The Origin, Locations, and Date of Planting of Colonial Williamsburg’s Compton Oak

This superb specimen of Compton oak (Quercus ×comptoniae) is located in Market Square, within the boundary of historic Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, USA.

For the benefit of readers not familiar with US history, Williamsburg was founded in 1632 by English settlers. It became the capital of the Colony and Commonwealth of Virginia in 1699 and remained so until 1780. Tensions between the Colony and the British Crown and government developed, fueled particularly by British attempts to impose taxation without representation in Parliament. This led to calls for independence and to the mustering of a revolutionary army in Williamsburg. Soon all 13 of the original English Colonies supported this call and the American Revolutionary War was declared in 1775. Thus the city was instrumental in the birth of the United States of America.

Modern day Colonial Williamsburg, which is dedicated to telling that story, is in part a restoration and in part a reimagining of the historic core of the former capital. It is a very significant tourist attraction. I am one of the volunteers at Colonial Williamsburg Arboretum and a Tree Steward.

In the summer of 2023, at the suggestion of garden historian Wesley Green, I began an investigation to see if the archives at the Rockefeller Library could provide any information about the original location and date of planting of the Compton oak in its present location.

The Library houses some of the correspondence of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s former Landscape Superintendent, Justin B. Brouwers, and it provides an invaluable first-hand account of how and when the Compton oak was planted in Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area. According to that correspondence, it was discovered by Brouwers in the wild in 1937 in an area known as “Boush Creek, South of Norfolk, Virginia.” Brouwers originally thought the tree was possibly a live oak, Quercus virginiana, or perhaps some sort of unidentified hybrid. But after a few years he apparently became curious when it did not behave like other live oaks in the area, growing faster and occasionally losing all its leaves while the live oaks retained at least some of theirs. He enlisted the assistance of Dr. J.T. Baldwin, a prominent botanist and head of the Biology Department at the College of William and Mary, to obtain a more positive identification. The tree was referred to simply as “Brouwers’s Oak” during this period.  

He wrote to the U.S Department of Agriculture in 1947, seeking help to identify the oak. He stated that “This tree was growing about twenty-five feet from the water’s edge near brackish water. It was dug and transplanted to Williamsburg in 1938. At the time of moving it [was] about 15’-18’ tall and had a trunk diameter from three to four inches at the ground. This tree grew no nearer than approximately one-half mile from Live Oak trees. Since transplanting the tree in Williamsburg, it has grown to a height of between thirty-five and forty feet, and its trunk diameter is now from 10 to 12 inches at the ground.”

Dr. Baldwin wrote to Ernest J. Palmer, the collector-botanist at Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum in January 1947, and sent samples to assist with the identification. Palmer was a noted taxonomist specialized in the genus Quercus.

Palmer responded promptly, saying that Baldwin’s “surmise as to it being a hybrid between the live oak and a deciduous species is certainly correct, and I think there can be no doubt that the other parent is the overcup oak (Quercus lyrata Walt.).” It was fortunate that Baldwin involved Palmer since the Compton oak was, in fact, discovered and first named in 1918 by his mentor Charles Sprague Sargent, who was the first Director of the Arnold Arboretum. Sargent made the discovery after a trip he made to the property of Miss C.C. Compton near Natchez, Mississippi.In his response, Palmer described the origin of the Compton oak at length and verified that the oak planted by Mr. Brouwers was, in fact, the same hybrid, Q. comptonae (sic). (Click here to view the letter.)

S.F. Blake, Senior Botanist at the United States Department of Agriculture responded to Brouwers that “[n]ot being able to match your oak specimen here I sent it to Dr. Rehder at the Arnold Arboretum. He identifies it as a Quercus comptonae [sic] Sarg.” Thus Dr. Baldwin and Mr. Brouwers were initially corresponding independently with different experts at different locations and received the same conclusion from two different authorities, who were both employed at the Arnold Arboretum.

The final question raised by Wesley Green concerned how the Compton oak came to be the lone hybrid of its species growing at Boush Creek. Responding to a request from Baldwin, Brouwers provided further details to Palmer in a letter of February 1947. Brouwers explained that: “There was another tree similar to this growing not far away from this tree – near the shores of Bousch [sic] Creek – its leaves were larger, broader, and not quite so persistent. The nearest Live Oak to these two trees was about one-half mile away. During the war this area was taken over by the Government; hence all trees in this location were destroyed.”

I checked historic maps that refer to an area in Norfolk once called Boush Creek. I found that Bosch Creek was located at the northern edge of Norfolk City on Willoughby Bay. There is nothing in that area with that designation on modern maps.

When last measured in 2024 the tree was 66 feet high with a trunk girth of 18 feet 2 inches and an average crown spread of 130 feet. The size of the tree causes visitors to estimate the age as far greater than its actual 100+ years. It tends to favor the growth habit of its Q. virginiana parent but its measured growth over its lifetime indicates that its size increases at a far faster rate than its live oak neighbors located in the Historic Area that were planted during the same decade. It is reported to be the largest example of its species in the United States. Before hybrids were excluded from the National Championship Tree Program, it was recognized as the State Champion and was considered for nomination for National Champion status.

The size, backstory, and hybrid parentage of this remarkable tree all contribute to make it a natural attraction in this historic setting. It is located in an open area where it is very visible to the several hundred thousand annual visitors to the site. It is the largest and most prominent tree located in Colonial Williamsburg. Over the years visitors return to have their photographs taken under it to mark special occasions. Guided Arboretum tours begin at the Compton oak and visitors are keen to hear how this hybrid came to be located here. It is well tended by the professional arborists at Colonial Williamsburg, and recently barriers have been placed around the drip line to restrict direct access to lessen the impact of root compaction caused by visitors. 

Acknowledgments

Thanks to garden historian Wesley Greene for the initial review of the Archives photographic records, for providing the background information to this study. Thanks also for the invaluable assistance of Donna Cooke, Archivist, and Marianne Martin, Visual Resources Collection Librarian, at the Colonial Williamsburg’s Rockefeller Library, without whose help these materials would surely not have been found.