Historical Period: Frontier Texas (1865-1900)
Historical Topic: Odds & Ends, Saved From the Axe
Species: Texas Live Oak (Quercus fusiformis)
County: Mills
Public Access: Tree is dead, the remains of the Center Oak can be found 9.5 miles east of Goldthwaite, just 100 feet south of US Highway 84, of CR 332.
Looking at the remains of this live oak today, it’s hard to imagine that town life once bustled beneath its broad canopy. But in the late nineteenth century, the town of Hughes Store was a hub of human activity, boasting numerous businesses, saloons, churches, and a school. The town was even considered a candidate for county seat. That designation was ultimately given to Goldthwaite, forever altering the future of Hughes Store.
But the town had one unique distinction. A land survey in the 1870s pegged this live oak as the exact geographical center of Texas, prompting the town’s name change to Center City. After the Santa Fe Railroad bypassed the town in 1885, its decline was both swift and steady. Today, Center City is mostly a memory of its former self, much like its namesake oak.
There was a time when residents were unified enough in both spirit and number to rally around the old oak. When the tree was slated for removal in the 1930s to make way for construction of State Highway 7 (now US Highway 84), residents protested loudly—they won the battle, and the road was moved to spare the tree.
Maybe that’s why today, despite so little remaining of Center City and the Center Oak, the quiet little spot in the middle of nowhere feels sacred.