Chesterfield landmark is coming down after more than 2 centuries: 'It is not doing well'

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — A piece of Chesterfield County history more than two centuries in the making is coming to an end.

The Nunnally Oak, a historic tree planted in 1814 beside the Chesterfield Historic Courthouse, is set to be removed after county officials said its health and structural integrity began to decline.

"The tree was planted in 1814. So we have a 212-year-old tree," Chesterfield County Director of General Services John Neal said.

The oak was planted during the War of 1812 by Lawson Nunnally, who was then a deputy clerk of the county's court. Over the next two centuries, it grew to more than 18 feet in circumference as Chesterfield County developed around it.

"The county was certainly a lot smaller, a lot more rural back then," Neal said. "But it was a marker with the intention of being recognized over the years as the county grew."

And that is exactly what it became.

For 212 years, the Nunnally Oak stood through wars, generations of change and the growth of Chesterfield County. But county officials said time has taken its toll.

"It is not doing well. It's not healthy right now," Neal said. "There is a lot of fungus, and some decay, and some rot in the trunk. And that jeopardizes the structure of the tree."

Those concerns have left the county with the difficult decision to remove the historic oak, with that process expected to begin in November.

While the tree itself is coming down, Chesterfield County plans to preserve pieces of it and give some of the wood a second life.

The county plans to preserve a cross-section of the oak and donate it to the historical society. Officials also plan to use some of the wood to make benches and tables.

The Nunnally Oak's legacy will also continue through a new generation of trees.

Neal said the county has four saplings from the historic oak and plans to plant them in the coming years, preserving the DNA of a tree that has been part of Chesterfield County for more than two centuries.