Common Name: Oak, White 8
Latin Name: Quercus alba
Address: 1201 East Jefferson Street
GPS Coordinates: 38.0288108,-78.468734
Michael Bednar, owner of this property and its historic buildings which remain in good standing, from The Farm, says that this oak is the real Tarleton Oak. He states that the English Colonel Banastre Tarleton camped under this tree with his Green Dragoons during the raid of Charlottesville, 1781. Tarleton and troops came here to capture Thomas Jefferson and the Va Legislature. Jefferson was warned and escaped, but some of the Legislature were captured. The original Farm was a king’s grant property of 1020 acres, owned by Nicholas Meriwether, central to the City of Charlottesville’s formation.
The tree is protected by the Charlottesville Tree Commission’s Individual Tree Ordinance.
It has suffered multiple lightning strikes. Its size indicates that it once grew in an open area, encouraging a huge crown of large, wide, reaching branches, many of which have broken. CHIPP (The Charlottesville Invasive Plant Partnership) worked hard to clear trees on the property of English ivy and other vines. Drive around to the back of the house and see the tree on 12th Street NE.