By Meghan E. Gattignolo
Trees do a lot for us: they provide oxygen and shade, they absorb heat and prevent urban landscapes from getting too hot, they support native wildlife by providing homes and food, – they can even remove pollution from our air. While trees do all these things, they also connect us to our local past. Trees can live much longer than people. It’s thrilling to know that a tree we can see and touch today may have interacted with people living in Clarksville over a hundred years ago. Trees can also tell a broader story of a landscape and give us a peek into the past.
Butterfly Garden on APSU Campus with established and new trees around the garden. Photo by Summer Lucio.
Listed on the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council’s list of Historic and Landmark trees for Montgomery County is the Samuel Smith White Pine. Many of Clarksville’s earliest settlers came to this area immediately following the Revolutionary War, starting in the 1780s. Revolutionary War veterans were awarded land grants west of the Appalachians, and most took no extra time to move in. Samuel Smith, though, didn’t see the need to rush. Even though the US government awarded Smith a thousand acres for his role in the Battle of Brier Creek, he took another 50 years before finally making the move out west.
From his native North Carolina, Smith brought his family and six or seven white pine seedlings. He planted all the seedlings on his land, and one is still standing guard over his family’s cemetery. The pine tree symbolizes an important period of American history, when new Americans were seeking out room to grow beyond the Appalachians. Smith’s land is now part of Ft. Campbell Army Post.
The Tennessee Urban Forestry Council is always accepting tree nominations for their Historic and Landmark Trees registry. If you know about a particularly important or historically relevant tree, you can nominate it on their website.
Pine Tree on the APSU Campus at Emerald Hill Alumni Center. Photo by Summer Lucio.
A few years ago, the University of Tennessee recognized the Douglas fir standing behind the Emerald Hill Alumni Center as the tallest of its kind in the entire state. At 73 feet high, it’s not the tallest a Douglas fir can get, but it is an impressive height for one growing in this region.
The Emerald Hill Douglas Fir is officially designated a champion tree for its size, but growing tall takes time. According to APSU’s Director of Landscape and Grounds Wes Powell, the Douglas fir was likely planted around the time the Emerald Hill mansion was constructed. While that exact year is unknown, the National Register of Historic Places paperwork on the house dates construction to the late 1830s. This Douglas fir is pushing 190 years old! From where it stands near the city’s center, this tree has seen most of Clarksville’s 240-year history.
Douglas Fir at Emerald Hill on APSU Campus. Photo by Summer Lucio.
The Austin Peay State University Arboretum
Want to be surrounded by trees or learn how to identify certain ones? No, you don’t have to go trudging through the woods. Take a stroll around Austin Peay’s campus, instead. The Douglas fir is one of hundreds of trees on APSU’s campus that is part of an officially designated arboretum. Starting in the 1930s, APSU landscapers and gardeners have taken care and pride in the campus’ tree diversity. Many of APSU’s existing trees were planted by campus gardener Herbert Roake, and landscape planner Charles Pinkley made it his mission to ensure APSU’s campus had at least one of every native Tennessee tree.
Kentucky Coffee Tree, Ginkgo Biloba, and Tulip Poplar Trees on APSU Campus. Photos by Summer Lucio.
Today, campus does indeed have every Tennessee native tree species represented, as well as many more. At least 130 unique tree species can be found on campus, and new trees are occasionally added. Trees planted by Roake and Pinkley that are still standing today also have the special distinction of having survived the 1999 tornado, which hit APSU campus particularly hard and took out a good number of trees.
While APSU’s Wes Powell established the arboretum in 2015, the arboretum gained official designation by the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council in the fall of 2020, adding gravity to APSU’s already impressive feature. Most arboretums charge admission fees, but APSU’s arboretum is always free and open to the public.
Clarksville cares about its trees. To learn more about how you can support these pillars of living history, check out the City of Clarksville Forestry Division, contact the Tree Board, or learn more about how your yard can become an official Tree Sanctuary.
Pink Dogwood on APSU Campus. Photo by Summer Lucio.
References
https://tufc.com/project/samuel-smith-white-pine/
https://onlinetree.smithlc.com/getperson.php?personID=I26844&tree=TNG-1
https://www.apsu.edu/sustainability/Arboretum.phphttps://www.apsu.edu/news/january-2021-campus-arboretum.php#:~:text=Powell%20originally%20established%20the%20Austin,Chris%20Gentry%2C%20APSU%20geosciences%20professor.
Meghan E. Gattignolo is a freelance writer and longtime Clarksville, TN resident. She loves to obsess about historical subjects and annoy her family daily with unsolicited random facts. Meghan holds a History B.A. from Austin Peay State University and lives in town with her husband and two children.