The Salem Oak was a
white oak tree at the Salem Friends Burial Ground in
Salem, in the
U.S. state of
New Jersey.[1][2]
Estimated to be more than 500 years old, the Salem Oak was a landmark tree under whose branches Salem’s founder
John Fenwick is said to have first met with local
Lenape tribe of
Native Americans in 1675.[3] Fenwick (1618–1683) was the leader of a group of
Quakers who emigrated in 1675 from
England to
Salem, New Jersey, where they established Fenwick's Colony, the first
English settlement in
West Jersey.[4]
Measuring 22 ft (6.7 m) in circumference and estimated at between 500 and 600 years old, the tree did not sustain any damage from the
Hurricane Sandy in October 2012,[5] but collapsed in 2019.[6]