The Big Oak, Live oak tree in Thomasville, Georgia, US

The Big Oak is a southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) at the corner of Crawford and Monroe streets in Thomasville, Georgia. Its thick trunk splits near the ground into heavy limbs that angle outward and downward, some just feet above the ground. Dense small green leaves form a broad canopy, and moss grows on upper limbs. A small sign stands near the base.

The Big Oak dates to about 1680, making it one of the oldest live oaks in the country. P.C. Andrews registered it with the Live Oak Society in 1936 as the forty-ninth live oak on the list, when its girth measured 21 feet 6 inches. The Chastain family owned the lot from 1906 until the mid-1960s; in 1966 Elisabeth Ireland Poe and the city of Thomasville bought the property and made it a public park, dedicated to her memory on February 7, 1982.

The tree stands on a lot bought in 1966 by Elisabeth Ireland Poe and the city of Thomasville, who turned it into a public park; the site was dedicated to her memory on February 7, 1982. A Victorian-style gazebo donated that same year by Mrs. Otto Carter of Meigs, Georgia, was restored and remains a focal point. A brick lattice wall built with the $5,000 Walter Hildebrand fund borders two sides and is known locally as "The Living Wall."

The Big Oak stands at the corner of Crawford Street and Monroe Street in downtown Thomasville, on a lot turned into a public park in 1966. Some limbs hang only a few feet above the ground, so tall vehicles have struck the tree before; walk beneath the canopy rather than drive close. A small sign stands near the trunk's base.

In 1958, President Dwight Eisenhower had his driver stop so he could photograph the tree on the way to the airport, stepping onto the porch of Mrs. Rudolph Keyton to take the shot. The tree was the 49th live oak registered with the Live Oak Society, signed up by P.C. Andrews in 1936.