Whipping Oak

This confusing jaunt might’ve been less so had I done my homework ahead of time, but that’s not how I roll.

By now, I have saved all the living trees on my google map app, so I rarely bother to look at the book or even the website. GPS coordinates and the brief location info is saved so I just go, frequently stumbling around to find what I’m looking for. 

After hunting down the Ranger Oaks, I saw it was a couple blocks to the Guadalupe County courthouse in the same little town of Seguin to find another.

They were all in the same historic grove.

The gleaming limestone courthouse was easy enough to spot, but I had no idea which tree was the Whipping Oak. There were several surrounding a central plaza across the street.

The description said “near the gazebo,” but the unimpressive trees next to it didn’t seem right. We wandered around looking.

This marker was no help, pointing instead to a WPA built fountain project dedicated to the mayor who allocated resources to preserve it.

Happily, we noticed this wonderfully knarled live oak on one end of the plaza and spent a few minutes admiring the swirly, burl-like patterns in the bark.

Did you know that Seguin is home of the Worlds Largest Pecan?

I didn’t and I’m sorry to say that we never wandered around to the other side of the courthouse to find this kitschy gem.

Also interesting that the courthouse seems to have been beautifully power-washed since this 2019 photo I found on Google.

Thanks to Sara Neave!

While noodling around, I had been trying to look up the FToT page on my phone to see if it would lead us to the “right” tree.

Then I hear Sandi, “I FOUND IT.”

Named for the public punishment the tree played a part in, these iron loops provided a hitch for tying up “runaway slaves, thieves, and wife-beaters” before lashing them.

Now the tree itself gets punished: slow strangulation by xmas lights.

The Whipping Oak stands near the gazebo across from the south entrance to the Guadalupe County courthouse.