The largest white oak tree in Montgomery County long towered over the narrow path at Beach Drive and Rockville Pike. At its prime, it stood more than 95 feet tall and spread its majestic crown across the length of nearly half a football field.
Maryland
One of Maryland’s oldest trees will be turned into a sculpture
But the tree that stood tall for decades will soon vanish.
The tree, which arborists say died last summer, declined in health causing its beauty and glory days to slowly fade. A side of its trunk is rotting and the tree has lost several limbs and a major branch.
Montgomery Parks will remove the tree this month after the Montgomery County Historic Preservation Commission granted its approval on June 21 to avoid a public hazard.
According to Colter Burkes, the senior urban forester at Montgomery Parks, a chain saw artist will transform the tree into a sculpture.
“We were going to carve the tree onsite but it’s a remote location, people don’t really go down there. Tentatively, we’re going to move it to the Ken-Gar local park, which isn’t too far. It’s in the same valley park as the Linden Oak,” Burkes said.
The area where the Linden Oak stands along the intersection of Rockville Pike was once open land. Deer, buffalo, bear and wild turkey inhabited the forested area unrestricted, according to the Montgomery Historical Society. Fish swam through rivers and streams flowing throughout the land.
With the arrival of European settlers, much of the forest that had been in possession of the Piscataway Confederation was cleared to grow tobacco, food and build log cabins, according to the Montgomery Historical Society.
In 1976, 200 years after the signing of Declaration of Independence, the Linden Oak tree was named a Montgomery County bicentennial tree. The Bicentennial Tree Project was undertaken by the Maryland Bicentennial Commission, which collaborated with foresters to document trees that were estimated to be alive during the birth of America.
According to John Bennett, the chair of the Maryland Big Tree Program, not every bicentennial tree was granted a badge of honor.
The “legislature said we’re not going to give a plaque to every tree. We will give each county one bronze plaque. The Linden Oak was the biggest white oak and bicentennial tree in Montgomery County. That was the one that got the plaque,” Bennett said.
Kevin Conrad, acting supervisory horticulturist at the National Arboretum, believes the white oak is exceptional.
“I think what separates the white oak from several of the native oak is how beautiful it is as it ages and matures. The leaf is very unique. The shape has a characteristic unlike many of the other species. The exfoliating bark component is also very ornamental,” Conrad said.
For decades, passing pedestrians, bikers and cars may not have noticed the treasure rooted in North Bethesda. But the Linden Oak drew wide attention in the early 1970s when the development of the Metro threatened its life. The Montgomery County Council fought to have the Metro construction realigned to avoid harming the tree at the cost of $2 million, according to the Maryland Historical Trust.
For decades the Linden Oak tree flourished as the Montgomery County champion tree from 1976 to 2022, a title given to the largest known white oak tree in the county.
But that title was threatened when the tree lost a major limb.
“I received a call from the Montgomery County Department of Transportation telling me since the Linden Oak was no longer the county champion, the county wanted to take it down and pave over that area to improve that intersection,” said Joli McCathran, vice chair of the Maryland Big Tree Program.
With an ordinary tree, the loss of a limb would likely reduce the stature of a tree, but the Linden Oak retained its long-lasting title. McCathran and her colleague Joe Howard, a member of the county’s forestry board, went to check the stats again.
“Thank goodness Joe and I had remeasured just a few days before,” McCathran said. “I informed the employee that it was still the Montgomery County champion even though it had lost a major limb. I have not ever heard from him again.”
Through it all, the largest white oak tree in Montgomery County was relentless, but like humans, a tree can only bear so much. According to Conrad, oak trees can live for hundreds of years if they’re able to thrive in their natural habitat, undisturbed by an innovative environment. Once a tree’s roots are disrupted by construction, it can lead to long-term effects.
When Conrad was told that the Linden Oak tree was rooted on the side of the road, he blatantly said, “it’s doomed.”
“I don’t know the tree, but in my imagination, if it’s by an interstate, then it’s getting a lot of pollutants. It could be that the tree was able to sustain the compaction that the road caused for a while, but because of the inability for it to develop an extensive root system, it has declined,” said Conrad.
“You could probably go back in time and see the decline start to take place, but it just takes a long time for an old tree like that to finally give up and die.”
The tree is expected to be removed in coming weeks. The trunk will stay in place, along with two memorial plaques. One of them reads: “It stood its ground, survived the American Revolution and continues to serve an appreciative nation.”
A 16-year-old student at a high school in Maryland has been detained after he allegedly shot and killed a 15-year-old student in one of the school’s bathrooms.
The name of the suspect has yet to be released. The victim, Warren Curtis Grant, died following the shooting at Joppatowne High School. Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler made the announcement at a press briefing.
The suspect fled the scene but was detained close by just minutes later.
“He has yet to be charged but will be charged, and at the time those charges are preferred as an adult, we will release the name of the suspect,” Gahler told the press, according to The Guardian.
The sheriff added that his office has handled more than 10 cases in the last two years “where the suspect was either the victim, witness or the suspect in an incident handled by the Harford county sheriff’s office.”
While the sheriff’s office told the public to avoid the area after the shooting, it said that it was an “isolated incident, not an active shooter.”
An “active shooter” situation refers to when a suspect is firing against everyone they see rather than targeting a particular person.
