January News from ChicoryLane

Trees: Then and Now

by Catherine Smith

Trees tell us about the past, present, and possible futures of ChicoryLane. Take the white oak tree (L. quercus alba), for example.

In 1766 when Samuel Maclay, a surveyor for the Penn family, laid out the tract he called Hopewell (now called ChicoryLane) he chose a white oak tree to mark the southwest corner. (See image for Maclay's representation of the tract.) In the northern hardwood forests of the 1700s, white oak trees were common. Tall (100 feet or more) and long-lived (up to 400 years), they stood out.

Maclay was surveying lots on soon-to-be-ceded (1768) Iroquois Confederacy land in anticipation of European re-settlement. Hopewell’s first owners in the 1770s-90s — blacksmiths, a wagon maker, a tanner — cut vast amounts of oak for making the iron and leather goods essential to re-settlers like themselves and for construction. White oak was preferred for most purposes. Beginning in 1803-04, some of those Scots-Irish or Pennsylvania German re-settlers built a barn at Hopewell using white oak. In the winter of 1817-18, they felled local white oaks, pines, and hemlocks, then hewed and notched them to build a house. That log house is our home now.

Meanwhile, white oak regeneration continues in the landscape of ChicoryLane. Turkeys and squirrels spread acorns (images) that might root to become sapling trees. But not enough, maybe. For reasons including over-cutting, fire suppression, and climate change, the white oak population is dwindling.

At ChicoryLane now, only one mature white oak grows (image). Volunteers are starting up under other trees. When we find seedlings, we put tubes around them to deter deer (image). We plant saplings gotten from nurseries. We are beginning to understand that the sustainability of the white oak, a foundational species in our ecosystem, needs human help.

References: “History,” chicorylane.com; Transom/Historic Preservation Consulting; Rhoads & Block, Trees of Pennsylvania, citing Callender & Wertz, Penns Woods 1682-1982; “White Oak Initiative” at whiteoakinitiative.org. Research by James Lesher. Photos and images by James Lesher and ChicoryLane collection.

ChicoryLane Board Meeting

February 6, 2025, at 7:00-8:30 pm via Zoom. This business meeting is open to visitors and will include time for public comment. If you would like to attend, sign up here to receive a Zoom link prior to the meeting.

ChicoryLane is an ecological reserve near Spring Mills, protected by a Conservation Easement held by Clearwater Conservancy. It is 68 acres of very diverse lands that we are actively enhancing ecologically. We hold outdoor events throughout the year.

The landscape is natural and scenic. It includes wetlands and meadows, several streams, remnant and successional forests, and a grassland. This diversity of habitats is especially inviting to birds and butterflies. A system of mowed trails makes most of it accessible to walkers.

If you wish to visit ChicoryLane, email us a request including the time, date, and number in your group.

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