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WOOD
FOR OLD IRONSIDES: NAVAL
LIVE OAKS
The live oaks (Quercus
Virginiana) are a remarkably durable specimen.
Draped in Spanish Moss, these dark trees stand up to 40 or
50 feet in height and are renowned for both their resistance to
disease and their incredible density (a cubic foot weighs 75
pounds). The trees became the premiere material with which to build
naval ships in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
The United States set aside the land known as the Naval
Live Oaks in 1828. The
following year President John Quincy Adams established the first
federal tree farm in this area, reserving the Oaks for the
exclusive use of Navy shipbuilding. Among the ships constructed
from live oaks were the revolutionary privateer the Hancock;
the USS Constellation; and "Old Ironsides"
herself, the USS Constitution.
(Please note:
These vessels were not made of wood from the Naval Live Oaks
Reserve)
Naval
Live Oaks
The prevalence
of the ironclad ship made the wooden warship largely obsolete by
the 1860's, but Naval Live Oaks Reservation remained under federal
protection. Numerous short trails through the Naval Oaks area provide an
opportunity to wander through the Oaks and catch sight of the
wildlife in the area which includes 5-lined skinks, osprey, belted
kingfisher and several woodpecker species.
All but one of the trails are less than a mile long, but
taken together, they provide a full afternoon of activity.
Wind your way through the Old Quarry trail (.3
miles) and the Beaver Pond Trail (1.0 miles) and take in a superb
beaver lodge among longleaf pine and oak groves.
Walk along a section of Florida's first road, which ran
from Pensacola to St. Augustine.
Now a trail, its path runs east to west through the middle
of the park and through an impressive array of flora including
sand pine, live oak, southern magnolia, pignut, and scrub oak.
A new 2-mile multi-use path, which is part of a planned
40-mile loop across to the island, was completed in 2001.
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