The General Grant Tree, a giant sequoia in General Grant Grove in the Kings Canyon National Park area of California, is the world’s second largest tree by trunk volume after the General Sherman Tree and the largest sequoia in its grove. Estimated to be about 1,650 years old, it was named in 1867 for Ulysses S. Grant. Once widely believed to be the largest tree on earth, it retained exceptional stature even after 1931 measurements placed it second. It also became a national symbol when designated the Nation’s Christmas Tree in 1926 and a National Shrine honoring war dead in 1956, a unique status for a living object.