Photo © Matthew Keefe

history continued

The Bur Oak, which is essentially hollow on the backside due to multiple lightening strikes over the years, continues to produce acorns. Several seedlings have developed over the years, which have been transplanted to other areas on the estate grounds. Today, the diameter of the Bur Oak at breast height is 59 ½ inches; the circumference is over 15 ½ feet and it stands approximately 65 feet tall. According to analysis by a University of Michigan forestry professor, the Bur Oak is estimated to be over 300 years old and is one of the few remaining bur oak trees of this age in southeast Michigan.

The Bur Oak, a species native to Michigan, provides a means for the visiting public to connect with this region’s past: to learn about the State’s pre-settlement land use, and to interpret how the Ford family enjoyed the property. The tree is important not only for its historic associations, but also for its testament of the sometime surprising survival stories in the horticultural world.