The tree stayed in the Waight family for four generations but changed as a part of a marriage settlement to Justus Angel and Martha Waight Tucker Angel.
In 1959, Mutual Land & Development Corporation purchased the property, but the South Carolina Agricultural Society leased Angel Oak for $1 per year, caring for the tree. S.E. Felkel purchased the tree and the surrounding area in 1964. The Magnolia Garden Club tended the tree and grounds until the late 1970s, when vandalism forced the owner to fence the tree.
The City of Charleston now protects the tree and has since 1991.
