“….the 1450 year-old Angel Oak on John’s Island was already a large tree by the time of the Crusades. According to legend, the twisted limbs of the enormous Angel Oak shaded a familiar meeting site for Indians living on John’s Island.”

The Chicora Research Company did an archaeological study, entitled The Cultural Resources Survey of the Johns Island Property, Charleston County, South Carolina.  This entire report can be found at the Johns Island library on Maybank Highway in the local history section.

It says,

“As a result of this cultural resources survey one archaeological site (38CH1933) and one isolated find (38CH00) was identified.  Site 38CH1933 consists of a mid-nineteenth century domestic site.  The site has the potential to provide information about the former settlement in the area.  The site does extend off the current survey area, so it is impossible to evaluate the entire site. It is therefore RECOMMENDED POTENTIALLY ELIGIBLE FOR THE NATIONAL REGISTER…….ONE RESOURCE, 297-0072, ANGEL OAK, IS LOCATED DIRECTLEY NEXT TO THE SURVEY AREA AND HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE AFFECTED BY CONSTRUCTION.”

Eligibility in The National Register for Historic Places states:

“The quality of significance in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture is present in districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, and that have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. ”

—

From the Post and Courier, December, 1986:

“There is no question in my mind that the (Angel Oak) tree was used for something,” says T.A Beckett, who has worked on the then-overgrown Angel Oak three decades ago.  As proof, he points to the shape of the mammoth oak.  Many of the limbs touch the ground then rise up again.  Even the premier branch, with a circumference of 7 feet, 5 inches, reaches down toward the earth then curves upward.  ”Normally these oaks grow up.  They do not spread out unless there is no competition from pines,” says Beckett.  ”When a limb cannot take care of itself, it is eliminated.  For a tree of that size, something had to keep the forest from coming in and killing the limbs or the tree….from 1000 to 1400 years ago, no one was here but Indians.”

…. A tree service did test borings and, allowing for a hollow center, estimated the Angel Oak is 1400 years old, says Beckett.  ”I don’t think that is unreasonable.”  Over the centuries, he adds, Indians might have used Angel Oak as a ceremonial tree or meeting place.

—

The following is taken from an interview with Septima Clark on November 20, 1980 (South Carolina Historical society):

Septima Clark was born in South Carolina in 1898. Her father Peter Porcher, was a former slave.  Septima was a teacher on John’s Island from 1916-1919, 1926-1929, and from 1942-1970.

“Segregation was at its height but the Angel Oak was not segregated.  In the springtime to have some kind of recreation for the children, we could take a lunch and go to the Angel Oak tree.  I did this from 1916 until 1929.  We could go in and have our picnics and spend the day.  The children played under the tree and then we would come back in buggies which were oxcarts.  The island people say that when they tied the oxen to the Angel Oak it dragged part of the tree too.  There are two big limbs over there dragged from the main tree.  The people declared that angels would appear in the form of a ghost at the oak.  The killings that happened around the tree during slavery time were seen by people with a call.  The spirits were around the tree and it was a live oak and they considered that angels brought the spirits there.  That tree is sacred because of the stories black people have heard from their early days.  They respect that tree.  My school children never felt they could drop paper around the tree.  The very word angel means that it is sacred to them.  They felt that anything like an angel had to be clean, loved, and respected. They didn’t feel they should do anything to desecrate it.  The Angel Oak in 1916 was really as it is today….“

LEVEL-OF-SERVICE SUMMARY

SITE ACCESS INTERSECTIONS

Angel Oak Village

———————————————————————————————————————-

Time 2013 BUILD MITIGATED

Unsignalized Site Access Intersections Period Delay in Seconds Level of Service

Site Access #1 AM 13.4 B

Maybank at Sea Islands Health Care PM 14.3 B

Site Access #2 AM ** F

Bohicket Rd at Piggly Wiggly PM ** F

Site Access #3 AM >500.0 F

Bohicket Rd. at Haut Gap MS PM ** F

Site Access #4 AM 121.8 F

Bohicket Rd. at Kano Rd. PM 238.8 F

“Upon review, all feasible geometrics have been recommended at the site access intersections along Bohicket Road. No further intersection specific geometric enhancements exist which will provide for acceptable operating levels.”

“The only potential intersection specific improvements option to allow for acceptable operating levels would be to implement traffic signal control at one of the Bohicket Road access intersections. Logically, only the Bohicket Road at Haut Gap MS Access/Site Access #3 intersection could be considered.”

“Note that no additional traffic volume associated with the proposed school expansion has been accounted for at this time due to lack of information.”

The proposed project on the Sea Island Health Care Corporation property is considered by many residents and visitors to be incompatible with the adjacent Angel Oak Park.

Concerns include irreparable harm to the Angel Oak tree due to increased wind exposure and changes to the hydrologic regime, as well as negative impacts to the quality of place at the Park due to visible and audible intrusion on visitors. Specific issues include the close proximity of the residential homes, density of development, inadequate road capacity for increased traffic, and impacts to wetlands on the property.

The proposed project on the Sea Island Health Care Corporation property is considered by many residents and visitors to be incompatible with the adjacent Angel Oak Park. Concerns include irreparable harm to the Angel Oak tree due to increased wind exposure and changes to the hydrologic regime, as well as negative impacts to the quality of place at the Park due to visible and audible intrusion on visitors. Specific issues include the close proximity of the residential homes, density of development, inadequate road capacity for increased traffic, and impacts to wetlands on the property.

View the full report [pdf - 40 pages - 9Mb]

Prepared by:

Bridget Callahan Lussier
42 Anita Drive, Charleston SC 29407
Email: bridgetlussier@gmail.com
Phone: 843 270 7882

Final Report on the Effects of Developing Angel Oak Village

Prepared for Dana Beach, Coastal Conservation League
by Jean Everett, PhD
Department of Biology, College of Charleston

Summary:

The Angel Oak Village development plan, as I have thus far seen, is highly likely to cause irreparable harm to the Angel Oak, and result in the premature death of the tree.

Most trees, live oaks included, have no set life span. They essentially live forever, unless killed by environmental factors. All trees have characteristics that make them more or less susceptible to negative environmental factors. Red maples, for example, have little defense against rot, and thus tend to succumb at young ages. Many other trees, including live oaks, develop rot resistant heartwood that helps them maintain structural integrity for longer periods of time. Development of the Angel Oak Village would cause too many environmental changes, all of which would have a negative impact on the Angel Oak. If the project is completed, the cumulative result will be intolerable degradation of the environment around the tree. Death may take years, or decades, but in my opinion, is certain to be considerably accelerated by the development.