Bethesda in Montgomery County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
At This Location
Quercus alba -- White Oak
By Allen C. Browne, April 28, 2014
1. At This Location Marker
Location. 39° 0.215′ N, 77° 6.198′ W. Marker is in Bethesda, Maryland, in Montgomery County. Marker is at the intersection of Center Drive and North Drive, on the right when traveling west on Center Drive. Touch for map. On the NIH Campus. Marker is in this post office area: Bethesda MD 20892, United States of America.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Tree of Hippocrates (within shouting distance of this marker); The Centennial Anchor (approx. ¼ mile away); The Louis Stokes Laboratories (approx. ¼ mile away); The Mary Woodard Lasker Center for Health Research and Education (approx. 0.3 miles away); President Franklin D. Roosevelt (approx. 0.3 miles away); Walter Johnson House (approx. 0.4
By Allen C. Browne, April 28, 2014
2. At This Location Marker
Categories. • Environment • Horticulture & Forestry • Waterways & Vessels •
By Allen C. Browne, April 28, 2014
3. At This Location Marker
By Allen C. Browne, April 28, 2014
4. White Oak
By Allen C. Browne, April 28, 2014
5. White Oak #154 Slice
By Allen C. Browne, April 28, 2014
6. White Oak Tree #154 History
The white oak tree sprouted around 1800, surrounded by farmland. When the tree was about 40, surgeons first used ether-induced general anesthesia. When it was about 60, Louis Pasteur perfected the process of pasteurization. The tree's rings reveal that the oak suffered a near-fatal injury around this time, perhaps a lightning strike. The result was slowly spreading and ultimately became a lethal heartwood decay.
X-rays were discovered when the tree was approaching 100 and penicillin when it was about 125. In 1937, the tree shaded workers building NIH's first Bethesda laboratories. It was still standing in 1953, when the original NIH Clinical Center opened, but rotting from within by the time the new hospital was being built.
This expertly preserved 168--pound cross-section is from the tree, felled in 1998 as construction began on the Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center.
A l4-ton, 35-foot segment of this oak was given to the U.S. Navy and used for repairs to the USS Constitution, the historic frigate known as "Old Ironsides" now berthed in Boston Harbor.Close-up of picture on sign describing the cross-section of the White Oak tree.
X-rays were discovered when the tree was approaching 100 and penicillin when it was about 125. In 1937, the tree shaded workers building NIH's first Bethesda laboratories. It was still standing in 1953, when the original NIH Clinical Center opened, but rotting from within by the time the new hospital was being built.
This expertly preserved 168--pound cross-section is from the tree, felled in 1998 as construction began on the Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center.
A l4-ton, 35-foot segment of this oak was given to the U.S. Navy and used for repairs to the USS Constitution, the historic frigate known as "Old Ironsides" now berthed in Boston Harbor.
By Allen C. Browne, April 28, 2014
7. The Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Center
Credits. This page was last revised on July 25, 2018. This page originally submitted on April 29, 2014, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. This page has been viewed 372 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on April 29, 2014, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
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