Enjoy viewing our Treasured Tree list, with their stories and history for each following below.

This majestic deciduous tree is the gateway into the community of Christmount, the former estate owned by the world famous Spanish architect, Rafael Guastavino. The tree is a welcoming presence to a site that is listed on the National Historic Register. Its trunk and limb structure are straight and sturdy, creating an impressive, towering canopy of soft, fern-like leaves that are a vivid green in spring and summer, turning to an amber golden brown by fall and then losing their leaves completely for winter. Children of all ages love to climb its low branches and sit in the embrace of one of our area's most stately trees.

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This Hemlock was likely left in place when the main campus area of Blue Ridge Assembly was being cleared for construction of Heaton Hall.  Hemlocks on Blue Ridge Assembly Property are chemically treated every 3 years to protect them from the Hemlock woolly adelgid, which began invading North Eastern Forests in the late 1980s.  By the late 1990s it had spread to the Southern Appalachians and began killing trees here by the hundreds of thousands until nearly all had been lost.  Historically the Hemlock was an important species which helped to maintain cool temperatures in mountain streams necessary for healthy native trout populations.  Before the blight killed them, it was common to find stands of Hemlocks over 4 feet in diameter as the timber industry spared this species during the great Clear Cutting of our Southern Appalachian forest that occurred in the latter half of the 19th century because the wood had little commercial value. 

Photo credit Van Burnette

This is one of the larger Hickories on the Blue Ridge Assembly Property at approx. 70 foot tall. Hickories are a very slow growing hardwood with opposite, compound leaves. They are an important food source for Grey Fox, Red Squirrels, Eastern Chipmunks and Racoons, especially since the turn of the century loss of the American Chestnut in the Oak-Hickory forests of the Eastern US. Pignut Hickories, along with Chestnut Oaks often dominate on dry slopes and mountain ridges in Southern Appalachia.

This Tulip Poplar is the largest Diameter Tree on the Blue Ridge Assembly and is the 2nd largest diameter of any Treasured Tree in the Swannanoa Valley to date. The tree was young but must have been of good size when they chose to leave it to grow here during the site clearing and construction of Eureka Hall (formally named Lee Hall) in 1906. Tulip Poplars are fast growing trees and despite their size are younger than numerous oaks of a similar diameter on the property. This tree is absolutely enchanting as it sits proudly on the hilltop overlooking the incredible view of the Swannanoa Valley and Black Mountains also seen from the Steps of Eureka Hall. It takes 3 adults reaching fingertip to fingertip to reach around this beauty.

This White Oak ties at having the largest diameter of any on the Blue Ridge Assembly property. It is an extraordinary example of how tough and resilient the species can be. It was left in place as roads and parking lots were being cleared and built for Blue Ridge Assembly as early as 1900. It has been surrounded by pavement impacting its roots and has had very minimal permeable surface in the area surrounding it since at least 1960 and yet is still amazingly healthy.  This tree is affectionately known as the “No Busses Tree” as Busses must use a different entrance because of their inability to maneuver around it or drive under its lower branches. 

This 200+ year old oak is along the entrance road into the Blue Ridge Assembly. Although in decline, it still has one of the largest canopy spreads of any on the Blue Ridge Assembly property because it has spent most or all of its life growing in an open field as opposed to forest.

This gorgeous White Oak is one of many estimated to be more than 150 years old gracing the Blue Ridge Assembly property. White Oaks are one of the most widely distributed trees in the Eastern Deciduous Forests.

This White Oak was likely a small tree during the construction of Abbot and Heaton hall circa 1910. There had been a Chestnut Oak growing just in front of it which had to be cut due to storm damage in 2019. Van Burnette is seen here measuring the DBH of the chestnut which has helped us to more accurately estimate the age of other trees on the grounds. The 36 inch diameter Chestnut Oak was 135 years old.

