Live oak trees, with dense, rot-resistant wood and large arching branches, were ideal for shipbuilding in the 1700s and 1800s, and more than 2,000 live oaks might be used to build a single hull. To supply wood for naval ships, President John Quincy Adams designated the first federal tree farm here in 1828 and hired resident Henry M. Brackenridge to cultivate the trees. Brackenridge began several experiments, but Adams' successor, Andrew Jackson, closed the reservation in a political squabble.