The Old Oak

Easily THE best known tree at Crowell Hilaka, the old white oak tree grows next to Kirby house.  Indeed, it almost seems to be part of the house when approaching from the road along the lower lake.  But the tree was already old when the Kirbys were building the house in 1920. 

Oaks can be distinguished from other trees because they are the ones that produce acorns as seeds.  White oks have leaves with rounded lobes; red oaks have sharp points on their lobes.  But they all have acorns.  Oaks are known for their very strong wood.  Other trees may grow more quickly, but their wood is weaker.  The giant size of the old white oak is even more impressive when you realise that it must have taken hundreds of years to get to its current size.

There are a few other impressively large, old trees in camp. But most of the land was pasture or orchard until the 1930's (in the south) or the 1950's (in the north).  In the ages of forests, 60 or 80 years is still pretty young.  There is an old tree clinging to the ridge over the valley near High Lea shelter.  At the time of this writing, this counts as the forbidden zone, so I can't get back to check, but I think it's a red oak.  Another good old tree is growing in the front of the Oviatt Farmhouse.  As I recall, it featured a tire swing for the former camp manager's kids.

Visit the Ohio Department of Forestry's big trees website for official rules on measuring and recognition of big trees.

DDoom Narrowly Averted for Old White Oak

An extensive article on camp maintenance and costs that appeared in the Millwheel of September 1984 mentions a close shave the old oak tree had:

.......Kirby House had a real problem [when the tree roots grew into the footer tiles, which allowed water to drain into the basement].  In order to make the repairs, the old oak tree, the sidewalk around, and the cellar in the back would have to come out.  Instead, a suggestion by the soil conservation people was used.  They installed footer tiles at the bottom of the hill from Hilltop and just above Kirby. Now the run off will be caught before it reaches Kirby and thank goodness the old oak tree was saved!  I hated to ask the cost of these repairs.  $22,750 was the lowest bid.