Mississippi

These trees are among the oldest in MS and some may date back 1,000 years

Published

9 months ago

April 21, 2024

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These trees are among the oldest in MS and some may date back 1,000 years

From 175 years old to possibly 1,000 years old, these Mississippi trees have seen a lot in their lifetimes.

Trees are wonderful things. In spring they offer nesting sites for birds that start the day singing. In the heat of summer they provide cool, shady areas to relax. In fall, they brighten the landscape with splashes of purple, yellow and red before they go to sleep in winter.

But not all trees are created equal. All are beautiful in their own way, but some become wonders of the natural world.

Over time, some grow to enormous sizes with sprawling limbs that almost seem to defy physics. Some with twisted trunks and broken limbs speak to the forces of nature they’ve endured in their lifetimes.

Here are some of the oldest trees in Mississippi and if only they could tell us the things they’ve seen.

A ‘sacred’ tree at Ole Miss

Ole Miss is known for a lot of things; game days in The Grove, academic excellence and a deep-seated dislike of cow bells, just to name a few.

One thing that may go unnoticed to people who haven’t spent time at its Oxford campus is a giant northern catalpa tree located there.

Terran Arwood, president of Woodland Tree Service, worked on the tree several years ago to prevent a large branch from breaking and said it’s the largest example of the species he’s ever encountered. According to the University of Mississippi Museum, the tree is 76 feet tall and the trunk has a diameter of 22 feet, 7 inches.

Some estimates online say it’s 400 years old. While Arwood described the tree as “sacred” and “ancient-looking,” he feels the age is more like the age of the university. The UM Museum website states the same, which would make this somewhere around 175 years old.

The Ruskin Oak, possibly the oldest in Ocean Springs

Live oaks are among the most majestic of trees in Mississippi and elsewhere, and they’re basically icons of the city of Ocean Springs. Once you’ve walked on Washington Street where these giant oaks line the street, it’s hard to imagine the city without them.

However, one just outside of downtown stands out. The Ruskin Oak, located on Ruskin Avenue, is generally estimated to be between 350 years old and 400 years old. If that is true, the tree saw the first French settlers arrive on the Mississippi coast on Feb. 10, 1699.

Coincidentally, the tree is located near where those early explorers built Fort Maurepas.

Age aside, the tree is acknowledged as the largest live oak in the city. According to an article written in 2013 by Warren Kulo of AL.com, the tree has a trunk diameter of 237.2 inches. It became the largest in Ocean Springs in 2013 after the Hasty Oak, which had a trunk diameter of 244.5 inches and was estimated to be 500 years old, split and had to be removed.

More: What are the deepest lakes in Mississippi? Here’s how they stack up

University of Southern Mississippi Friendship Oak

If trees had eyes, this one would have seen a lot. The Friendship Oak on the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Park Campus in Long Beach dates back to 1487, according to the university.

That would make the tree 5 years old when Christopher Columbus first sailed to the Americas in 1492. It would have been 100 years old when Virginia Dare, the first Anglo-American born on Roanoke Island, was born in 1587. It would have been almost 300 years old when the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.

In more recent history, the tree has survived the hurricane of 1947, Hurricane Camille in 1969 and the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

According to the university, 2011 measurements included a 59-foot height, a trunk circumference of 19 feet, 9 1/2 inches and a foliage spread of 155 feet.

More: How to keep snakes away from your home: What works and what doesn’t.

The ancient cypress trees at Sky Lake

Trees that have lived hundreds of years are truly majestic wonders of Mississippi, but the bald cypress trees at Sky Lake Wildlife Management Area near Belzoni take old to a whole other level.

According to conservation non-profit Wildlife Mississippi, some of the trees there are thought to be in excess of 1,000 years old. That dates them back to a time when Native Americans were enjoying the rich resources available by hunting, fishing and farming. During that time, they were also building ceremonial mounds such as Emerald Mound near Natchez.

The largest of the trees are truly massive. One has a circumference of 46 feet, 9 inches with a 15-foot diameter and 70-foot height.

Visitors can view these trees from a 1,735-foot-long boardwalk or when water levels allow, by canoe or kayak.

