“Unique is the quality of being unlike anything else.” – Amy, L-A host for the week.
Here are a few unique scenes of trees and architectural structures I stumbled on over the past many years. The header shows Fort Gorges, a former US military fort on Hog Island Ledge in Casco Bay, Maine, built in 1864. It was never used and fell to decay and ruin until a few years ago when it became a historic landmark, was restored and opened as a tourist site.
“Of all man’s works of art, a cathedral is greatest. A vest and majestic tree is greater than that.” – Henry Ward Beecher
This grand oak tree below (Quercus virginiana) is truly unique. It is magnificent and breathtaking when seen up close! It is estimated to be 400 to 500 years old, stands 66.5 ft (20 m) tall and produces shade covering 17,200 square feet (1,600 m). It is named Angel Oak and located on Johns Island, SC, near Charleston.
This tree below, named Fred, has rooted and grown out of the roadbed on the old historic Seven Mile Bridge. It thrives without soil and is exposed to constant sun, salt water, and winds. Fred is a salt-sprayed Casuarina, or an Australian pine tree, which defies nature and is said to have become a symbol of surviving and growing in adversity. The 7-Mile bridge built in the early 1900s to connect mainland Florida to Key West has been replaced by a newer bridge close by. (Much can be read about Fred by googling “tree on 7-mile bridge to key west”.)
Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with the well-known Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel in the background.
Below is the Cribstone Bridge or Bailey Island Bridge on Casco Bay in Maine. When built in the 1920s, this unusual pattern design helped to withstand the tides and winds. Cement was not used, only long, narrow slabs of granite stacked on top of each other in a criss-cross fashion.
Hope you enjoyed seeing these few unique subjects! And, be sure to check out Amy’s great post showing Unique Subjects by clicking here!
“Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.” – Bob Kerrey