Historic Arbutus Oak is Hidden in Plain Sight

The Arbutus Oak is one of America's most inaccessible historic spots.

Estimated at about 317 years old, the majestic white oak blends into the scenery at the side of southbound I-95 just outside of the Beltway, cut off from the community by the ramp that connects the two interstate highways.

Cruising the speed limit down I-95, the Arbutus Oak passes in the blink of an eye. According to the federal Department of Transportation, more than a quarter of a million vehicles pass near the tree every day.

When the Arbutus Oak was just a sapling in the 1690s, this area was a gently hilly woodland overlooking the meadows and swampland leading to the Patapsco.

As the Beltway was being built in the late 1950s, construction workers unearthed a motherlode of Native American artifacts around the Arbutus Oak. It's thought that the tree may have been a gathering place, perhaps a location for communal meals.

According to legend, Lafayette and his troops passed the tree on their way to Elkridge during the Revolutionary War.

Near the tree is the tombstone of Emmanual Wade, who owned the property that became Arbutus and Halethorpe.

The ramp from the outer loop of the Beltway to I-95 was realigned – swooping further to the east and south – in order to preserve the Arbutus Oak. "We work around a lot of historic things when we're building roads," says David Buck, spokesman for the Maryland State Highway Administration.

In 1972, the Arbutus Lion's Club paid for a tall wrought iron fence and a historical marker for the Arbutus Oak. Some years ago, vandals tossed Wade's tombstone inside the fence around the tree.

In 2005, the Arbutus Oak was struck by lightning, resulting in the loss of some of the height and symmetry of the tree's crown. Once measured at 68 feet fall, it's now closer to 60.

"I know about it when I was a kid," says C.J. Bokman, a federal officer and member of the Arbutus Community Association who coordinated efforts to maintain the tree for several years.

Today, however, the area around the Arbutus Oak is overgrown with weeds, vines, and poison ivy. Bokman says that he hopes to get a clean-up crew together to visit the tree in the spring.

The best advice for visiting the Arbutus Oak? Don't. There isn't a safe or legal way of getting there.

You might catch a glimpse of Arbutus's past the next time you're traveling down I-95. Just don't look for it while driving.