Hurricane Helene topples centuries-old oak tree in Bradley County

From Local 3 News: Intense storms from Hurricane Helene have impacted areas across Tennessee.

We checked out some of the damage left behind in Bradley County and spoke with residents about losing a unique staple in the community.

There is a sense of loss on Climer Road in Cleveland, not the loss of life or of a home, but the loss of history and decades of memories.

Some residents believe a massive oak tree, which has now been uprooted by Hurricane Helene, had stood on Climer Road for more than 400 years.

"I grew up swinging there, my cousins, all my friends that came over, the same for my mother's generation and the generations before that," said Caleb Taylor, member of the Climer family.

Taylor said he was devastated to find out the tree he grew up with had toppled over. As a child he was told the 'big fat tree' as the family calls it, had been a part of their lineage since his great great great grandfather, Isaac Henry Clay Climer, who fought for the union in the Civil War.

"So, he left that hill in the 1860's, so it had already been in the family.. I'm going to say, well, back into the 1700's, the beginning of the Climer family settling in Eastern Bradley County," said Taylor.

Taylor says that unfortunately he has no documentation of the oak tree's age, but his family believes there is a strong possibility it could be the largest and oldest tree in Bradley County.

"My uncle has vowed, he intends to cut that trunk down and count the rings," said Taylor.
"We had a swing that hung from one of the branches and that's where everybody played, and it's still there, it's just underneath the tree," said Mitzi Shields, Caleb's mother.

Shields says the tree meant a lot to her and to their neighbors who also created memories underneath it's branches.

"You expect it to be there, and with it not there.. it's not the same," said one neighbor, Cindy Flowers.

According to the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council, there are no records of the 'big fat tree'.

Though we can't confirm exactly when the tree sprouted or what historical events it may have lived through, it will forever be a part of the Climer family legacy.

"I would say there will definitely be some things made out of it that we will be able to keep around, and we'll always have the memories of it, but it's not going to be the same," said Shields.