For 156 years, a mighty oak in Virginia has stood as a symbol of freedom across the nation
HAMPTON, Va. - Most locals don't know exactly how long it's been here. They say at least 300 years.
It was around before any of the buildings that stand today in this city of 134,000 on the Chesapeake Bay, preceded only by the Powhatan people - the native tribes and the plants they cultivated.
Born of a single seed, its trunk is now 16 feet around with a 100-foot-wide canopy that, at its height, soars 50 feet. A small studio apartment would easily fit under its shade.
In Hampton, where colonial and Civil War markers abound, the tree is perhaps one of the best known,
