"Oak wood has a density of about 0.75 g/cm³, great strength and hardness, and is very resistant to insect and fungal attack because of its high tannin content. It also has very attractive grain markings, particularly when quarter-sawn. Wide, quarter-sawn boards of oak have been prized since the Middle Ages for use in interior panelling of prestigious buildings. Barrels in which red wines, sherry, brandy and spirits are aged are made from oak. The use of oak in wine can add many different dimensions to wine based on the type and style of the oak. ak wood chips are used for smoking fish, meat, cheeses and other foods. The bark of the White Oak is dried and used in medical preparations. Oak bark is also rich in tannin, and is used by tanners for tanning leather. Acorns are used for making flour or roasted for acorn coffee. Oak galls were used for centuries as the main ingredient in manuscript ink, harvested at a specific time of year."

The house at 777 Blanton Hill was built in 1913. The oak tree might be older than that.The Bur Oak, (Quercus macrocarpa), sometimes spelled Burr Oak, is a species of oak in the white oak section Quercus sect. It occurs from the Appalachian Mountains west to the middle of the Great Plains, extending to central Texas. It is a large deciduous tree growing up to 30 m in height, and is one the most massive oaks with a trunk diameter of up to 3 m. It commonly lives to be 200 to 300 years old, and may become significantly older. The bark is a medium gray and somewhat rugged. The flowers are greenish-yellow catkins, produced in the spring. The acorns are very large, 2-5 cm long and 2-4 cm broad, with a large cup that wraps much of the way around the nut, with large overlapping scales and often a fringe at the edge of the cup. Bur Oak typically grows in the open, away from forest canopy. For this reason, it is an important tree on the eastern prairies, where it is often found near waterways in more forested areas, where there is a break in the canopy. It is also a fire-resistant tree, and possesses significant drought resistance by virtue of a long taproot. The acorns are the largest of any North American oak, and are an important wildlife food; American Black Bears sometimes tear off branches to get them. However, heavy nut crops are borne only every few years. In this strategy, known as masting, the large seed crop every few years overwhelms the ability of seed predators to eat the acorns, thus ensuring the survival of some seeds. Other wildlife, such as deer and porcupine, eat the leaves, twigs and bark. Cattle are heavy browsers in some areas. The bur oak is the only known foodplant of Bucculatrix recognita caterpillars. The wood is high quality, and is almost always marketed as "white oak".