Standing at the corner of Stone Oak Parkway and Canyon Golf Road is a majestic Burr Oak. Indigenous to the Stone Oak area, the tree has been there for more than one hundred years and has the long, knotted branches to prove it. Called Grandfather Oak by some, he sits authoritative and wise, patiently watching as history unfolds before him.

Although he can remember vividly how the land around him used to be covered in wildlife, with nary a sign of house or human, he enjoys his new Stone Oak neighbors. Grandfather Oak looks out upon a Chase bank and a Walgreens where a sprawling wilderness used to be. Now, a CVS Pharmacy has popped up in a lot behind him. Although his original companions are gone, his roots remain strongly entrenched, just as the families in Stone Oak are beginning to make their roots in the community.

The rocks and the soil tell him stories of Native Americans who once inhabited the land, Spanish missionaries who explored the area, and of early German homesteaders who roamed the Hill Country looking for plots of land to settle.

Only thirty years ago, the seeds for the Stone Oak community were planted and began to grow under the guidance of Dan Parman and his partners. Until major development began, the oak and his fellow trees covered the rolling terrain of the north side as San Antonio gracefully gave way to the beginning of the Texas Hill Country.

Soon, concrete was poured to make streets and sidewalks, and hundreds of homes were constructed into neat subdivisions. One by one, restaurants, boutiques, banks, and hospitals popped up like wildflowers and the great Oak trembled with excitement as the area grew from rural to suburban.

Grandfather Oak enjoys his Stone Oak family, and watches over them with the wisdom and consideration of an old friend. He cannot wait to see what the future brings. A 14th century proverb says " A mighty oak from a little acorn grows. " Like a tiny acorn, Stone Oak has grown from a mere concept into a strong, successful community. Just as the tree's roots grow deeper into the soil, and its limbs broaden into a leafy canopy across the sky, Stone Oak and its residents continue to thrive.