The Champ On Front Page Of Startlegram

FirefightnRick · March 15, 2008

http://www.star-telegram.com/local/story/530229.html

This Texas tall tree tale takes place in Parker County

By BRETT HOFFMANStar-Telegram Staff Writer

STAR TELEGRAM / M.L. GRAY

Billy and Lynn Finch have all but insisted on allowing their backyard pecan tree to run its course, meaning that they make no effort to spray, fertilize or trim it. It's healthy and still produces pecans.

This Texas tall tree tale takes place in Parker County

WEATHERFORD -- Parker County is known for its peaches, but a massive pecan tree is getting plenty of attention on its own.

The tree -- the biggest pecan tree in Texas -- is about 90 feet tall. (In 1994, it was estimated to be 118 feet tall).

It takes four to five adults with their arms spread to encircle its trunk.

And it's a longtime popular tourist attraction, said Bill Finch, who since the early 1980s has owned the tree that stands on his small country place about three miles north of downtown Weatherford.

Finch said he has been told that the tree could be more than 1,000 years old. But Courtney Blevins, a regional representative for the Texas Forest Service in Fort Worth, estimates that it's more like 200 to 300 years.

"It's a marvelous tree that has good form," Blevins said. "Hopefully, it will survive for many more years."

It was once billed as the national champion pecan tree, Blevins said, but it was dethroned in recent years. The national champion is a pecan in Cocke County, Tenn., that is registered at 136 feet.

Finch takes the differences of opinion in stride, and as long as the tree remains healthy and produces pecans, he's not about to saw it down to settle any age disputes.

"There's no way," he said.

Finch and his wife, Lynn, have all but insisted on allowing the tree to run its course, meaning that they make no effort to spray, fertilize or trim. However, they have allowed forestry experts to thin out the roots to prevent them from overcrowding.

The tree is in a low spot on the property, near a creek.

There's a hole on one side of the bottom of the trunk that's believed to be the result of a lightning strike.

When it comes to sharing their pecan with tourists, the Finches are more than accommodating. The couple don't charge a fee; they only ask visitors to sign a guest card.

Over the past three decades, visitors from every state and continent have stopped by and marveled.

There are picnic tables near the tree, and the picturesque, grassy wooded area has been a popular spot for weddings.

"We once had a banker from Mexico who was traveling around the United States with his family of three children to look at big trees, which I thought was unusual, and he later surprised us with nice pictures," Lynn Finch said. "When we have people out here for get-togethers, it just seems like everybody gravitates down there because it's peaceful and quiet."

Many locals are unaware of its existence, Bill Finch said.

"You'd have someone come to visit Weatherford and want to see the tree, and two-thirds of the people who live here would not know that this tree was here," Finch said. "They would be surprised when somebody from Germany wanted them to show them the tree that's world-famous."

hoffman@star-telegram.com

BRETT HOFFMAN, 817-390-7707

That's a terrible photo of THE CHAMP. Give's the viewer zero indication as to how actually big the damn thing really is.

Rick

woody82986 · March 16, 2008

I actually used to live right down the road a few houses from this tree and I never knew it was there.

FirefightnRick · March 16, 2008

I actually used to live right down the road a few houses from this tree and I never knew it was there.

Really? That's pretty funny. The Finch's are great folks. What's amazing is when the leaves grow back onto the tree and as you pass by on 51 you look over and just see a row of tree tops about 200 yards off the road, not realizing that the tallest of the crowns is the tip of one of the largest living things around. The reason the tree fell from national champion pecan status is that it lost several feet of height from the top due to a storm which cost it points. It's still the state of Texas' Champion Pecan. The National Big Tree Registry scores points for Height in feet, Crown(tip to tip branches across) in feet and circumference of the trunk in inches.

Rick

Edited March 16, 2008 by FirefightnRick

woody82986 · March 16, 2008

Haha I drive out that way about once a week during the summer and I look at that stand of trees every time, and had no clue that's where that was. We lived down that road for a few years when I was really young and then my grandparents moved farther north on 51 so I used to drive out that way all the time. Interesing how you can pass by soemthing so great so many times and never even realized it was there...

FirefightnRick · March 16, 2008

Haha I drive out that way about once a week during the summer and I look at that stand of trees every time, and had no clue that's where that was. We lived down that road for a few years when I was really young and then my grandparents moved farther north on 51 so I used to drive out that way all the time. Interesing how you can pass by soemthing so great so many times and never even realized it was there...

Correct. It's on the east side of 51, just northeast of the new creek-crossing bridge at that used truck dealer on the right. Looks like the guy is selling trucks and has a roping arena all in the same business????Just as you go past and across the bridge heading north look east across the pasture and there she is, or at least the top of her crown.

Rick