Murphy's Majestic Oak

Murphy's Majestic Oak. . Oak trees provide wildlife habitat, scenic beauty, healthy watersheds, recreational opportunities and a link to Morgan Hill’s local historical heritage. Murphy’s Majestic Oak is a representation of the beautiful oak trees found throughout the City and in surrounding areas., Here are some interesting facts about Murphy’s Majestic Oak:, The tree is named after Martin Murphy Sr. who was a leader of the first party of pioneers to cross the Sierra Nevada range at Truckee Pass, later to become the route for the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1845, Murphy acquired 9,000 acres in the Morgan Hill area and the Murphy family made their home in the valley below El Toro Mountain. By 1870, Murphy’s seven sons and daughters had acquired more than 70,000 acres in the area., Murphy’s Majestic Oak is a Valley Oak Tree which is a type of oak unique to environments like the one exhibited in Morgan Hill. They grow only in the State of California and are found by creeks and rivers in valleys neat the coast and in the Central Valley. They grow generally below 2,500 feet elevation., Murphy’s Majestic Oak is notably large with a circumference of approximately 14 feet around a diameter of approximately 4.5 feet across. Based on the correlation between an oak’s breadth and age, Murphy’s Majestic Oak was approximately 268 years old when it was measured in the year 2018., Murphy’s Majestic Oak took root in approximately 1750, which is 26 years before the United States of America was founded with adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, 95 years before Martin Murphy acquired land in the area in 1845 and 156 years before the City of Morgan Hill was established in 1906.