A Little background about the Publix Oak

February 2026: First, the tree referred to as the Publix Oak is not on property owned by the Publix Market, but refers to its location in front of the Publix Market. Owners are the Medlock Corners shopping center.

Was this tree deemed an important specimen requiring preservation in the early 1990s when the Medlock Corners shopping center and Publix were built?

Short answer is YES and it would have been determined by a professional arborist.

• In 1986, Fulton County adopted a Tree Preservation Ordinance and hired a full-time arborist to manage its implementation.
• Based on multiple AJC articles, the Publix tree (then within unincorporated Fulton County) would have been evaluated by the county arborist as part of the 1992 zoning for the shopping center.
• The tree's preservation and specification of such a large naturalized tree bed (approx. 60 x 90 feet) indicated the importance the Fulton County arborist placed on the tree.

Is the Publix tree historic?

In a city with very little remaining that physically ties to its history, the tree was a treasure.

• It was historic by its longevity and by being intrinsically linked to the City's past. The tree was on land of a Cherokee plantation that was worked by enslaved people and was just down the hill from the Macedonia Cemetery where locally enslaved and their descendants are buried.
• Over its long lifetime, the tree would have seen the horse-drawn traffic of traders, travelers, and local farmers on their way to and from the Warsaw and Medlock ferries.  It grew on a farm at the center of the historic Warsaw community near the local saw mill, cotton gin, and store.
• Somehow it evaded the axe and plow as seasons of cotton, corn, and wheat grew  adjacent, and it stood witness to extreme droughts, the boll weevil, and the hard life of poor rural tenant farm families, barefoot children arriving at the new Warsaw School, and moonshiners racing down Medlock Bridge Road toward Atlanta.
• The tree survived the first signs of modern development when other trees were cut for electric lines and to reposition and pave the dirt Medlock Bridge and State Bridge roads. For several more decades it grew as farms disappeared and rapid development arrived.

Saved once as a heritage tree when the Medlock Corners shopping center was built in 1993. Saved again in 2023 when a Shake Shack restaurant and removal of the tree were denied by the City.
This tree has been a survivor, but now sadly IT IS GONE. Cut down in early February 2026.

HERE'S HOW IT MET ITS END

DEATH KNELL for the
HISTORIC PUBLIX OAK

The Publix Oak on foggy morning of January 4, 2026. Photo credit: J Compton

February 10, 2026: Another physical tie to Johns Creek history was lost after the Fulton County Superior Court decision that the Publix Oak, saved by public outcry in 2023, could be cut down by the owners of Medlock Corners shopping center located at 5805 State Bridge Rd in Johns Creek, GA.

This large oak with its 50-inch diameter trunk, 100 foot canopy, and height estimated at 68 feet, had given unique character to an otherwise nondescript strip mall located at a corner of heavy traffic, drive-through coffee and fast food, big box stores, and a sea of asphalt.

From the Publix Tree court decision, the Johns Creek ordinances and guidelines for tree removal on commercial properties do not provide sufficient authority to prevent the removal of historic trees..

The city posted news of the court's November 14, 2025 decision on its Facebook page on January 2, 2026 and provided this link to the official November 14, 2025 court document https://bit.ly/3Yo7Sz1