Shortly after Sanford was incorporated on September 29, 1877, E.R. Trafford drew a plat of the new city, laying it out on a grid with numbered east-west streets, north-south streets named for local trees, and land reserved for churches, schools, and six square parks. Five of those original parks still exist today: Centennial Park, Park on Park, Red Barber Park, Paw Park, and George W. Touhy Park. George W. Touhy was a Sanford businessman and community leader active in the Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Salvation Army, and the Boy Scouts of America. In October 1995, the Sanford City Commission voted to honor his memory by renaming Elm Avenue Park, and in June 1996 the park was rededicated as George W. Touhy Park. In 1992, Sanford's Parks Division began planting seedlings from the American Forests Famous and Historic Trees project, whose parent trees were connected to important people and places in American history, at Fort Mellon Park on Sanford's historic waterfront. The first tree, planted on February 10, 1992, during an Arbor Day observance, was the Mount Vernon Red Maple, planted in honor of Sanford's founders. In 1998, after a convention center was proposed for Fort Mellon Park, the seedlings were relocated during the planning phase to George W. Touhy Park, which was renovated with new sidewalks and benches. The Famous and Historic Tree Grove there was dedicated on Sanford's 122nd birthday, September 29, 1999, when it contained eight trees and was the largest historic tree grove in Florida. The idea for the Historic Tree Grove at Touhy Park came from Howard Jefferies, the city's landscape architect.