With great pleasure I bring to you Big Tree Park but you see this is more then just a simple park with a few trees. This is a place that symbolizes how ancient Florida is but it also symbolizes the things we tend to forget two of them being The Senator & Liberty Trees. The two largest Bald Cypress trees in the country.  We are very lucky to visit such a site but more lucky to be out here investigating the area as well as very few get to see this place once the sun goes down. 

I would like to tell you a little bit about the tree called the Senator Tree. It is roughly 3000 to 3600 years old. Do you know what that means? The tree is older then when Jesus Christ walked this earth. The tree is older then even when the 10 commandments were written. The tree was growing as the pyramids were being built and the tree stood when Ponce DeLeon explored Florida. Honestly how many of you can say you visited an ancient site this perhaps is even an origin point of power. The tree itself is just radiating energy from it you do not even have to be a psychic to feel it. 

The Senator is known as the tree of the old south. Cypress trees are known for the magnolia blossoms in the spring. You can often see these trees growing in swamps surrounded with knobby protrusions they call "Knees" a perfect example of these knots would be to look at the photo of the lady liberty tree near the Senator. These trees are known to be draped with Spanish Moss and have soft feathery leaves that turn orange in the Autumn. Since the bald cypress is a conifer it does drop small spherical cones roughly an inch in size. The trees scientific name is Taxodium Distichum. The tree is said to be hollow inside and has a lightening rod attached to it to prevent lightening from damaging the tree. A nearby companion Cypress tree also has one as well.

Their was a sign that use to stand in front of the Senator with various stats. I believe it was removed cause the measurements were taken in 1946 and since then of course those stats have changed. But as of 1946 the sign reported that the tree was 126 feet in height but was 165 feet prior to the 1926 hurricane which damaged the top of it.  The sign states that the trunk is 17.5 feet in diameter with a circumference of 47 feet some say that today it is 54 feet around. It also states that if it were chopped down their would be at least 50,000 board feet of lumber.  The sign also states that the Senator is the largest Cypress Tree in the USA however recently this is found to be false. The reason for this is that this is not just a cypress tree its a bald cypress. Secondly its not the largest bald Cypress Tree as its said there are bigger. 

But in the 1950s some said this was not a bald cypress but a pond one which is a very close but similar cousin.  When this took place it was determined to be the biggest pond cypress in the world. Their was news articles stating that this was the largest tree east of the Rockies. Back in the 1950s there was another tree found in Mexico that was reported to be 140ft tall, 39ft in diameter and roughly 4,000 years old.  At that time it was stated to be the oldest living thing on earth. Then another one in Tennessee popped up. Their was an article in the 1960s on the Senator whether it was a Pond Cypress or a Bald Cypress. Today their are still debates on the tree. 

A tree nearby is said to be a century younger then the Senator. That tree they call Lady Liberty which is 90 feet away.  In California their is a tree believe its a redwood you can drive right threw and that is said to be 7,000 years old. Then their is a tree in Europe said to be 11,000 years old where someone built a house into it. So even though the Senator is not the oldest it still is a beautiful site to gaze upon. 

As far as the history goes on the park back in the 1800s pioneers in buggies  would visit the old tree on its palmetto log boardwalk which today has been rebuilt but still its the same concept. Their were other Bald Cypresses in the area used as landmarks by the natives one of them called the Quartet do not know if that was in the area or not though. Their is reference that was close to the park perhaps it was cut down or devastated in a storm.

At that time a man by the name of Moses O. Overstreet some say also called Meade owned this property which is the park today. He was a local businessman who made his fortune producing turpentine from pine trees locally in the Longwood area. He has many business like sawmills, retail stores, and hotels. Eventually he was elected as the state Senator from Orange County. 

In 1927 Mr. Entzminger the president of the Longwood Florida Chamber Of Commerce approached the Senator about donating roughly 10 acres of his swamp land north of the city. The land was to be used as a park which would preserve the several huge cypress trees that grew here. The largest tree was called The Senator to honor him. Back in the late 1920s people would visit the Senator and claimed to have seen a couple rotting trunks decomposing near the path to the large tree. They say the 3rd was in the park had fallen 40 years before hence only leaving the Senator and Companion standing.

In 1929 President Coolidge and wife visited Big Tree Park. I have proof of this in an old photo further below.  A wrought iron fence was then created to encircle the tree in order to prevent lovers from memorializing their true love messages within the bark. President Coolidge placed a bronze plaque at the base of the tree to commemorate this occasion and to dedicate this new park. Of course the very fancy wrought iron fence in 1945 was stolen by vandals along with the bronze plaque never to be recovered.  The park eventually was elevated  to drain some of the swamp water and stone benches were places on the grounds. 

In the 1960s the park was operated by the Jaycees and eventually the country. Eventually in 1980 the area was designated as a priority acquisition by the Department of Natural Resources and the Senator Tree became part of the Spring Hammock Nature Park. The hammock park is swampy land called a hydric hammock. It shares these surroundings with other moisture loving trees like Sable Palms, blue palms, magnolias, tupelos, swamp maples, and water oaks. The soil is very rich in organic matter and supports growth for heavy vegetation. Their is a near by mineral spring near by which is said to be the reason as to why the Senator Tree has thrived. That spring we seen while walking on the board walk the water is crystal clear. The area is very diverse as one area is woodsy, another area is swampy, while another is tropical to sub tropical. 

From what I read Senator Chiles the Governor of Florida who passed away in 1998 was very much into protecting Florida's natural treasures. He had plans to plant a descendent of the Senator tree on the US Capital grounds in Washington DC. I do know he planted a grove with the Senators offspring in Tallahassee and who knows maybe in a few thousand years their will be many similar bald cypresses but none will ever be as prestigious as the monolithic Senator Tree.

I would like to think the area as being high in paranormal activity. Walking around here at night you will hear movement, odd noises, owls, bats, and typical sounds. But out of all the noises occasionally you will hear moaning or in one case find a single foot print in the middle of the mud. You will see things like hundreds of spiders jumping out at you on the board walk and occasionally feel a cold spot with feelings of being watched. I believe the area to be as mysterious as it is ancient! But imagine this and think about it...The Cypress has watched over this area for 1000s of years it has seen Bigfoot picking berries from the bush, the ghost that takes the old dark path, the first settlers, and the Timucuan's hunting a deer. It has lived history and is history!

©  By

Rick-AngelOfThyNight

Below President Coolidge & The First Lady Visit Big Tree Park!