![[Wye Oak from Wye Oak State Park]](/forests/art/wyeoakfall.jpg) Wye Oak State Park |
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Wye Oak State Park |
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Wye Oak State Park consists of 29 acres, much of which protects the stream valley behind the park from development. The park is located on State Route 662 in the community of Wye Mills in Talbot County. This park primarily existed to protect the Wye Oak Tree which toppled on June 6, 2002. The tree site still exists and can be viewed from sunrise to sunset daily.
Standing quietly next to the Wye Oak is a brick structure, a story and a half high. The structure dates back to colonial times and was once used as a one-room schoolhouse. The school house is believed to be the second oldest school in Talbot County. The Queen Anne Garden Club restored the "Little House", as they affectionately called it in 1952. The foundation was strengthened, windowpanes repaired and a walkway laid. The restored interior was furnished with a schoolmaster's desk and stool, a long pine table and benches, and a dunce stool.
Plans are currently underway to develop an interpretive display of the history of the Wye Oak on the grounds. The display will contain pieces of the Wye Oak, interpretive panels and a young wye oak sapling.
Interesting area landmarks:
Old Wye Mill
The mill has been in operation since 1664 and continues to operate on a limited basis. Its ancient grindstones produce water ground flour similar to that produced at the mill for the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The mill is owned by the Society for the Preservation of Maryland Antiquities.Wye Church
This church is said to be one of the oldest Episcopal Churches in the country. The original church was built in 1721 over the foundation of an earlier structure believed to have been built in the last seventeenth century. The exterior is the original brickwork. The interior features high box pews, a canopied hanging pulpit and original gifts to the church.
Maryland's State Symbol Falls in June 6, 2002 StormThe Wye Oak, Maryland's State Tree and the largest White Oak in the United States, toppled June 6, 2002 during a thunderstorm in the village of Wye in Talbot County on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Believed to be more than 460 years old, the beloved tree was purchased by the State Maryland in 1939, and was declared Maryland's State Tree in 1941. The purchase marked the first time in American History that a government agency purchased a single tree for preservation. The Wye Oak was one of Maryland's greatest living symbols and was older than the State itself.
Maryland's first State Forester, Fred W. Besley, made the first official measurement of the Wye Oak in 1909. Besley was amazed at the size and breadth of the tree, and it quickly gained notoriety as the "largest and finest specimen of white oak in the country." The tree soon received national recognition in a November 1919 issue of American Forests magazine that created a national Hall of Fame for trees, and include the "Wye Mills Oak" as its first nominee. In 1940, the American Forestry Association held a nationwide contest to locate "the largest living specimens of American trees..." Again, the Wye Oak was the first tree nominated, and held its title until the recent storm, and one of only two trees to have survived since the contest began.
Notable Wye Oak facts:
- The tree measured 31 feet 8 inches in circumference, 96 feet tall, crown spread of 119 feet - covering nearly one-third acre.
- Lightning rods were installed on the tree in the 1940's, and its crown was stablized by more than a hundred yards of steel cable.
- At one time a chicken yard occupied the base of the tree. A large depression in the tree's base remained perpetually filled with water, from which the chickens drank and bathed. It was thought that a mysterious underground spring supplied the pool, but was actually rainwater collected from the tree's branches and trunk.
Park FeaturesThis park gets its name from the Wye Oak. The tree was once the largest and finest of its species in the United States. As a protective site for the great Wye Oak, this 27-acre state park honored the former champion of all white oaks (Quercus alba) in the United States. Read about the majestic Wye Oak in the Fall 2002 edition of The Natural Resource Magazine.
Picnicking - Limited picnic facilities are available.
Wye Oak State Park offers accessible picnic areas. For additional accessible amenities in Maryland State Forests and Parks, visit the Accessibility For All section of this website.
Location - The park is located on the Eastern Shore in Talbot County on MD RT. 662, approximately one mile from the intersection of RT. 50 and RT. 404.
Wye Oak State Park
c/o
Tuckahoe State Park
13070 Crouse Mill Road
Queen Anne, MD 21657
(410)820-1668
Funding for Maryland's State and local parks and conservation areas is provided through The Department of Natural Resources' Program Open Space. Established in 1969, Program Open Space symbolizes Maryland's long term commitment to conserving natural resources while providing exceptional outdoor recreation opportunities.
Updated on November 30, 2005
