Hanley Farm Redwood Tree – by Pamela Sasseen

When I was at Crater Rock Museum the other day I was telling Doug Foster, Petrified Wood Curator for the museum, just how shy and introverted I really am. To which he said, “Aha! I have just the rock for you!” He had in his possession a pair of bookends that had been cut incorrectly, in what he termed an “introverted manner.” He said he was holding on to them until just such a conversation like ours came up where someone claimed to be introverted. If that ever happened, he would bestow the bookends to the deserving person. In this case, me!

He went on to tell me the wood is petrified Metasequoia from the Oligocene era, approximately 23 to 34 million years ago, give or take a few. I learned that Metasequoia (or Metasequoia glyptostroboides) is also known as “Dawn Redwood.” I was ever so excited as I was in the process of writing about the Dawn Redwood we have at Hanley Farm! To think I actually have the petrified remains of such a tree is mind boggling.

You can see the Dawn Redwood at Hanley Farm. When you visit the farm, the tallest tree you’ll see, at the back of the water tower, is the Dawn Redwood. Dawn Redwoods can grow as tall as 150 feet, with a 6-foot diameter trunk. Our redwood is a tad smaller, but it’s still pretty impressive.

The tree was thought to be extinct, until a living grove was discovered in a remote Chinese village in the early 1940s. In 1947, Dr. Merril of Harvard University sent Dr. Hu, who had identified the trees as Metasequoia, money to fund a seed-collecting mission. Learning that Dr. Merril was distributing some of the seeds to institutions and individuals, in 1948 John Gribble, a US Forest Service retiree, wrote Dr. Merril requesting a packet of seeds. John’s daughter recalled that he “…planted a lot of

[the seeds] and when they’d get about two and a half feet tall, he’d give them away.” The Hanley sisters, being personal friends with John Gribble, received one of those trees, and the rest – as the saying goes – is history!

Volunteer Day at Hanley Farm!

March 17 is a special day at the farm. We invite you to join us to honor past volunteers, and welcome those interested in becoming a volunteer, to the Hanley Farm family. Throughout the year we offer a variety of events, and this past year proved to be one of our most successful! The success was due to our fun-loving, enthusiastic volunteers. Spend a couple of hours with us, enjoy good food, fun people, and get a “sneak preview” of upcoming events! Saturday, March 17, 1pm-3pm, Hanley Farm, 1053 Hanley Road, 541-773-2675

Mysteries in Our Backyard!

Local history mysteries have been collected by the Rogue Valley Genealogical Society (RVGS), Southern Oregon Historical Society (SOHS) and Jackson County Heritage Association (JCHA) for their “Mysteries in Our Backyard” project. We invite you to go to the website (www.mysteries.jcheritage.org) to view the mysteries, and claim one if you wish! To learn more, you are invited to attend our “Mysteries Lecture Series.”

March 10, 9:30am-11am

“How to Use Library Sources” – Julie Drengson, reference librarian, will show you how to find the resources at that branch and how to use newspaper microfilm as a research tool.

Jackson County Library System

Medford Library, library Reference Desk
205 S. Central Avenue, Medford

RVGS 541-512-2340; SOHS 541-858-1724

For more information about Hanley Farm or upcoming events, call us at 541-773-2675; e-mail us at hanleyfarm@sohs.org; visit us on-line at www.sohs.org/properties/hanley-farm; or check out our Hanley Farm Facebook page!

Hanley Farm, owned and operated by the Southern Oregon Historical Society, is located at 1053 Hanley Road, between Jacksonville and Central Point.