Do you have a story idea? Contact Brian Broom at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com.

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Mississippi

Where Mississippi State women’s basketball stands in updated March Madness bracket predictions

Published

8 hours ago

January 28, 2025

Press Room

Where Mississippi State women’s basketball stands in updated March Madness bracket predictions

Mississippi State women’s basketball suffered a heartbreaking loss at the buzzer to Missouri on Tuesday night. Yet, it didn’t negatively impact its NCAA tournament projection.

The Bulldogs (16-6, 3-5 SEC) also won 96-56 against Auburn on Thursday, their largest SEC margin of victory in coach Sam Purcell’s three seasons.

MSU only has one game this week at LSU (21-1, 6-1) on Sunday (1 p.m., SEC Network).

Here’s where Mississippi State stands in the latest NCAA tournament predictions.

Mississippi State women’s basketball NCAA tournament projection

ESPN’s Charlie Creme kept Mississippi State as a No. 8 seed this week. He has the Bulldogs matched up against No. 9 Oregon. The winner would play either No. 1 UCLA or No. 16 seeds Texas Southern or North Carolina A&T.

Mississippi State women’s basketball NCAA tournament resume

Mississippi State’s NCAA NET ranking fell three spots to No. 34 after the Missouri loss. Missouri’s NET ranking is No. 74, becoming MSU’s worse loss of the season. MSU is now 14-1 in Quads 2-4.

The Bulldogs’ best wins are at home versus Oklahoma and against Utah on a neutral court.

The Sunday game at LSU will be Quad 1.

Mississippi State women’s basketball NCAA tournament history under Sam Purcell

MSU has reached the NCAA tournament once in coach Sam Purcell’s two completed seasons. In 2022-23, MSU won in the First Four and the first round before losing to Notre Dame in the second round.

The Bulldogs have made NCAA tournament appearances 12 times and have won at least one game 11 straight times.

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

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What Sam Purcell said of Mississippi State women’s basketball’s last-second loss at Missouri

Published

19 hours ago

January 27, 2025

Press Room

What Sam Purcell said of Mississippi State women’s basketball’s last-second loss at Missouri

Mississippi State women’s basketball had the ball in the hands of its 40-point scorer with 25.8 seconds remaining in Tuesday’s game.

The Bulldogs led by one point, but the shot clock showed 16 seconds. One more bucket to add to Jerkaila Jordan’s career high in points could seal the win against Missouri.

Mizzou forward Laniah Randle poked the ball away from Jordan with 13 seconds remaining and another Tigers player grabbed it and raced down the floor. Missouri didn’t call a timeout before Grace Slaughter hit a midrange baseline jump shot at the buzzer.

It dealt Mississippi State (16-6, 3-5 SEC) a 78-77 loss to the Tigers (12-10, 1-6) at Mizzou Arena.

“This one stings,” MSU coach Sam Purcell said in his postgame radio interview. “The kids are heartbroken in that locker room. They wanted this bad. I’m proud of the effort they gave, but at the end of the day, our defense was not good enough to get enough stops tonight.”

What Sam Purcell said went wrong on final play

Purcell called a timeout before Jordan’s turnover. As she began penetrating toward the hoop, center Madina Okot set a screen to the left, but Jordan drove right instead. Jordan then tried to cross back to her left when she began to lose control of the ball.

“I’m going to have to go back and watch it,” Purcell said. “Obviously I thought we had a great flat back screen. We called a timeout, even though we had the matchup earlier because we wanted to catch our breath. We still were able to get it back in our hands for the end of the game.

“You just got to tip your hat to Missouri. I think they got a deflection or a hand in there because she wasn’t able to be stopped. But for that possession, she was. And then they go down, and then obviously make a dagger there at the horn.”

Purcell pointed to two other aspects that went wrong in the game for Mississippi State, who played without backup point guard Destiney McPhaul because of illness.

One, he thought the Bulldogs allowed too many and-1 fouls. They also left points at the free-throw line, going just 14 of 24. Jordan, despite becoming the ninth player in program history to score at least 40 points in a game, was 9-for-17, with four misses in the fourth quarter.

