GPA protects and maintains a grow of a dozen live oak trees
An 1830 map of Whitehall Plantation shows a sandy road gently curving through a grove of live oak trees, leading to a lodge overlooking the Savannah River. Much has changed since then.
The plantation is now part of the Georgia Port Authority’s Garden City Terminal, a high-tech, high-volume facility marked by swirling truck traffic and towering powerful cranes. But some reminders still stand.
A dozen or so live oaks remain from that grove. Most of them are more than 200 years old. One dates back to 1649 or so. Its trunk diameter is roughly 7.5 feet and its canopy diameter some 146 feet. Many of its branches curve gracefully and stretch almost to the ground.