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CAMPUS

ROOTS

Jacob Martindale and his fiancée Kaylee Maddux got engaged under the Century Tree and will be married in November 2017. 

By Kylee Reid

With its beginning intertwined with the early years of Texas A&M, the Century Tree is not only one of the most beautiful and breathtaking trees on campus, but it is also the oldest.

     According to Andy Duffie, Class of 1978 and founder of The Century Tree Project — a group which sells Century Tree saplings to fund scholarships for Aggie students — the Century Tree’s roots date back to 1891, when records show it was planted as part of a project by the Texas A&M Horticulture Department.

     The project was started in response to a shortage of trees on campus after many were chopped down and used as firewood to heat buildings on campus, Duffie said. 

     “The horticulture department took it upon itself to plant over 70 different varieties of test trees,” Duffie said. “Nobody really had a clue which tree species would grow well in the soil and in the climate on campus.”

      The Horticulture Department observed the test trees over 15 years and in their 1906 conclusion bulletin they gave their stamp of approval to one species: The live oak. 

     “They took a picture of the test tree of the live oak species,” Duffie said. “The seedling had been planted in 1891 and the photo, 16 years later, showed a tree, 24 feet tall with a gentleman standing underneath, and in the background we see the back wall of Old Main.” 

     Old Main, the original Academic Building which burned down in 1912, was located in the exact footprint of the current academic building, although it was slightly smaller. The photograph shows the live oak test tree that would continue to grow into a well-known Aggie landmark.

     “The test tree for the live oak species is what we now call the Century Tree,” Duffie said. “It’s older than any building on campus, the first live oak.”

      Out of the 11,000 live oaks on campus, more than 80 percent are live oaks dating back to the Horticulture Department’s research in the 1890s.

     Since then, the tree has developed into a powerful symbol for 

Aggies. Each year, Aggies walk under the tree together to solidify their love. Many get engaged, some even get married beneath 

the branches of the famous oak, a tradition Duffie said dates back to recently.

     “Somewhere along the line somebody decided to propose to their girlfriend underneath it,” Duffie said. “That’s how that wonderful tradition started.”

     David Matheidas, international studies junior, proposed to his fiance Anika Orr, psychology junior, this past fall underneath the Century Tree, surrounded by both parties’ family and friends, including Orr’s parents who were facetiming from Egypt.

     “I’m all about tradition,” Matheidas said. “Being in the corps 

among other things, I thought it was a really unique and special

way to get engaged. Plus I always wanted to do something with my buddies — that was so monumental to me.”

     Although Orr did not explicitly tell her now fiance, she was secretly hoping for a Century Tree proposal. 

     “I just love the tradition of when you walk under it that you are life long partners,” Orr said. “I mean that’s what we are.”

     Whether a place to share lifelong love or a nice landmark to see while studying, the Century Tree has and will always be a staple of Texas A&M University and will continue to grow with the college as it has since it was planted. 

CENTURY TREE, A LIVING AGGIE TRADITION

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