Methacton Charter Oak Offspring

It has been five years since Worcester Township lost the historic, Methacton Charter Oak located at the corner of the Methacton Mennonite Cemetery.  This white oak was one of the original Bi-Centennial Trees identified in Worcester Township by a group of Worcester Historical Society members to commemorate our country’s 200-year anniversary in 1976.  There were originally eighteen historic trees in all identified, and there are now less than five.  The Dutchie Church, which is owned by WHS, is located near Heebner Road and Valley Forge Road, and is blessed to have one of these trees on its property.  It is # 8 on page 335 in the Worcester Book, and it is in good shape for a 250-year-old tree.

What is not well known is that we also have our own offspring of the Methacton Oak growing next to the Dutchie Church cemetery.  This tree was raised from an acorn of the Methacton Oak by Paul Felton in the Meadowood nursery.  Paul was a well-known forester and arborist who lived at Meadowood and recently passed away.  In 2012, he approached the Society to donate a two-foot Methacton Oak sapling to be planted at the Dutchie Church.  The sapling was planted by Society members in 2012 and today, ten years later, it stands almost twenty feet tall.  We call it the “Dutchie Oak”. Please see photos of the original Methacton Oak in 2007 and its offspring.

Also, please don’t forget our museum is open every Saturday morning 9-12 through the end of September.

Dutchie Oak