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ENTS,
Here is a report on the vanished Brewerton Oak Grove in northern
Onondaga County NY:
Brewerton Onondaga
County NY Oak Grove
This was an old oak grove in Brewerton where Oneida Lake
empties into the Oneida River in central NY, along the historic
water route
that connected Albany and the Mohawk Valley with Oswego and Lake
Ontario; this
route was the main access to the Great Lakes for the British before
1763, and
the site has great historic significance. Just north of where the
oak grove was
on the other side of the Oneida River , stood Fort Brewerton built
by the
British in 1759 during the French and Indian War to protect the
strategic
waterway. The earthworks of this fort (topped by Sugar Maples from
the 19th
century) remain today and are among the best preserved 18th century
earthworks in North America. Fort Brewerton is in the Oswego County
part of
Brewerton and has a museum that interprets the areas history.
The oak grove also occupied a strategic site on top of a
hill just above the south bank of the Oneida River. Indian artifacts
are said
to have been found there, and this
hill may have been the site of the Iroquois village visited by
Champlain in
1615. The village could have been abandoned in the 18th century due
to increasing European (fur traders, soldiers, etc.) going to and
from Oswego.
It looks like the oak grove came up in the 18th century after the
Indian village was abandoned.
Unfortunately this magnificent oak grove can only be spoken
of in past tense. Despite the objections of many people, its owner
had it
logged in 1998 to defray property taxes. On 4/24/98 and 5/13/98
Robert Henry
and I surveyed the oak grove (on 5/13 accompanied by Fred Caswell).
The grove
did not have pit and mound topography or much downed timber but the
oaks were
huge, forest-grown, and most likely 100-110 tall. The grove covered
about 1.5
acres.
Dominant trees White Oak, Red Oak, Red Maple
Understory Black Cherry, Choke Cherry, Red Maple, Sugar
Maple, Bitternut Hickory, Pignut Hickory, White Pine, Hemlock, Beech
Trees examined:
White Oak
33.4
dbh
Red Oak
43.2
dbh (11.3 cbh) forest-grown
Swamp White Oak
33
dbh open-grown at edge
Red Oak
53.1
dbh (13.9cbh) only surviving large tree as of 6/20/2009-
Onondaga
County champion, possibly largest forest-grown tree
of
any species in Onondaga County, also possible Military Tract Witness
Tree of
1790s a witness tree shown as Black Oak indicating
Black
Oak group is shown on this spot there was
no Black Oak(species) in the grove
Bitternut Hickory 20.7 dbh
White Oak
23.8 dbh
White Oak
29.2 dbh
Red Oak
39.8 dbh open-grown
White Oak
27.7 dbh
White Oak
29 dbh
White Oak
29.5 dbh
White Oak
29.7 dbh
White Oak
47.4 dbh open-grown at edge
White Oak
38.8 dbh open-grown at edge
Red Maple
24 dbh
White Oak
26.2 dbh tall
White Oak
37 dbh
White Oak
20.5 dbh
White Oak
25.2 dbh
Unless otherwise indicated all trees were forest-grown. The
oak grove was like a cathedral and had a sacred feel, like being
surrounded by
the towering columns of an ancient temple. Its loss is a great
tragedy; if it
had been better known, it could have been combined with Fort
Brewerton to
provide an outstanding historical and natural experience. Unlike in
other oak
forests, White Oak and Red Oak seedlings were abundant.
On the rainy Sat. June 20, 2009 Robert Henry and I revisited
the area and saw that the champion Red Oak is still standing, and
also that the
huge open-grown White Oak that used to stand at the Brewerton United
Methodist
Church is gone; this church is on Orangeport Road near the hill on
which the
oak grove used to stand.
We counted 180 rings on the stump on 35 intact radius the
center of the tree
(5-7 radius) is hollow; this great oak seems to have been
200-250 years old.
Tom Howard
Central NY Old Growth Survey
Continued at:
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/ea98351346d31a74?hl=en
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