Rows of White Pines were planted along Assembly Drive at the entrance and exit of Blue Ridge Assembly in 1912. They have been replaced with younger trees as older ones have been lost over recent years, but more than a dozen trees of 4 foot+ diameter remain. The White Pine is a native of the North Eastern forest planted widely in the south as a timber species.

This Southern Red Oak is the largest and likely the oldest of any Treasured Tree nominated to date. Nancy Alexander writes, "This enormous tree was a part of my great-grandparents' farm here in the Warren Wilson Valley. It was a 1200 acre farm called Alexander Farms, beginning in 1902, if not before. This property, Tap Roots Farm, gets its name from the Civil War-era movie of the same name filmed there in 1948. It is a pastoral knoll, dotted with large Red and White Oaks. My great aunt and uncle, Corbett and Sally Alexander, had a horse farm here, and the large barn remains."

This is one of the stateliest Persimmon Trees in Buncombe County.  It bears delicious fruit that the owners enjoy each season.

This multi-trunk White Oak is a beautiful tree, admired both by golfers and passersby on 9th Street and Tomahawk Ave. The canopy has been able to extend nearly as wide as the tree is tall, (approx. 70 ft’ X 70 ft’) due to the openness of the area which was cleared for the Black Mountain Golf Course, which was designed in 1929 by Donald Ross. Multi-trunked trees typically result after an area is cleared. It’s likely the parent tree was injured, causing suckering. It's also possible that multiple acorns germinated side by side and the trunks grew together over time.

The river birch is an uncommon tree in the Appalachian Mountains except along the flood plains of the French Broad River and its main tributaries, within Buncombe County. They thrive in alluvial soils of bottomlands, which are areas of fine grain, fertile, silt deposits created by flooding. The river birch is often used in reclamation or erosion control. They can withstand up to 30 days of continuous flooding. They are also a popular landscape tree because of their beautiful bark, rapid growth, and tolerance of harsh conditions. River birch wood was once used for ox yokes, wooden shoes and other products around the farm. But they were rather destained by loggers as knotty and spindly, therefore often left to grow along the river bank to control erosion. Several of these large, majestic river birches dot the banks of Flat Creek.

The river birch is an uncommon tree in the Appalachian Mountains except along the flood plains of the French Broad River and its main tributaries, within Buncombe County. They thrive in alluvial soils of bottomlands, which are areas of fine grain, fertile, silt deposits created by flooding. The river birch is often used in reclamation or erosion control. They can withstand up to 30 days of continuous flooding. They are also a popular landscape tree because of their beautiful bark, rapid growth, and tolerance of harsh conditions. River birch wood was once used for ox yokes, wooden shoes and other products around the farm. But they were rather destained by loggers as knotty and spindly, therefore often left to grow along the river bank to control erosion. Several of these large, majestic river birches dot the banks of Flat Creek.

The Delatorre family was happy to nominate one of their trees at the edge of their property, along Flat Creek as a Treasured Tree. They are very appreciative and aware of how much they rely on the roots of these trees to stabilize the creek bank bordering their much loved outdoor dining area. Flat Creek brings clean, clear, and very cold water into the town of Black Mountain from the slopes of Mount Mitchell and is a major tributary of the Swannanoa river. The river has had numerous floods in which this tulip poplar, along with the nearby river birches and sycamores helped to hold the bank in place. The largest flood in the last century was on Sept 8, 2004 during hurricane Ivan, where the Swannanoa River crested at 19 feet. The Greatest known floods of Flat Creek and the Swannanoa river had Crests of over 20 feet, occurring in April 1791 and on July 16th 1916. Other great floods, with crests over 15 feet, occurred (in order of severity) on August 13 1940, August 16, 1928, May 1st 1945, Feb 1, 1975, August 17, 2004, May 21, 1901, January 15, 1995, Aug 30 1940, November 6, 1978, August 1st 1952, August 1st 1910, June 17, 1976, and Dec 30, 1901.

