yesterday's tennessee

The Big Pecan Tree

Source Unknown

Perhaps the most unique feature of the Natchez Trace State Park is that it is the home of the third largest pecan tree in the world. In the 1930's the following plaque was erected at the Pecan Tree by the John McCall Chapter of the D.A.R. "Accepted tradition says that this tree had grown from a pecan given to Sukey Morris by one of Jackson's men as they traveled homeward after the Battle of New Orleans." It is difficult to say whether this legend is true or not. It is known that four companies of General John Coffee's Tennessee Militia used the western branch of the Natchez Trace which passes by the Pecan Tree to return home from the Battle of New Orleans in April of 1815. But who was Sukey Morris? West Tennessee was Chickasaw territory until 1818 and there should have been no settlers in 1815. When the Western Natchez Trace was surveyed in 1816, it was noted that the northern 100 miles of the Trace were uninhibited.

The Big Pecan Tree was obviously planted. Pecans are not native to this area and certainly would not be found naturally on a dry ridge. The fact that the tree is only 30 feet from the Old Natchez Trace would support the idea that it was planted by someone (if not by Andrew Jackson's soldiers then by a later settler. The precise age of the tree cannot be determined since it has been filled with concrete. The Big Pecan Tree still produces some pecans but not a large size or quantity.

In 1958 the Big Pecan Tree measured 17'8" in circumference, 104' in height, and 125' in breadth. In April 1973 the tree measured 18'2" in circumference, 106' in height and 136' in spread and was named the World's Largest Pecan Tree in the American Forestry Association's Social Register of Big Trees. Within a few months Louisiana and Virginia reported larger pecan trees.

The Big Pecan tree is located within the Natchez Trace State Resort Park about 4 miles North of Interstate 40 on a paved road that makes a loop from I-40 past the Pecan Tree, Mount Comfort Church and Cemetery, Maple Creek Lake, and. back to I-40. A picnic shelter is provided at the Big Pecan Tree, so bring your lunch.