Silver Spring Historical Society members have measured the historic acorn gazebo in Acorn Urban Park (8075 Newell St) in Silver Spring, MD, determining it surpasses Oak Hill, Ohio’s recently erected acorn statue, which measures 12 feet in diameter and 15 ½ feet in height, and was promoted as the world’s largest acorn display. Built in 1850 by Silver Spring founder Francis Preston Blair, the structure measures 14.058 feet in diameter and 17 feet ¾ inches in height, exceeding Oak Hill’s by over two inches in diameter and more than two feet in height.
Courtesy of the Silver Spring Historical Society: “Members of The Silver Spring Historical Society gathered yesterday in Acorn Park to measure the historic acorn gazebo on display at this location since 1850, declaring it the world’s largest acorn.
Silver Spring Historical Society Founder and President Jerry McCoy became curious when he stumbled upon an article in the Columbus Navigator about the village of Oak Hill, Ohio (link) claiming that their newly erected acorn statue, with a diameter of 12 feet and height of 15 ½ inches, was the world’s largest acorn display. McCoy began to wonder how big Silver Spring’s acorn statue was.
Last week he reached out to society members Chip Py and Jim Lieberman for assistance in measuring the acorn and on Aug 6th, 2025, the three gathered at Silver Spring’s Acorn Park with ladders, tape measures and fishing line. “We carefully wrapped the fishing line around the most bulbus part of the acorn, then measured the fishing line on a flat surface.” said Jerry McCoy. The fishing line measured 44 feet and 3 inches. Jim Lieberman was able to do some simple geometry with the help of a Google app, determined the diameter of the Silver Spring acorn to be 14.058 feet, besting the Oak Hill acorn by 2.058 inches. The following day the height of the gazebo was measured to be 17ft ¾ inches again besting the Ohio acorn by 2 ¼ feet.
“I don’t know how many other acorn statues there are in the world,” McCoy said, “but if Oak Hill’s acorn statue is the world’s largest, Silver Spring’s founder Francis Preston Blair built a bigger one 150 years ago.”
The Silver Spring acorn was built in 1850 next to the actual spring where Silver Spring’s founder then Postmaster General, Francis Preston Blair found his errant horse drinking from. The water from the spring glistened because of the large amount of mica. Blair looked around the area and decided to build his country estate there thus naming the area Silver Spring. Today the small park sits nestled in what is now an urban area neighborhood.”
