Ballotpedia:Analysis of Christmas/Holiday trees in the 50 states (2019)
December 30, 2019
By Ballotpedia staff
The new year marks the close of the holiday season. Fodors published its collection of what it called the 14 most beautiful Christmas trees. At Ballotpedia, we always love a good list, so we got to wondering - what does each state do with respect to holiday and Christmas tree decorations?
Ballotpedia looked into the official trees featured by different states over the holidays in capitols and governor's mansions. We explored three basic criteria[1]:
- What were they called
- What kind of tree was used
- Which state featured the largest tree
Results
In 37 states, the official name for the tree or trees in the state capitol or governor's mansion was Christmas Tree. In five states, the tree or trees were called Holiday Trees: Colorado, New York, Ohio, Washington, and Wisconsin. In nine states and the District of Columbia, either information was unavailable or there were either other names—such as The Grand Tree in Oregon or the State House Tree in Vermont.
States featured 23 different kinds of trees. Blue Spruce was the most common type of tree, with five different states using it. There was also a Sitka Spruce and some Norway Spruce trees. Eleven states had fir trees of seven different varieties. Two states, Wyoming and Rhode Island, had artificial trees. Some states, such as Texas and Missouri, featured multiple trees of different kinds.
States also varied with regard to whether the tree was outside or inside. California had the largest official tree, a 66-foot White Fir. Michigan came in second with a 61-foot Blue Spruce. The next largest was a 40-foot Balsam Fir in Vermont. The average height of the trees across all 50 states was between 28 feet and 29 feet.[2]
Ballotpedia found at least 19 states that also featured a state-sanctioned event or project surrounding the tree. Examples included the following: ornaments created by students and/or seniors, cards and donations by guests, photos of veterans, official tree-lighting events, and musical performances by students.
Ballotpedia based these findings on official press releases by the states or governors' offices, Tweets by governors, names used on state websites, and phone conversations with state government representatives.
The data gathered for this analysis is available below. Please email editor@ballotpedia.org if you have additional information.
Data
