A Grand Tree Brought
Christmas Joy to Wilmington
Merrymakers from around the world came to Hilton Park to see
“The World’s Largest Living Community Christmas Tree.”
N Christmas Eve 1928, a centuries-old live oak tree was adorned with colored
lights in Hilton Park, north of downtown Wilmington. The festive event
launched a tradition lasting over 80 years in which the city boasted of having
“The World’s Largest Living Community Christmas Tree.”
Interest in the lighting event, which featured church choirs, Bible readings,
and high school and other band performances, grew over the years. Christmas merrymakers
from across the United States and around the world began finding their way to the touted tree.
It didn’t matter that it wasn’t a traditional evergreen, or even the traditional shape. Publicity,
postcards, hype and some reverence drew crowds to a city park once teeming with activity, but
which sadly no longer exists.
The mighty oak was said to measure at least 75 feet tall and 110 feet wide. It lived at 401
Hilton Street, on land once part of a plantation. Hilton Park was four blocks east of the Cape
Fear River, north of downtown, adjacent to the city water treatment plant.
The idea for the living Christmas tree is attributed to James E.L. “Jimmie” Wade, a gregar-ious
city works commissioner who later became mayor of Wilmington. He also reportedly
played Santa a few times. The very first lighting was dampened by bad weather and illnesses,
forcing some band and choir cancellations, but it didn’t stop the children from turning out and
receiving stockings filled with candy, nuts and fruit.
A postcard image pub-lished
in 1950 depicts the
live oak tree in Hilton Park
at its Christmas Eve event.
Wilmington politician
James E.L. Wade, nick-named
“Hi Buddy” for the
greeting he gave every-one
he met, proposed the
idea to select a live tree
for the annual tradition.
O
BY CHRI S T IN E R . G O N Z A L E Z
COURTESY NEW HANOVER COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
COURTESY NEW HANOVER COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
30 december 2021
WBM