One White Oak Topples Another as Tallest Tree in District

After a six-month search for the largest tree in Washington, a tree conservation group has declared a new champion: a 105-foot-tall white oak on Northampton Street in Northwest.

Casey Trees recognized the Northampton oak during a ceremony last week, celebrating the completion of its Living Legacy Campaign. The recognition is based on a point system used in the National Register of Big Trees, a publication produced by a national citizens group, which takes into consideration a tree's circumference, height and crown spread.

The second-tallest tree is a 96-foot tulip poplar in Montrose Park in Georgetown. The National Park Service recently documented it as part of a new program called the Witness Tree Protection Program to keep better track of historic trees in national parks.

Both the Northampton white oak and the Montrose Park tulip poplar outrank the tree previously designated as the city's largest, a white oak on the lawn of the Frederick Douglass House in Anacostia.

Casey Trees started its Living Legacy campaign six months ago because it realized it did not have the measurements of all the city's largest trees, officials said. Some of the largest trees still might be unmeasured.

The current list was assembled using information gathered from Casey Trees' own inventory of street trees, a list provided by the National Park Service and other submissions from people who knew of big trees and wanted to share their information. Half the known "champion" trees (the largest of a species) in the city are on national park property in the central core of the city.

The Northampton white oak stands on private property in front of a house but close to the street. It has been a neighborhood treasure for years. In 1940 planners accommodated the tree and another by curving the street around them as the area was developed. According to longtime resident Felix Lapinski, who submitted the tree's measurements to the Living Legacy campaign, the State Department once took Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev to visit it.

A huge fallen limb from the tree blocked traffic there two years ago.

Owner Kenneth Williams said his family was proud to own the largest tree in the city. The tree's previous owner, Robert Leland, who also attended last week's ceremony, brought a photograph of his infant daughter sitting at the base of it.

In more recent history, neighbors have gathered under the tree for an annual block party for the last 20 years. Some of them pool funds and have spent thousands over the years on fertilizer, pruning and other care.

A list of locations and measurements for 26 of Washington's champion trees can be found at http://www.caseytrees.org .

Communications director Dan Smith said that the list will be expanded to include more species and that Casey Trees will continue to accept nominations.