photo #8849625

A Catskill woodsman named Mark Carr paid one dollar for a sidewalk spot in New York City in 1851 to sell something no one had ever bought before. Before that December, if you wanted a Christmas tree, you had to walk into the woods with an axe and cut it down yourself. That was fine for folks in the country, but it was nearly impossible for families living in the crowded city. Carr loaded two ox-sleds with fir and spruce trees from his land in the mountains and hauled them all the way to the Hudson River. He paid to ship them by boat down to the city, betting that people would pay for the convenience of a pre-cut tree. He set up shop at the Washington Market in Lower Manhattan. His neighbors back home likely thought he was foolish for hauling timber to the city just for decoration. He didn't have to wait long to be proven right. New Yorkers swarmed his little rented corner, delighted to find fresh evergreens right there on the sidewalk. He sold every single tree he brought before the sun went down. That single dollar he spent on rent launched a massive industry. By the next year, other farmers were copying him, and soon the Christmas tree lot became a staple of the American holiday season. Mark Carr proved that city people needed a connection to nature just as much as anyone else. Sources: National Christmas Tree Association, New York Historical Society