoped the tree trunk would yield “a slice that doesn’t have a hole in the middle.” If it did, modern technology would be able to “date the tree scientifically and accurately,” she said.

See prior story about the town’s decision to remove the tree.

Photo captions:

Harry Wood and his sister-in-law Joyce, with an old photo of the tree in its healthier days; RiverheadLOCAL photo by Peter Blasl.

Highway Superintendent George Woodson joined with residents to give the big old oak tree a last hug; RiverheadLOCAL photo courtesy of Andrew Dick.

The remaining stump of the tree as it stood on Friday morning, which is going to be explored for historic granite mile markers before being removed and ground down. RiverheadLOCAL photo by Peter Blasl.