A resting bench sits underneath this Northern Red Oak alongside Flat Creek and the Black Mountain Greenway. The Northern Red Oak has been called “one of the handsomest, cleanest, and stateliest trees in North America” by naturalist Joseph S. Illick. It has been a favorite of both lumberman and landscapers since colonial times. It is valued for its versatility and hardiness in urban settings and is known for its brilliant fall color and great value to wildlife.

This White Oak is the largest of at least 10 others on the property. It is 70 feet tall and has a 60 ft spread.  Where the brick home now stands was once a log cabin built circa 1916 owned previously by Roy and Minnie Bartlett.  The trees have been well loved and cared for by both the current and previous owners.

This white oak is believed to be one of the oldest trees inside the town limits of Black Mountain, thought to have begun growing here prior to 1800. It could have been a seedling when the land it stands on still belonged to the Cherokee, before the 1776 raids of General Griffith Rutherford who burned 50 to 70 Cherokee towns and villages west of Old Fort. This tree stood tall just feet from the first roads built on what is now Highway 70, which brought colonial settlers into the valley, around 100 years before the Town of Black Mountain was established.

This yellow buckeye tree is tall and straight, reaching approximately 70 feet. It grows alongside tulip poplars of similar size and height. The greenway beneath is a majestic paved walking path between these towering giants. This section of greenway is a favorite for walking or biking children to Black Mountain Primary School or to restaurants and shopping for many residents living North of Town along Montreat Road. Trees in the Buck- eye family have unique, palmately compound leaves. Buckeyes are toxic, but Native Americans made a nutritious food out of the seed by roasting and soaking them. The yellow buck- eye is a major component of the Appalachian Cove Forest, a rich, moist, forest of Appalachian bottomlands with high species diversity.

This is one of the stateliest Persimmon Trees in Buncombe County.  It bears delicious fruit that the owners enjoy each season.

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This Pin Oak is one of the largest diameter trees inside of the town limits of Black Mountain at over five feet (60 inches) across. It is thought to have been planted around the middle of the 19th century, so it is likely one of the earliest planted trees in town as well. It is unknown who may have planted it. At the time the tree was planted, the town of Black Mountain was known as Grey Eagle. As a sapling the tree stood a couple hundred feet from a main stage coach stop on the Western Turnpike, in what is now town square [1]. 

Pin Oaks are native to the Piedmont and Coastal Plains of NC, Va, and SC. In their natural range they do not occur above 800 feet elevation, so we can be certain the tree was planted as opposed to naturally occurring.  The brick home on the property was built in the 1960s by a local builder, Mr. Nanny, who built several others on the block and local area. The current owner Jeff Robins purchased it in 1984.  Today there is a swing on a lower branch which is enjoyed by the daughter and friends of the Treasure Tree’s nominator, Ryan Sermon. Ryan also runs a landscape company out of the home. Pin Oaks are one of the fastest growing hardwood trees at a rate of 3 feet per year, so though it is one of our largest Treasure Trees, we have many in town that are significantly older. Pin Oaks are also tolerant of standing water, intensive heat, air pollution and compacted soil, so they are widely used in the landscape industry today. This individual was one of the earliest pioneers of the species in Western North Carolina. 

This Oak Tree began growing here on the property of Silas F. Dougherty, one of Black Mountain's earliest businessmen, around the same time he built his family’s home here in 1897. The residence was later operated by Silas’s daughter Sadie and her husband Alfred Tyson Sr. as a boarding house and for tourist lodging as “Dougherty Heights”[1]. Electric service wasn’t yet available, so they created their own electricity with steam from burning coal. The tree grew snugly between the Carriage house and boiler room but likely remained a small sapling until after the use of the boiler room was discontinued, as otherwise the tree’s canopy would have been a fire hazard. The home is still operating as an inn today, by Owners Doug and Jenny Bowman, as Black Mountain’s famous Red Rocker Inn Bed and Breakfast. The magnificent Oak, though not the oldest or biggest, is probably one of the most loved of Black Mountain’s Treasure Trees as it shades and cools the Inn and its guests.

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