John Woodbury, founder of Altadena with his brother Fred, first saw the town's iconic conifer, Cedrus deodara, while touring Italy in the 1870s. After the United States Department of Agriculture assured him the Himalayan native would grow there, he sent seedlings ahead to Fred, who nurtured them. John planted 140 small trees along what is today Santa Rosa Avenue as the approach to his future estate, but the estate was never built because he went bankrupt in 1888. The trees remained as his legacy and gift to Altadena. In 1920, Santa Rosa Avenue was inaugurated as Christmas Tree Lane and has been lit seasonally ever since. It is the oldest large-scale Christmas lighting in the United States and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Deodar Cedar is Altadena's official tree. With the vision of universal freedom for all mankind, the Freedom Tree is dedicated to Capt. W.W. Hail and all Prisoners of War and Missing in Action in 1973.
