{{short description|Southern live oak}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox tree | name = Angel Oak | image = Angel Oak, Johns Island, South Carolina.jpg | alt = Angel Oak, Johns Island, South Carolina | image_caption = Angel Oak, Johns Island, South Carolina | species = Southern live oak | binomial = ''Quercus virginiana'' | location = Johns Island, South Carolina, US | coordinates = {{coord|32.71709|-80.08043|format=dms|region:US-SC_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | seeded = | website = {{URL|angeloaktree.com}} }}
'''Angel Oak''' is an exceptionally large southern live oak (''Quercus virginiana'') located in Angel Oak Park on Johns Island near Charleston, South Carolina. The tree is estimated to be 400–500 years old.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.angeloaktree.com/angel-oak-facts/ |title=Angel Oak Facts |date=2015-03-29 |accessdate=2015-05-20 |author=David Elliott |website=www.angeloaktree.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325034935/http://www.angeloaktree.com/angel-oak-facts/ |archive-date=2016-03-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It stands 66.5 ft (20 m) tall, measures 28 ft (8.5 m) in circumference, and produces shade that covers 17,200 square feet (1600 m<sup>2</sup>). Its longest branch distance is 187 ft (57 m) in length.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.angeloaktree.com|title=History of the Angel Oak}}</ref> Angel Oak was the 210th tree registered with the Live Oak Society.<ref>[http://www.lgcfinc.org/uploads/1/5/1/2/15124054/001-500.pdf Live Oak Society listing of oaks 1-500] Retrieved 2013-07-16</ref><ref>[http://www.lgcfinc.org/live-oak-society.html Live Oak Society] with images and information</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Bertauski|first1=Tony|title=Taking care of the Angel Oak, a grand old lady Johns Island tree estimated to be 400-500 years old|url=https://www.postandcourier.com/columnists/taking-care-of-the-angel-oak-a-grand-old-lady/article_7d0fbc44-8b18-50ab-b2c4-7924d8a8e3e1.html|website=Post and Courier|language=en}}</ref> ==Background== left|thumb|The Angel Oak, as seen in 2022. The oak derives its name from the estate of Justus Angel and his wife, Martha Waight Tucker Angel.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://americancivilwar.com/authors/black_slaveowners.htm |title=African American slave owners |publisher=americancivilwar.com |accessdate=August 30, 2015}}</ref> Local folklore tells stories of ghosts of formerly enslaved people appearing as angels around the tree.<ref>Pakenham, pp. 142–43</ref><ref>Dent, p. 148</ref>
Despite the claims that the Angel Oak is the oldest tree east of the Mississippi River, bald cypress trees throughout North and South Carolina are significantly older. One example in North Carolina is over 1,600 years old.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Pederson|first1=Neil|title=Eastern OLDLIST: A database of maximum tree ages for Eastern North America |url=http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~adk/oldlisteast/ |website=www.ldeo.columbia.edu}}</ref>
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== History == Angel Oak was damaged severely during Hurricane Hugo in 1989 but has since recovered.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://arboresque.com/vmchk/Out-of-Print/Angel-Oak.html |title=Arboresque: Angel Oak |access-date=2012-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422223216/http://arboresque.com/vmchk/Out-of-Print/Angel-Oak.html |archive-date=2016-04-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The City of Charleston has owned the tree and surrounding park since 1991.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.angeloaktree.org/ |title=Angel Oak Website |access-date=2008-03-21 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20101202140055/http://www.angeloaktree.org/ |archive-date=2010-12-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
{{Multiple image | image1 = Angel Oak greenery.jpg | caption1 = Ferns and other greenery grow along the tree's massive limbs. | image2 = The Baby Angel oak tree, as seen in 2022.jpg | caption2 = The Baby Angel tree. | image3 = | caption3 = | direction = vertical | total_width = 250 }}
Development is beginning to encroach on the site of Angel Oak. In 2012, plans to build a 500-unit apartment complex that would be {{convert|160|yd}} from Angel Oak were challenged in court by a group called Save the Angel Oak and the Coastal Conservation League; their concerns included the construction's effect on available groundwater and nutrients.<ref name="trialends">[http://www.thestate.com/latest-news/article14401847.html ''Angel Oak case ends''], The State, April 6, 2012</ref> By December 2013, the Lowcountry Land Trust, celebrated<ref name="celebrated">[https://www.lowcountrylandtrust.org/news-and-events/angel-oak-preserve-celebration-a-success/ ''Angel Oak Preserve Celebration A Success''], The Lowcountry Land Trust, December 20, 2013</ref> "the preservation of 17 acres adjacent to the majestic tree." The 17 acres adjacent to the Angel Oak were purchased by Lowcountry Land Trust, protecting the area from development.
The Angel Oak tree is featured prominently in the romance novel ''Where the Fireflies Dream'' by Emily Nelson.<ref>{{cite book |last= Nelson|first=Emily |author-link= |date=2011 |title= Where the Fireflies Dream|url= |location= |publisher=Evermore Publishing (Kindle edition) |page=213 |isbn=}}</ref>{{rp|159–164}}
Angel Oak was the focal point of an Allstate television ad in September 2018 saluting the strength of the Carolinas following the devastation of Hurricane Florence.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ispot.tv/ad/dMjh/allstate-still-standing|title=Allstate TV Commercial, 'Still Standing'|website=iSpot.tv|language=en|access-date=2018-09-24}}</ref>
In October of 2018, an acorn fell from the tree. The acorn was germinated and placed in a pot under the main tree's large branches. It was given the name "Baby Angel".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-08 |title=The Angel Oak Tree – Valerie's Voice |url=https://valeriesvoice.net/the-angel-oak-tree/ |access-date=2026-01-19 |language=en-US}}</ref>
==See also== * List of individual trees
==References== {{reflist}}
;Sources *{{cite book |title=Enduring Roots: Encounters with Trees, History and the American Landscape |url=https://archive.org/details/enduringrootsenc0000samu |url-access=registration |last=Samuels |first=Gayle Brandow|year=1999 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |location=New Brunswick, NJ |isbn=0-585-31062-9}} *{{cite book |title=Remarkable Trees of the World |last=Pakenham |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Pakenham (historian) |year=2002 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |location=London |isbn=0-297-84300-1}} *{{Cite book | last=Dent | first=Thomas L. | author-link=Thomas Dent (writer) | title=Southern journey: a return to the civil rights movement | year=1997 | publisher=W. Morrow | location=New York | isbn=0-688-14099-8 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/southernjourneyr00dent }} *{{Cite book | last=Perry | first=Lee Tom | title=Insiders' guide to Charleston: including Mt. Pleasant, Summerville, Kiawah, and other islands | year=2007 | publisher=Globe Pequot Press | location=Guilford, CT | isbn=0-7627-4403-0}}
==External links== {{commons category|Angel Oak}}
Category:Individual oak trees Category:Protected areas of Charleston County, South Carolina Category:Trees of Northern America Category:Natural history of South Carolina Category:Individual trees in the United States Category:Landmarks in South Carolina