Real Tree History
Christmas Trees haven’t always been a Christmas Tradition. No one really knows who put up the first Christmas tree, but some historians believe that even the Egyptians and Romans used some form of an evergreen to decorate their homes in late December.
It is generally agreed that the first use of a tree as part of the Christian Christmas celebration was started over 500 years ago by the Germans.
The Christmas tree was brought to America by the Hessian mercenaries that were paid to fight for the British during the Revolutionary War. In 1804, soldiers stationed at a fort near Chicago hauled trees to their barracks during Christmas.
In 1842, a German named Charles Minnegerode introduced the custom of decorated Christmas trees in Williamsburg, Virginia homes. His tree was described as being “splendidly decorated” with strings of popcorn, nuts, and lighted candles.
By 1900, one in five American families decorated trees during Christmas and by 1930, the tree had become a nearly universal part of the American Christmas.
History of the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association
The first Christmas tree marketplace was created in 1851 in New York City, however; North Carolina only began growing Fraser Fir tree seedlings specifically for harvesting in 1955. In 1959, five Avery County growers assembled to form the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association (NCCTA). In 1964, North Carolina sold 1 million Christmas trees with a price that averaged 1 dollar per foot. In 1971, a Fraser Fir was selected for the first time as the official White House Christmas tree. More than 400,000 Fraser Firs were harvested the following year and by 1979, the number had tripled to 1.4 million. In both 1982 & 1984, a North Carolina Fraser Fir was selected as the official White House Tree. Since the national tree contest began in 1966, the North Carolina Fraser Fir has been selected a total of 16 times to be showcased in the Blue Room of the White House, including back-to-back wins in 2023 and 2024 (see White House Trees under News & Events tab). By 1988, the NC Christmas Tree industry was valued at 55 million dollars and harvested 4.1 million trees annually. By 2006, western North Carolina Christmas tree growers had reduced pesticide use by half using integrative pest management practices. Growers continue to keep pesticide use as low as possible today using techniques first developed by agricultural researchers and growers in the 1960s. Today the North Carolina Christmas Tree Industry is ranked second in the nation in number of trees harvested according to the 2022 USDA Ag Census, with more than 3 million trees cut annually. The NCCTA continues to face complex challenges of modern production including changes in markets, labor and the environment.
