The original Tree That Owns Itself is estimated to have started life at some time between the mid-16th and late 18th centuries.[15][16] The tree was considered by some to be both the biggest tree in Athens and the most famous tree in the United States.[17][18] The tree predated the transformation of the area into a residential neighborhood beginning in the mid-19th century. The residence adjacent to the tree, known as Dominie House, was built at the corner of Milledge Avenue and Waddell Street in 1883, and was moved to its present location about twenty years later.[18]