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Live Oaks

 

Live Oak 1

Along the southern edge of the 45-acre campus of the South Mississippi Regional Center are three Live Oaks (Quercus Virginiana) registered with Societe Des Arbres (Tree Society) of the Garden Clubs of Mississippi, Inc., under the auspices of the Long Beach Garden Club. Records of the trees are kept in the City of Ocean Springs Library Archives of History. The trees are also registered with the Live Oak Society of the Louisiana Garden Club Federation, Inc., with records kept at Federation headquarters in LeCompte, Louisiana.

The E.O. Hunt Live Oak, first registered in 1966 under the name "Happy Oak" by E.O. Hunt, was recertified in 1986 when it was renamed to honor Hunt. In 1979, the tree was measured by the District Forester with the Mississippi Forestry Commission and was honored with a "Mississippi Big Tree" certificate as the largest specimen of its kind in Mississippi as of that date. Since then, another Live Oak discovered in Pearl River County surpasses the dimensions of the E.O. Hunt Live Oak.

In December 1997, the E.O. Hunt Oak was again measured by the District Forester. Based on a formula used to estimate the age of Live Oaks, the estimated the age of the trees on the Long Beach campus was thought to be between 500 to 550 years old. Until the autumn of 1997, South Mississippi Regional Center had five registered Live Oaks on Long Beach campus. The Harbor Live Oak was struck by lightning in August, and attempts to save the tree were in vain. The Hospitality Oak on the east side of the campus was known to be weakening and subsequently fell in September of that year.

The E.O. Hunt Live Oak is the primary motif of the South Mississippi Regional Center logo.

 

Oak Diagram

Live Oak 2

 

South Mississippi Regional Center

1170 West Railroad Street

Long Beach, MS  39560

(228) 868-2923