Nation Alive before Jesus’ birth, a 2600-year-old tree in North Carolina is one of USA’s oldest May 11, 2019 Doyle Rice, USA TODAY Comments Off on Alive before Jesus’ birth, a 2600-year-old tree in North Carolina is one of USA’s oldest While wars and storms roar around it, the tree has been alive for over 2,600 years, quietly growing along the banks of a river southeast of Raleigh.