Arbutus Oak

The Arbutus Oak was a large white oak tree in Arbutus, Maryland, situated in the southwest corner of the I-695/I-95 interchange approximately four miles southwest of Baltimore. It split and half and fell in 2019, due to internal decay that caused its trunk to become unstable. At that time, it was thought to be 329 years old.

Significance
The Arbutus Oak was over 70 ft tall and about 5 ft in diameter, making it one of Maryland's largest and oldest white oak trees. It has been said that General Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette passed by the oak tree in 1781 with his troops while en route to Elkridge during the Revolutionary War. When the highway interchange was being constructed in the 1950s, the government found Native American artifacts surrounding the tree. The historic nature of the tree prompted highway planners to adjust the highway ramp southward in order to save the tree.

Site
Located on Maryland State Highway Administration property and surrounded by interstate freeways and ramps, the tree was inaccessible to the general public. The tree and a sign bearing its name were visible to motorists on I-95 southbound, just south of the I-695 underpass.

The Arbutus Lion's Club installed a fence around the tree in 1972. A plaque on the fence reads:

"THE ARBUTUS OAK/DEDICATED TO THE CITIZENS OF ARBUTUS AND HALETHORPE/1972/SPONSORED BY THE LIONS CLUB OF ARBUTUS/ESTIMATED TO BE 300 YEARS OLD IN 1990"

Emanuel Wade, the original landowner of the area on which the tree stood, is buried in the vicinity of the tree; his gravestone was moved from its original location to inside the fence that surrounded the tree.