MSU led for 22 minutes, 3 seconds of game time, including the entire third quarter, when it led by as many as nine points.

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

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Mississippi has 12 ties to the Super Bowl between Chiefs and Eagles. Here’s the list

Published

1 day ago

January 27, 2025

Press Room

Mississippi has 12 ties to the Super Bowl between Chiefs and Eagles. Here’s the list

The matchup is set for Super Bowl 59 between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.

It’s a star-studded game featuring Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Jalen Hurts and probably singing star Taylor Swift, too. There are also a handful of Mississippi ties to the Super Bowl — 12 to be exact, including players and coaches.

Southern Miss has the most connections among the Mississippi colleges with four.

Here’s are the Mississippi ties to know for the Super Bowl.

Mississippi State’s Super Bowl connections

Chris Jones is back in the Super Bowl as Kansas City’s star defensive lineman. The six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro played at Mississippi State from 2013-15 and is a Houston, Mississippi, native. In 15 games this season, Jones has 37 tackles, five sacks and 20 quarterback hits. He’s played his entire career with the Chiefs and already won three Super Bowls.

Eagles cornerback Darius Slay played at Itawamba Community College from 2009-10 and Mississippi State from 2011-12. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the second round and was traded to Philadelphia in 2020. Slay is a six-time Pro Bowler and has 49 tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery this season.

Ole Miss’ Super Bowl connections

Ole Miss’ connections are both on the Eagles.

AJ Brown, Philadelphia’s star wide receiver, played at Ole Miss from 2016-18. Brown was a second-round draft pick by the Tennessee Titans but was traded to the Eagles in 2022. He’s a three-time Pro Bowl selection and eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards for the fifth time out of six seasons. Brown is also a Starkville native.

Eagles assistant special teams coordinator Joe Pannunzio coached tight ends and special teams at Ole Miss from 1995-98.

Southern Miss’ Super Bowl connections

Linebacker Swayze Bozeman signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in the spring. He’s spent time on the practice squad and active roster this season, appearing in three games with three tackles. Bozeman is a Flora native, attended Tri-County Academy and played at Copiah-Lincoln Community College before Southern Miss from 2019-23.

Two other former Golden Eagles are on the Chiefs’ practice squad: cornerback Eric Scott Jr. and wide receiver Jason Brownlee.

Scott played at Southern Miss from 2020-22 and was a sixth-round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys. He was cut by the Cowboys in August and signed by Kansas City on Sept. 3. Scott has not played in a game this season. Brownlee, a West Point native, played at East Mississippi Community College from 2018-19 and Southern Miss from 2020-22. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Jets and caught a touchdown as a rookie but was cut in January. The Chiefs signed him to the practice squad on Jan. 15.

Todd Pinkston is in his second season as the Chiefs running backs coach. The Forest native played wide receiver at Southern Miss from 1995-99 and was a second-round draft pick by the Eagles. Pinkston also coached at Petal High School.

Mississippi high school connections to the Super Bowl

There are four Mississippians who are participating in the Super Bowl but played college football out of the state:

Nakobe Dean, the Eagles linebacker, is a Horn Lake native. He’s a former five-star in the 2019 recruiting class and the No. 1 player in Mississippi, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. Dean went to Georgia and was drafted by Philadelphia in the third round.
Eagles running back Kenneth Gainwell is from Yazoo City. He played at Memphis and was a fifth-round draft pick in 2021. Gainwell, the backup to Saquon Barkley, suffered a concussion in the NFC Championship game and did not return.
Eagles defensive tackle Byron Young is from Laurel and went to West Jones. He played at Alabama before being drafted in the third round by the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022. Young has been on injured reserve since Oct. 26.
Defensive tackle Fabien Lovett Sr. signed with Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in the spring and has been on the practice squad. He’s an Olive Branch native, played at Mississippi State from 2018-19 before transferring to Florida State.

When is the Super Bowl?

Date: Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025
Location: New Orleans
Time: 5:30 p.m. CT

How to watch the Super Bowl

The Super Bowl will broadcast on FOX. Streaming is available via FuboTV, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

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