Dunbar Oak
Beneath an oak around August, 1868, Col. Richard Dunbar reclined after drinking freely from a nearby spring. He felt that continued use of its waters healed him of incurable diabetes. He called the spring “Bethesda” signifying mercy. He sold the waters nationally and beyond. Thus began the glamorous time known as the “Waukesha Springs ERA,” from 1868-1914.
On July 1991, the mighty 300 year old Dunbar Oak was felled by storm winds. The following spring, several cuttings were taken from the still-standing trunk. One graft was successful.
On May 24, 2004, to commemorate Waukesha’s 25 years as Tree City, U.S.A., the “new” Dunbar Oak returned to Bethesda Park where it was planted on the exact site of the original historic tree. The new tree is a cloned genetic duplicate of the original tree Col. Dunbar sat beneath.
Marker is on Dunbar Avenue ¼ mile west of North West Avenue, on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
