Two South MS live oaks stand as giants, but many people have never seen them
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- The E.O. Hunt live oak measures 32.3 feet in circumference.
- The E.O. Hunt and Sara Hunt oaks sit on the Long Beach Regional Center campus.
- Long Beach will have the second live oak trail next year; Ocean Springs is first.
The E.O. Hunt live oak in Long Beach is one the largest of the species in North America, says South Mississippi’s own oak ambassador, Larry Tucei, who believes it might be the largest multi-trunk oak.
The Gulfport resident has been measuring trees for 20 years. Live oaks are his favorite.
“They’re the most magnificent tree in all the Southern United States,” said Tucei, who gathered a group on Tuesday morning beneath the ample shade of the E.O. Hunt and Sara Hunt oaks, which sit side-by-side on the campus of the Long Beach Regional Center.
The trees are, indeed, magnificent. Each one is two oaks fused into one. Their lower branches spread across the ground. The larger of the two, the E.O. Hunt, is 32.3 feet in circumference and its crown spreads 178 feet, east-to west, which tops the width of a football field.
“So many people don’t realize it’s here, and they’re longtime Long Beach people,” said Allison Beyer, community relations specialist at the regional center.
Live oak trails in works for South MS
Locals and tourists alike are familiar with the Friendship Oak in Long Beach because it sits just off U.S. 90 on the University of Southern Mississippi’s open campus. But access to the regional center was more limited because it housed disabled individuals until recently. Today, those residents have moved elsewhere and the campus can more easily accept visitors.
Tucei has big plans to put the Hunt oaks, the Friendship Oak and other giants in the city on a map, so the city can offer a tour of its live oaks. Ocean Springs will have the first live oak tree trail, the 69-year-old retiree said. Maps are being prepared that people will be able to pick up at the Chamber of Commerce, City Hall and other locations to visit the city’s oaks.
Tucei said Long Beach will have the second tree trail next year, with plans for trails in Biloxi, Gulfport and, possibly, D’Iberville.
Tucei measures oaks and educates the public about them in an effort to preserve the magnificent specimens. Coast cities have tree ordinances to protect their live oaks.
Live oaks thrive in the southeastern United States, where generations have picnicked in their shade, admired their strength in the face of violent hurricanes and celebrated their beauty.
Long Beach has a bounty of beautiful live oaks, including one off Cleveland Avenue that is 83 feet tall. Tucei believes it’s the tallest in Mississippi.
The lifespan of live oaks is unknown because their trunks are too dense to bore so that their ages can be determined, Tucei said. It’s believed they live for up to 400 years, he said.
Preserving Long Beach treasures
Mayor Tim Pierce, Alderman Joey Giuffria and members of the Long Beach Garden Club turned out Tuesday morning as Tucei measured the Sara Hunt Oak. He’s going to complete a more extensive measurement of the E.O. Hunt Oak so that he can estimate its carbon footprint, or the amount of carbon it absorbs from the atmosphere.
City leaders have been criticized recently for allowing live oaks to be cut down for a hotel on Jeff Davis Avenue and a residential development on beachfront property. But Tucei said the city is planting live oaks and trying to preserve its trees.
Pierce said it’s a delicate balance.
“I’m big on saving trees,” he said. “That’s what makes Long Beach so pretty. It hurts my heart any time we have to cut down an oak tree, but progress has to happen.”
This story was originally published July 7, 2026 at 12:57 PM.
