Martinsville and Henry County, Virginia have some remarkable trees! Yet, as of July 1, 2009, not a single tree has been documented in
The Remarkable Trees of Virginia Project!

Jeff Kirwan, who helped to design that site, is a Virginia Tech professor and 4-H Extension Specialist. He introduced me to his Remarkable Trees Project during my training to become a Certified Virginia Master Naturalist in classes held at the Virginia Museum of Natural History. This blog, and it's upkeep, will serve as part of my volunteer hours to remain certified, and to encourage others to enroll in Virginia Master Naturalist's program.

Search the website's tree nominations for white oaks alone, and you would find nominations from people in over twenty cities and counties who have nominated, among other trees, a tree famous for “being the lone friend of a slave girl,” a tree beloved by office workers in a business park, a tree under which Stonewall Jackson prayed, and a tree “with the potential for 40 to 50 cords of firewood”!

Children, adults, professional tree experts and amateur tree lovers are invited to participate in the Project by nominating trees remarkable for their historic, cultural, ecological, or aesthetic significance. By nominating them online at the project's Virginia Tech website, a record will be created for reference. Participants contacting me through this blog will help me to document and photograph any trees that are noteworthy. Please add your stories about trees beloved for unusual reasons and praised in unusual ways with your comments.

This blog's purpose is to provide an opportunity to involve local citizens in a search for our area's most notable trees. Hopefully, this blog will help educate our citizens so they will be more apt to recognize, enjoy and protect the most significant trees in our hometown area!

Certainly, the history and stories connected to our area's trees would make some interesting reading. My plans are to create a website featuring some Martinsville's most marvelous trees and their stories.