Amy Kehl of 119 Strecker Hill poses with the white oak tree that fell Sunday at her home, which she said was built by S. Durward Hoag in 1937. The Hoag family owned the Lafayette Hotel. (Photo provided)

An old tree that was part of a prominent Marietta resident’s history is now itself history.

The white oak in front of 119 Strecker Hill that once was the residence of S. Durward Hoag, who owned the Lafayette Hotel in Marietta, fell Sunday afternoon, Amy Kehl, the present-day owner of the house built in 1937, said.

She believes the tree may be from 125 to 150 years old. The tree was there before the house was constructed, Kehl said.

Kehl wanted the event chronicled because of Hoag’s prominence in the history of Marietta.

Hoag also was an amateur photographer and his collections are at Marietta College. His family owned the hotel, originally constructed in 1892 and known as the Bellevue, until 1973.

This oak tree was present when S. Durwood Hoag built this home in 1937 in Marietta, owner Amy Kehl said. Hoag’s family was prominent in Marietta and once owned the Lafayette Hotel. (Photo provided)

Kehl was planning to have the tree removed, its fall hastening the project. The tree was about 125 feet tall, she said.

“It was the trademark of the home,” Kehl, a teacher of talented and gifted students in Marietta, said.

The oak fell without damaging the home, Kehl said. However, it fell atop a fence, she said.

“It’s a miracle that it cleared the house,” she said. “It landed on a fence that needed to be replaced anyway.”

Kehl said she was at home when the tree fell, but didn’t realize the oak fell. Her neighbor heard and felt it, she said.

“I was still inside clueless to what happened,” Kehl said. “I thought it was my cat running through the house.”

It was calm on Sunday with no breeze, she said. The tree was hollow toward its base, Kehl said.

“It was a beautiful sunny day,” she said.

However, the clamor caused by the falling tree drew the interest of deer from the nearby woods, Kehl said.

“You wouldn’t believe all the deer that came out,” she said.