Oldest, tallest, sandiest: Comparing America’s quirky Christmas trees
Sometimes beauty is in the eye of the tree holder, especially at the holidays.
Who’s to say that one town’s towering, professionally lit evergreen is better than an equally lofty stack of lobster traps decorated by another town’s kids? Not us!
Take a virtual stroll — okay, a scroll — along our path of nine trees and “trees” from different parts of the country. We wouldn’t dare call any of these the best, but each is matchless in its own way.
Most typical
Height: 7 feet | Species: Various
Americans bought more than 22 million real trees in the 2022 season, according to the National Christmas Tree Association. Scotch pines were once the most popular, but now most have “fir” in the name — Fraser, Douglas, Noble, etc. — and stand 6 to 8 feet tall.
Leaves you least want to step on
Legoland Christmas tree | Carlsbad, Calif.
Height: 35 feet | Species: Plastic
Builders spent 2,900 hours snapping together 364,481 multicolored Lego and Duplo bricks to create this year’s formidably blocky yet festive tree, according to a Legoland video. The star on top weighs more than 175 pounds.
Oldest lighting ceremony
Perkasie Borough Christmas Tree | Perkasie, Pa.
Height: 35 feet | Species: Norway pine
In 1909, the Perkasie Owls Club hosted what is believed to be the country’s first outdoor community tree lighting, a fact read into the congressional record by Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) in 2015. This year’s tree has grown in place for two decades.
Most likely to end up in your swimsuit
Sandi Tree | West Palm Beach, Fla.
Height: 35 feet | Species: Fine-grain Miami sand
Professional sand sculptors created Sandi out of 700 tons of sand using plywood molds and by working their way from top to bottom. A spray of water and glue keeps it together until after the holidays, when the sand is used for other city projects.
Most susceptible to political winds
National Christmas Tree | Washington, D.C.
Height: 40 feet | Species: Norway spruce
The first national tree was a 48-foot balsam fir strung with 2,500 electric lightbulbs and lit by Calvin Coolidge in 1923. This year’s managed to stay lit on Nov. 28 when a strong gust toppled it. It was the third in history to be (temporarily) felled by bluster.
Most useful for catching dinner
Lobster Trap Tree | Gloucester, Mass.
Height: 50 feet | Species: Wire mesh
Lobster trap trees — a New England fixture — leaped in 2001 from front-yard kitsch to downtown glory in the oldest U.S. seaport. The latest tree is made of 400 working traps and draped in 900 buoys painted by local kids. Like any decent trap, the atrium-style design allows you to walk right in.
Most rooted in the legislative branch
“The People’s Tree” | Washington, D.C.
Height: 63 feet | Species: Norway spruce
Since 1970, the National Forest Service has chosen a tree from a national forest for the U.S. Capitol. The Shawnee Tribe named the 2023 tree “wa’feem’tekwi,” meaning “bright tree." It came from West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest, part of the Shawnee ancestral homeland.
Most likely to need a SAG card
Rockefeller Center Tree | New York City
Height: 80 feet | Species: Norway spruce
The first Christmas tree at the site was put up by Depression-Era workers toting homemade decorations in 1931. Since then, iterations of the tree, its 900-pound crystal star and the skating rink below have propelled plots in movies such as “Home Alone 2” “Elf” and “Hawkeye.”
Tallest indoor holiday tree
Galleria Dallas tree | Dallas
Height: 95 feet | Species: Steel
The Texas mall went big, and has since 1984. A crew of about 50 people spent four days assembling 717 branches, each resembling a 3- to 5-foot mini-tree, into what organizers hail as the country’s tallest indoor Christmas tree. It’s decked with 15,000 ornaments, 200,000 lights and a 10-foot star.
Tallest living Christmas tree
Ferndale Christmas tree | Ferndale, Calif.
Height: 162.5-plus feet | Species: Sitka spruce
In 1934, the Ferndale Enterprise declared the massive spruce at the end of Main Street to be the “world’s tallest living Christmas tree,” and the town has lit it every year except during World War II. It hasn’t been measured since 2011, but strings of lights that cascade from the top are 150 feet long.
Our list is of course just a small sampling of different sizes and shapes around the country.
Beloved trees can be (and are) made of just about anything: tumbleweeds, beer kegs, radio towers, port-a-potties.
Even in the real-tree genre, conifers haven’t cornered the market. One of the most famous holiday ads of all time features a single zhuzhed-up palm tree.
And why limit this festive discussion to trees at all? Gloucester, Mass., for instance, also has a lobster trap menorah.
Additional sources: Caroline Titus, former owner of the Ferndale Enterprise; Traci Thayne Corbett, director of Cape Ann Art Haven, which manages the Gloucester Lobster Trap Tree event; Linda J. Reid, community development manager of Perkasie Borough; Linda Sidebottom of the National Christmas Tree Association; National Park Foundation, and representatives of Legoland California and the city of West Palm Beach, Fla.