Qualla: Tree That Owns Itself https://qualla.com/tree-that-owns-itself en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:14 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/h/9/tree-that-owns-itself-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Tree That Owns Itself https://qualla.com/tree-that-owns-itself Tree That Owns Itself: Introduction https://qualla.com/tree-that-owns-itself/ Photo credit Bloodofox at English Wikipedia, Public domain. Under common law, the recipient of a piece of property must have the legal capacity to receive it. A tree cannot sign documents. A tree cannot appear in court. A tree is not, by any definition, a legal person. And yet the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government maintains, as a matter of official policy, that a white oak at the corner of South Finley and Dearing Streets owns itself. The story of how a tree came to hold a deed is a tale of one man's affection, a newspaper article, a windstorm, a boy with an idea, and a community that decided the law could, on this one occasion, look the other way.

Read more: Tree That Owns Itself on Qualla

Image: Bloodofox at English Wikipedia | Public domain

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/h/9/tree-that-owns-itself-wp/dnh9-tree-that-owns-itself-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Tree That Owns Itself: The Colonel's Gift https://qualla.com/tree-that-owns-itself/ Photo credit Bigmacthealmanac, CC BY-SA 4.0. The earliest known account of the tree's origins appeared on the front page of the Athens Weekly Banner on August 12, 1890. According to the article, Colonel William Henry Jackson, who owned the property across Dearing Street, had cherished the oak since childhood. Desiring to pr...

Read more: Tree That Owns Itself on Qualla

Image: Bigmacthealmanac | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/h/9/tree-that-owns-itself-wp/dnh9-tree-that-owns-itself-the-colonels-gift.mp3 0:06 2 full Tree That Owns Itself: A Legal Impossibility, Publicly Recognized https://qualla.com/tree-that-owns-itself/ Photo credit Bigmacthealmanac, CC BY-SA 4.0. The legal problems with the deed are obvious and total. Under common law, a recipient of property must have the capacity to receive it, and the property must be delivered to and accepted by the recipient. A tree can do neither. Jackson sold his own property across the street to a...

Read more: Tree That Owns Itself on Qualla

Image: Bigmacthealmanac | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/h/9/tree-that-owns-itself-wp/dnh9-tree-that-owns-itself-a-legal-impossibility-publicly-recognized.mp3 0:06 3 full Tree That Owns Itself: The Fall of the Original Oak https://qualla.com/tree-that-owns-itself/ Photo credit Boston Public Library, Public domain. The original Tree That Owns Itself was estimated to have started life sometime between the mid-16th and late 18th centuries. At its peak, some considered it both the biggest tree in Athens and the most famous tree in the United States. It predated the transformation of its neighb...

Read more: Tree That Owns Itself on Qualla

Image: Boston Public Library | Public domain

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/h/9/tree-that-owns-itself-wp/dnh9-tree-that-owns-itself-the-fall-of-the-original-oak.mp3 0:06 4 full Tree That Owns Itself: The Son Rises https://qualla.com/tree-that-owns-itself/ Photo credit Bloodofox at English Wikipedia, Public domain. For four years after the original tree fell, its small plot sat empty. Then Dan Magill, the young son of Athens' Junior Ladies Garden Club member Elizabeth Magill, suggested that his mother's club find a replacement. Several Athenians had cultivated seedlings from the original tr...

Read more: Tree That Owns Itself on Qualla

Image: Bloodofox at English Wikipedia | Public domain

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/h/9/tree-that-owns-itself-wp/dnh9-tree-that-owns-itself-the-son-rises.mp3 0:06 5 full Tree That Owns Itself: Resident of Dearing Street https://qualla.com/tree-that-owns-itself/ Photo credit Bigmacthealmanac, CC BY-SA 4.0. The tree stands within the Dearing Street Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. The district, roughly bounded by Broad, Finley, Waddell, and Church Streets, was recognized for its architectural significance. The tree itself was lo...

Read more: Tree That Owns Itself on Qualla

Image: Bigmacthealmanac | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/h/9/tree-that-owns-itself-wp/dnh9-tree-that-owns-itself-resident-of-dearing-street.mp3 0:06 6 full