Campus News
July 1st, 2025
Liberty Tree, Wye Oak plantings to take place at GC
Event is July 11th at 9:30 a.m. along Heritage Trail near GIEC Building
Two famous seedlings will be planted on Garrett College's McHenry Campus on July 11th, celebrating the College's continued participation in the Arbor Day Foundation's Tree Campus Program.
Liberty Tree and Wye Oak seedlings will be planted during the ceremony, which starts at 9:30 a.m. on the Mosser Road Heritage Trail near the College's GIEC Building. The seedlings are being provided by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
"These seedlings will continue to grow and serve as symbols of our state's history on the Garrett College campus," said DNR Forester Garrett/Allegany Project Manager Melissa Nash.
The Mountain Laurel Garden Club and the DCL 100 Committee are joining with the DNR and Garrett College to host the plantings.
The Liberty Tree is a tulip poplar, the original of which stood at St. John's College in Annapolis until 1999. A scion of the original tree still grows on the grounds.
Maryland's Liberty Tree was chosen in the fall of 1775 as a gathering place for protests against unfair British tax policies.
The Wye Oak is a white oak, the original of which stood in Talbot County at Wye Mills and was at one time the largest white oak in the nation. This tree helped ignite the spark for Big Tree programs across the nation, with Maryland's program celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
In 1941, Maryland also designated its state tree species to be white oak, with the Wye Oak serving as the living symbol until its demise in a 2002 storm.
The public is cordially invited to attend the planting ceremony.
