Remembering the Senator

The January loss of Central Florida's 3,500 year old cypress tree known as the Senator was devastating for lovers of the record-setting tree. The outpouring of sadness from the community was tremendous and the story made the national news and the New York Times. I had no idea that folks cared so much for this behemoth that was already enormous 1,500 years before the birth of Christ. For me it showed that despite the actions of our state and local government, who seem to bend over backwards to allow developers to pave over the state's natural areas, people living here actually do care about the environment. So I found good in the disaster.

The tree, however, is a total loss, and Big Tree Park still remains closed. To honor the beloved tree, I created poster artwork and uploaded it to the Imagekind site to allow people to have a reminder of the great tree. A portion of the proceeds of any sale will be donated to the Friends of the Wekiva River, an organization that works to protect, preserve, and restore the natural functions and beauty of the Wekiva River here in Central Florida. The Wekiva is one of the areas last havens of wildness, and the pressures of development put its natural systems under great stress. In my opinion, it is our responsibility to maintain areas like this for future generations to enjoy.

Now a little about the poster. Based on an image I took of the Senator a few years ago, the piece is designed to look like a vintage travel poster that might have promoted the tree as an attraction around the turn of the century. The letters in the word "Senator" were hand-rendered, based on a vintage font found in a type specimen book. I used to do quite a bit of that in the days before computers. I then scanned in the artwork and re-drew it on the computer in Adobe Illustrator. Other archival elements like banners and corner elements were scanned in from different sources, to create this poster that celebrates the long period of time visitors have been drawn to this wonderful tree.

In addition to making me realize how much people really cared about the tree, the loss motivated me to get out and see some of the places right in my own backyard that I've taken for granted. I thought a tree that stood for 35 centuries would always be there. You never know when that place you've always intended to visit won't be around any more.

Central Florida's oldest attraction burns down

At 3,500 years old there is no doubt which Central Florida attraction held the claim to be the area's oldest. Centuries before Europeans ever set foot in Florida, the Cypress tree known as the Senator was already a giant. A tourist draw in the early 20th century, the grand tree's park was dedicated by Calvin Coolidge and improved with boardwalks during the days of the WPA.

Early this morning firefighters rushed to the park to find the massive old tree turned into a chimney, burning from the inside out. A smoking stump is all that remains. I have nothing but sadness for the loss of this wonderous behemoth.

Photos from my only visit to Big Tree Park in August of 2009.

(Images of the tree on fire taken from Orlando Sentinel video)

Florida Christmas

It was the time of the year when I normally start working on sending out Christmas cards, and I realized I hadn't bought any cards yet. This year I'm trying to keep my gift buying local as much as possible and I really wanted to do something to promote my mission of creating more awareness of the unique culture and history of Florida. A brief scan around my studio revealed a couple of one-color postcards purchased at the Museum of Seminole County History showing Calvin Coolidge and his wife at "The Senator", Florida's big tree. A quick phone call later and the Museum had 60 postcards in the mail to me. I morphed the Coolidges into Mr. and Mrs. Claus and found this link to Christmas: at the time of Christ's birth in Bethelhem, the giant Cypress tree was already 1,500 years old. That has to make it the oldest living thing in the state. And when Ponce de Leon was first stumbling across the state, the tree was an astounding 3,000 years old. I'm glad the folks back in Calvin Coolidge's day had the foresight to preserve such an icon.

Weird Florida

This week I went to a screening of Weird Florida: Roads Less Traveled a film put together by Charlie Carlson, one of the authors of the Weird Florida book. Charlie is "a tenth generation Floridian, folk historian, author and explorer of the Sunshine State's unexplained phenomena." He travels the road with his dog, Miss Scarlet, visiting some of the states funkier attractions and lesser known spots. Charlie has a cornball sense of humor and a "Hank Hill" delivery, but he reveals some of my very favorite places.

He starts at the very tip of the state, at the Southernmost point monument in Key West and works his way north, stopping at different places along the way. He hits some sites that are at the top of my list to visit in the near future, like the Coral Castle near Homestead, Soloman's Castle near Ona, and the Koreshan Utopian Settlement near Estero. He also hits some of my old favorites like The Senator in Longwood, the Monument of States in Kissimmee, and some of my favorite interesting towns like Christmas, Cassadega and St. Augustine.

Monument of States, Kissimmee

The Senator, Longwood

Christmas, Florida

One of the most interesting segments was visiting the Ripley's art department in Orlando to show how they make reproductions of some of their oddities. One of the places I really want to visit is the original Ripley's Believe It or Not in St. Augustine which is housed in the old hotel originally owned by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and her husband, in which they were visited by another legendary Florida write, Zora Neale Hurston.

Vintage postcard from Ripley's

The film will be on PBS in Florida starting in September. While the humor may make you wince, the film reveals some great out-of-the-way spots and could be a useful guide when putting together your next Florida roadtrip.

Seminole County's Senator

Last Thanksgiving we stayed at a HoJo's in St. Augustine with a huge Live Oak in the courtyard nicknamed the Senator. The sight-seeing Trolley Tours would drive through the parking lot on the way to the Fountain of Youth and always tell the same joke about the 400 year old tree: "Know why it's called the Senator? Because it's shady and it's crooked."

Seminole County's Senator is neither shady or crooked and it's about 3,000 years older than St. Augustine's Live Oak. The Senator is a Cypress Tree in the appropriately named Big Tree Park in Longwood. The park was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge and was for a long time believed to be the largest Cypress tree in the US. I've seen Sequoias and Redwoods in California, but this behemoth is easily the largest tree I've seen on this side of the country. Here's a little data:
• The tree originally was 165 feet high but a hurricane in 1925 knocked the top off and it is now only 118 feet tall.
• A landmark to Florida's native Americans, the tree drew visitors in the late 1800s despite being in the middle of a swamp.
• The WPA built a walkway to The Senator during the New Deal.
• The tree is estimated to be around 3,500 years old meaning it sprouted in the age of the pharohs in ancient Egypt.
• There were originally 4 large cypress trees together but only 2 have survived. The Senator's companion tree, known as Lady Liberty, is a mere 2,000 years old.

The Senator's little sister, Lady Liberty

Boardwalks lead through the swamp to The Senator

I've been yearning to visit Florida's oldest attraction for some time and sadly was there when lighting conditions were at their worst for photography. But in reality the tree is so large there is no good way to show its size in a 2-dimensional photograph. Just a short drive from Orlando, there is no admission charge to see the big tree and it is well worth the trip. There is a paved trail just outside the park and a bridge over US 17-92 for pedestrians and cyclists. On my return visit I'm bringing my bike!

Archival images from State Archives of Florida