Blue Ridge Country January/February 2024 - 28

MOUNT AIN CURIOSITIE S MOUNT AIN CURIOSITIE S
Shanks Oak Falls with Grace
700-Year-Old Tree
Jonesborough, Tennessee's signature white oak succumbed to a
storm last summer, but its legacy lives on.
BY JOE TENNIS | PHOTO COURTESY JONESBOROUGH HERITAGE ALLIANCE
L
ong before Jonesborough
was incorporated in 1779 as
Tennessee's oldest town, the
Shanks Oak stood as a shady
sentinel on the scenic skyline.
The tree witnessed future President
Andrew Jackson's law career in Jonesborough
during the late 1700s, and the
1780s' brief inclusion of Jonesborough
as part of a short-lived and unofficial
state of Franklin. And the tree stood
sentinel to the birth of the National
Storytelling Festival-just down Main
Street-in 1973.
" It had been there since the founding
of the town and was part of Oak Grove,
which belonged to
ily-relatives of Andrew Jackson, " says
Jonesborough Heritage Alliance Executive
Director Anne Mason.
" We know it was the only tree in that
grove to survive time. Others were torn
down or fell, " Mason says. " When you
think about how big the lumber business
was here, and a lot of your old-growth
the Jackson famforest,
the fact that one remained was
amazing. "
Yet, as Aug. 14 blurred into Aug. 15 in
2023, forecasters braced Tri-Cities residents
with tornado warnings.
" I heard the tell-tale sound of a tornado, "
says Kelly Wolfe, a member of
the town's Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
" It sounds like the horn of a locomotive
in an area where there's not any
railroad tracks immediately nearby. "
The power was out, says Mason. " It
was dark. It was late. "
On that dark and stormy night, fierce
winds jangled Jonesborough-and shattered
the Shanks Oak, standing 112
feet with a 22-foot circumference and a
crown spread of 129 feet.
But that tree, estimated to be as much
as 700 years old, laid down its limbs in a
way Mason considers a miracle.
" It was truly amazing in how it fell, "
Mason says. " It caused the least amount
of damage possible. I think the tree knew
who took care of it and was as careful as
it could be as it came down. "
It fell completely across Main Street,
Wolfe says. " We spent about a week and
a half getting the tree cleaned up. "
The tree was the largest co-champion
white oak in Tennessee, Mason says.
" It was huge. It was massive. "
Shanks Oak took its name from a
local family on the land where it stood.
It became a symbol of Jonesborough at
some point in the mid-1900s. " You'll still
see it on logos and stuff in town, " Mason
says.
Nearly 20 people gathered soon after
the tree fell to pay tribute in a memorial
service. Residents read poems while others
would simply gaze in the sky with a
new wonder.
" What did it mean to the town? Well,
basically, in the 1950s even, we have
found literature, programs and events
that featured the Shanks Oak, " Wolfe
says. " It's been a symbol of the town of
Jonesborough for the better part of 70
years. It has been like a family member-a
senior family member. "
Today, what's left
of the Shanks
The stump
of the fallen
Shanks Oak in
Jonesborough,
Tennessee, is
celebrated by
about 20 people
who gathered
soon after the
700-year-old
tree was felled
by a storm.
Oak-and that's a lot, Wolfe says-remains
in storage with lots of lumber and
just as many ideas on how best to use the
wood to share stories of the town where
stories are best told.
Mason, meanwhile, wants a chunk to
don a display at the town museum inside
the Jonesborough Visitors Center.
" A statue is being planned. And some
folks want to build spoons, " Mason says.
" We want to make sure that pieces
of the wood remain and that history or
legacy is still honored in some form or
fashion. "
28 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
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Blue Ridge Country January/February 2024

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