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Courthouse Cedar LbNA #68238

Owner:Silver Eagle Supporter Verified
Plant date:Mar 27, 2015
Location: Park Hudson Trail
City:Bryan
County:Brazos
State:Texas
Boxes:1
Found by: Amico and Napa
Last found:Nov 14, 2020
Status:FFFFa
Last edited:Nov 8, 2015
*** Part of my Famous Trees Of TX Series ***
Terrain Difficulty: Easy (flat, 100 yards RT)
Recommended Ink: brown & green
Status: alive


Texans are fortunate to have such a rich and colorful historic heritage and trees which serve as witnesses to some of these historic events. Texas has also been blessed with trees famous for being the largest of their kind in America. "Famous Trees Of Texas" is a book written in 1970 by the Texas Forest Service that describes these trees, and this series will take you to some of them.


This old redcedar tree has grown at the site of five Brazos County courthouses, thus earning it the name Courthouse Cedar. In 1841 the Congress of the Republic of Texas created Navasota (now Brazos) County and the first term of district court convened in the Joseph Ferguson home next to the young tree. Later that year, Boonville was selected as the county seat and a one-room, log cabin courthouse was built. In 1854, a two-story frame building was erected on the site of the previous courthouse. Colonel Harvey Mitchell, considered by many as “the Father of Brazos County,” personally undertook to plant native shrubs and trees around the new courthouse. Among the trees he planted was the little redcedar that had grown near the Ferguson log cabin on the Navasota. In 1866, the county seat was moved three miles west to Bryan, and when Brazos County's fourth courthouse, a brick structure, was erected on the present courthouse square in 1870, the historic cedar was moved from Boonville to the new site and personally nurtured by Colonel Mitchell. After about 23 years of service the courthouse was judged unsafe and was replaced in 1891 by a splendid stone building. The sixth and present temple of justice was built in 1957. It towers protectively above Colonel Mitchell's redcedar tree, whose existence is interwoven with the history of Brazos County. You can see the tree in front of the main entrance, then find this box on nearby Park Hudson Trail.

Directions:
From Hwy 6 (Earl Rudder Frwy) go west on William J Bryan Pkwy (FM158) about 2 miles to Texas Ave, turn left and go 1 block to 26th street, turn right and see the Courthouse Cedar in front of the Brazos County Courthouse on the right. For the letterbox, go back to William J Bryan Pkwy (FM158) and go east for about 2 miles to Hwy 6 (Earl Rudder Frwy). Continue across on Boonville Road (FM 158) for about 2.5 miles to Park Hudson Trail on the right.

Clues:
Walk through arch on cement trail 50 steps to sign about snakes on right. Continue 10 steps then go right off trail 7 steps to medium tree surrounded by bushes. LB is at back base under a rock and leaves. Please be discreet and replace as described.