A true treasure n Highland Park is the grand old pecan tree on Armstrong Parkway at Preston Road. This mammoth tree is approximately 75 feet wide by 75 feet tall and is over 140 years old.
The tree was discovered in 1865 by Joseph Cole, who was planting corn and unknowingly plowed over a small pecan tree. He staked the tree up to protect it. (Cole was the son of Dr. John Cole, the first physician in Dallas County.) In 1888, Joseph Cole sold his 294.9 acres with the understanding that the purchases would continue to protect the tree.
The land on which the pecan tree stands was later acquired by John S. Armstrong. His sons-in-law, Edgar Flippin and Hugh Prather, hired the noted city planner George E. Kessler to design a parkway to protect the tree. The first lighting of the tree for the holiday season was by Flippin-Prather Realty in 1927 to promote their new development, Highland Park West.
The tree has been adorned with lights every holiday season since then, except during World War II and during the 1973 energy crisis. The lighting of the tree is believed to be the oldest Christmas tradition in Dallas County. The tree requires four men and almost one week to decorate it with over 5,000 red, blue, orange and green Christmas lights.
KERA hosts a wonderful short documentary on the tree titled Million Dollar Monarch.
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