Historical Marker · No. 313
Hooker Oak
Chico, Butte County · California
Erected by Chico Rotary Club; Chico Horticultural Society
No state plaque stands here. Two private plaques mark the paved ground where the tree stood, the Chico Horticultural Society's naming Annie Bidwell and Joseph Hooker, and the Chico Rotary Club's of 1986-87, and they disagree with the register. The state's text still calls the oak more than a thousand years old. When it fell on May 1, 1977, it proved to be two trees of about 325 years grown into one, and the Rotary bronze gives its age as 326. Vandals burned the stump in March 2013, and the site was paved.
What the plaque says
Hooker Oak The massive and majestic Hooker Oak, which occupied this site, was named in honor of renowned British botanist Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker. The Hooker Oak was acclaimed to be the largest valley oak in the world before it fell on May 1, 1977. Age 326 years Height 105 feet Perimeter 481 feet Longest limb 112 feet Trunk circumference 28 feet Area under the tree 18,000 sq. ft Preservation of the Hooker Oak tree stump, the children's play area and the Bidwell Park guide map are in memory of Elmer Brouillard 1953 Chico Fire Chief 1977 1986-87 Chico Rotary Club project Hooker Oak Named in 1887 by Annie E. K. Bidwell in honor of Sir Joseph Hooker English botanist Presented by the Chico Horticultural Society
Where it stands
39.75985, -121.79768 · Directions