Very cool!

Cool! A veritable 'elephant beech'.

Interesting they can maintain such smooth bark while being that large

'elephant beech' a very good visual description.

Here's what I THINK (it wasn't specified) is an American beech in East Hampton NY w/the smoother bark, but is extraordinarily branched.

More European beech pics, this a weeper in Milwaukee, WI.

Yep, the conventional wisdom is that the American one is lighter. I'm almost sure the pic in East Hampton is an American beech. Oddly though, there are some beeches in the woods near me with very dark bark for an American beech. But none of my European beeches have ever gotten big enough to make nuts, and I'm not aware of any in the immediate vicinity. A minor mystery to ponder.

One "oh that's too bad" addendum here, is before they closed Song Sparrow in WI had been grafting their Euro cultivars onto American Beech. I don't see anyone else saying they are doing that. It could explain, partly, why my 'Dawyck Gold' has grown so well, vs. other Euro beeches that have gotten root rot in the high water table parts of my garden. Over in Harford County, along the Susquehanna river, you can observe beeches growing in surprisingly wet areas.