The Senator's southwest face

Step 3: His History
By the time Europeans arrived in the area, The Senator and three other large bald cypress trees were already landmarks to the native people. The quartet loomed above the forest and was used as a navigational landmark by boatmen on the nearby Saint John's River. By the late 19th century early sightseers were buying buggy rides through the swamp to reach a rough walkway of palmetto logs that lead to the base of the big tree.

Moses O. Overstreet (some references indicate his first name was "Meade") owned the property at that time. He was a local businessman who made his fortune producing turpentine from the pine trees on his vast land holdings. His business empire grew to include sawmills, hotels and retail stores. Avery influential member of the community, he was elected State Senator from Orange Country.

In March of 1927, a Mr. R.S. Entzminger, president of the Longwood Florida Chamber of Commerce approached Senator Overstreet about donating 10 acres of swamp land located just north of the city. The land would be used as a park and more importantly to preserve several huge cypress trees that grew there. The largest tree was named The Senator in his honor.

By the late twenties, visitors were commenting on a couple of huge trunks that lay decomposing near the path to the Senator. Local lore held that the tree had fallen 40 years earlier (they have long since turned to compost). Now only two of the big tree quartet remain: The Senator and The Companion.

President Coolidge and the lovely Mrs. Coolidge pose with The Senator in 1929.

In 1929, a walkway of palmetto logs was constructed to provide easier access as the new park became a reality. A decorative wrought iron fence was created to encircle the tree in order to prevent lovers from memorializing their "true love" in disfigured tree bark - a big problem at the time.

To celebrate the improvements, former President Calvin Coolidge visited the Senator for the purpose of dedicating the new park. The President placed a bronze plaque at the base of the tree to commemorate the occasion .

In the thirties the WPA came in and improved the site by raising the elevation in places to provide dry areas for picnicking and parking. In 1945 Coolidge's plaque and the decorative iron fence were stolen by vandals and never recovered.

The park was operated by the local Jaycees for a number of years and in 1960 a bond referendum was passed to allow the country to acquire parklands. In 1980 the area was designated a priority acquisition by the Department of Natural Resources and The Senator's home became a part of the Spring Hammock Nature Park.

His Habitat
The Spring Hammock Nature Park is mainly composed of swampy land called a hydric hammock. It shares these surroundings with with other moisture-loving trees including sabal palms, blue palm, magnolias (southern and sweetbay), tupelos, swamp maple and water oak among others. The soil is very high in organic matter and supports dense growths of vegation. The rich soil is kept moist by mineral springs that bubble up to form small streams.

Here's the space at the base of The Senator and as you can see he has no need for knees!

Unlike most cypress trees, the Senator does not have many "knees", the woody protrusions that grow up from the roots to (it is thought) provide structural stability and oxygen to trees growing in wet conditions. The knees that are present are small (about 1ft/0.3m tall). A few larger knees are present but these are in various states of decomposition. It is theorized that as tree became more and more massive, the support afforded by the knees became less critical. Due to the construction of drainage systems for nearby highways, the swamp is a drier place with fewer periods of standing water which would reduce the need for supplementing the roots with oxygen.

Step 3 of 4