An area church was used as a reunification center for students and their parents. The school is located about 20 miles northeast of Baltimore.
Gahler noted that more than 100 law enforcement officials responded to the scene.
The fight at Joppatowne High School took place just two days after the shooting at a high school outside Atlanta, Georgia where a 14-year-old shot and killed four people.
Michigan State got the job done in its season opener, but it wasn’t pretty as it hung on at home against Florida Atlantic. Now, it has to head on the road to open Big Ten play in what promises to be a tougher test.
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Michigan State is 1-0, but the road gets tougher now. The Spartans go on the road and start Big Ten play early in Week 2 with a trip to Maryland. The Terrapins have a new look this year without quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa but looked strong in their season-opener against Howard last week.
· Who: Michigan State at Maryland
· When: 3:30 p.m.
· Where: SECU Stadium, College Park, Maryland
· Twitter: Follow Matt Wenzel
· Live updates: Beginning at 2:30 p.m. at mlive.com/spartans
· Latest line: Maryland -9.5
TV Network: Big Ten Network
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Five must-reads before kickoff:
* Michigan State lost two members of its secondary, Dillon Tatum and Khalil Majeed, to long-term injuries in its season opener. The team is turning to some new faces to fill in the holes from those injuries.
* Alex VanSumeren was once Michigan State’s top-rated recruit, but he’s been seldom seen on the field due to injuries. Now, though, he’s healthy and making his mark on the Spartans’ defensive line.
* Aidan Chiles’ 10-completion, two-interception performance in Michigan State’s season-opener was his “floor,” according to offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren, who has a plan to improve the quarterback’s performance going forward.
* Jonathan Smith had a name for Week 1 in college football: overreaction Saturday. He’s cautioning fans not to put too much stock into an opening performance that likely underwhelmed many.
* The run game and discipline are two of Matt Wenzel’s five things to watch in this week’s matchup.
Michigan State
* Passing: Aidan Chiles 10-14, 114 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT
* Rushing: Kay’ron Lynch-Adams 9 rush, 101 yards, 1 TD
* Receiving: Michael Masunas 2 rec., 29 yards, 0 TD
* Tackles: Angelo Grose 12
* Sacks: Khris Bogle 1.5
* Interceptions: Grose, Nikai Martinez 1
Maryland
* Passing: Billy Edwards Jr. 20-27, 311 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
* Rushing: Roman Hemby 14 rush, 66 yards, 1 TD
* Receiving: Tai Felton 7 rec., 178 yards, 2 TD
* Tackles: Glendon Miller 6
* Sacks: None
* Interceptions: Ruben Hyppolite II, Miller 1
Friday, Sept. 6
Western Illinois at Indiana
Duke at Northwestern
Saturday, Sept. 7
Texas at Michigan, noon (FOX)
Rhode Island at Minnesota, noon (Peacock)
Bowling Green at Penn State, noon (BTN)
Akron at Rutgers, noon (BTN)
Iowa State at Iowa, 3:30 p.m. (CBS)
Michigan State at Maryland, 3:30 p.m. (BTN)
Eastern Michigan at Washington, 3:30 p.m. (BTN)
South Dakota at Wisconsin, 3:30 p.m. (FS1)
Kansas at Illinois, 7 p.m. (FS1)
Colorado at Nebraska, 7:30 p.m. (NBC)
Western Michigan at Ohio State, 7:30 p.m. (BTN)
Boise State at Oregon, 10 p.m. (Peacock)
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Michigan State has an excellent chance to make a strong statement this weekend that the rebuilding job under new head coach Jonathan Smith is ahead of schedule, if the Spartans can take down 8-point favorite Maryland on Saturday.
A Michigan State victory would be a strong statement within the football industry, but maybe not as strong from a fan perspective. I’m not sure Maryland’s football brand is as respected in the state of Michigan and regionally as it should be, for a program that has gone 8-5 in the past two seasons and defeated Auburn and North Carolina State in bowl games the past two years.
Maryland is good. The Terrapins are coming off a 50-7 victory over a weak UConn team last week. Maryland’s offense looked very good against a weak, soft, conservative UConn defense.
Michigan State’s defense was ahead of schedule last week against a mediocre Florida Atlantic offense. Michigan State’s offense was behind schedule, experiencing inconsistent accuracy and decision-making at the quarterback position, which was somewhat understandable considering it was sophomore Aidan Chiles’ first start as a college player. MSU’s running game also lacked consistency, especially in short yardage and in the red zone.
The big news from Maryland last week in my opinion was the excellent play of new starting quarterback Billy Edwards. The 6-foot-3, 222-pound redshirt-junior had waited behind the outgoing, record-breaking Taulia Tagovailoa for three years. Tagovailoa left Maryland as the Big Ten’s all-time passing leader. He went undrafted and is now playing in the CFL.
Edwards looked good last week. He’s strong in the pocket, is a physical ball carrier on designed runs or scrambles. He was accurate over the middle on intermediate routes, and seemed to do a good job processing coverages, although UConn’s coverages were simple, slow and soft.
I saw this Michigan State vs Maryland game as a swing game on the schedule prior to the season. But considering how well Edwards and his receivers looked last week, and Michigan State’s sputtering start on offense, this game goes from being a swing game to uphill slog for the Spartans.
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