The Heart O’Texas Oak is a live oak located near the town of Mercury. This tree has attracted attention mostly because it’s located in the exact geographical center of the State of Texas. How do we know that? Well, the location was determined by the US Geodetic Survey in 1922.
The Heart O’Texas Oak stands at a point whose coordinates divide the second largest state in the Union into four equal areas. The tree itself is 437 miles from the state’s most westerly point on the Rio Grande above El Paso. It’s also 412 miles from the most northerly point in the northwest corner of the Panhandle near Texline. The Heart O’Texas Oak is 401 miles from the most southerly point on the Rio Grande below Brownsville and 341 miles from the most easterly point on the Sabine River near Burkeville. The maximum straight-line distance between Texas’ borders is 801 miles north to south and 773 miles from east to west.
Yes, we know. Texas is a large state. It seems to go on forever. It’s interesting that this tree divides it up as equally as possible. When driving through Texas it feels like you could drive for days. It takes about 14 to 16 hours to travel from the Texas Panhandle to Brownsville. That’s a long time. You should prepare yourself for a few stops along the way. To travel the width of Texas it’s about 11 hours. Neither way is an easy, but you can see a lot of beautiful sites along the way.
Back to the Heart O’ Texas Oak. If you want to find it, go to Ranch Road 1028 near the town of Mercury. The tree is on private property so it’s best to view it from the road. You are asked to respect the owners and not trespass across the fence.
We love bringing information about Texas’ famous trees. We hope you enjoy reading these articles. We’ll keep writing about Texas trees as well as trees from around the world.
