Quercus macrocarpa
This large Bur Oak, estimated to be over 350 years old, is on land once originally part of a Revolutionary War land grant in 1786. Daniel McMahon (1751-1838) was a veteran who settled in Williamson County in 1799 when the tree would have already been a large tree and provided shade for his log home. His son, Joseph, later sold the property to A.B. Ewing, in 1853, a respected physician who married Eliza McDowell McGavock, another notable Franklin connection.
Just over a mile from the property sits Roper’s Knob, the highest point in Franklin, which served as a Union Signal Station in 1863 during the Civil War. This Bur Oak likely could have been seen from this high point during the Battle of Franklin in 1864.
The tree could have also been seen by the riders in the Franklin Interurban Railway of 1908-1926 as they crossed the bridge over Spring Creek. An aerial photograph of 1949 also shows the Wise Old Oak standing along the branch as a prominent feature of the landscape.
In 2007 the Franklin First United Methodist Church purchase the 107-acre property, which is now the last, large undeveloped green space within the Franklin city limits. This Bur Oak has seen much of the history of Franklin and is referred to by many people as “The Wise Old Oak”.
Nominated by Kay Matthews of the Franklin First United Methodist Church
