This week’s #FlashbackFriday image with the Whitewater Historical Society depicts one of Whitewater’s most iconic landmarks: the Territorial Oak!
Shown here with a fresh blanket of snow, this bur oak tree is located at the northwest corner of Main and Franklin Streets. When the area was surveyed in 1836, the surveyors used two bur oak trees as natural reference points for their plat maps. Though one of these trees was cut down in 1923, the remaining tree still stands today and has grown to 11 feet in circumference (compared to 16 inches in the 1830s).
The local fire department donated a small marker for placement next to the tree in 1962. In 1981, the city council nominated the tree as a Historic State of Wisconsin Tree and in 2019, the Whitewater Landmarks Commission designated the Territorial Oak as the 25th Local Landmark to be recognized by the City.
Join us next week for more from the Whitewater Historical Society collections!
(3212P, Whitewater Historical Society)
Banner note: Our apologies for the delay in posting last week’s Flashback Friday. Watch for another post on Saturday.
