The year is 1700, most of Pennsylvania is still covered in forests of American chestnut, white and red oaks, Eastern Hemlocks and white pines. To be more accurate, Pennsylvania hadn’t even reached statehood yet.

But on the top of a ridge about 550 feet above sea level, a white oak acorn settled into a perfect spot to grow. Somehow, 325 years later, through countless droughts, blizzards, thunderstorms and loggers clearing the land, a monstrous and dynamic white oak still overlooks Parryville.

It is, the by far, the most amazing wolf tree I’ve even seen.

The proud owners of this tree and this farmland-preserved farm are Mr. and Mrs. Richard Fedor. Mr. Fedor, a proud and courageous veteran of three tours in the Vietnam War, obtained the farm in 1985. The owners before the Fedors were the late sisters Mary and Ellen Wentz. (Ironically, and hinting at my age, Mary Wentz was one of my teachers at Franklin Elementary School.) Mary began teaching in a one-room schoolhouse just off Route 209 a few miles east of Lehighton.

Mary and her sister remember the massive tree when they were children back in 1895. They told Mr. Fedor it was a huge tree at that time, and when they sold the farm to him they requested that he protect this treasure.

Rich would never dream of damaging the tree or selling the property. His farm is now protected through perpetuity.

A bit of a review … A few years ago, I penned a column on wolf trees. Wolf trees could be found scattered around our county or our state for a variety of reasons.

Some were already one of the largest trees in the forest, and when a forest was cleared, they saved a few to offer shade to their cattle or dairy herd.

Some were not felled because they grew on a property line to help serve as survey markers.

Others were so big that as the farmers began clearing the forests, these trees were tasked to hold the block and tackle used to pull stumps from the land close to them.

I’m betting one of two things: that this simply majestic tree was just that, and no one dared to harvest it, or it served as a great shade tree for a diary herd. Neither Mr. Fedor nor I will never really know.

I visited with Mr. Fedor about a week ago for more information on his tree, and asked permission to take measurements.

“Barry, take all the pictures and get all the info you need, but don’t do any drilling or anything that could possibly damage it,” he said. “Looking won’t hurt it at all.”

I needed to find a bigger tape measure and went to my late father’s toolbox and found a relic.

I needed a large measure because I was amazed to find the tree has a circumference of over 18 feet at breast height. Its lowest limb, about 6 feet from the base of the tree, is over 14 inches in diameter, which is bigger than many of our forest trees.

I sent this information to a registered forester (Seth Tanner) and he estimates that this white oak is between 300 and 350 years old. Can you imagine all the history this tree could have observed. Heck, Parryville’s first resident didn’t even arrive here until 1780. The tree was already about 100 years old.

I’m limited in space for this edition but I wanted to include photos taken throughout the seasons of this great wolf tree. Hopefully, you’ll get a sense of how big this true wonder of nature really is.

Who knows how much longer it will live? Hopefully, for another generation or two.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: True or False: Opossums can feign death.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: Even though I’ve never seen a Northern redbelly, or smooth earth, or ribbon snake, they are present in this area. An Eastern kingsnake is not found here.

Email Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com