Wooster: Home of the Christmas Tree?
Residence of August Imgard, the man credited with bringing the Christmas tree to Wooster. This photo was taken before the house was moved to it's current located at St. Mary's Church.
Modern photo of August Imgard's house, the man credited with bringing the Christmas tree to Wooster. The building is now the rectory of St. Mary's Church.
Program from a religious celebration in Wooster's town square in 1947 to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the christmas tree in Wooster.
Photo of the Wooster Christmas Tree, located in the Wooster Cemetery, lit-up for Christmas.
Stamps sold in Wooster in the late 19th century that continued the legend of Wooster as the "home of the first Christmas tree."
Photo of Dr. Scheiber, the German professor who first proved that Wooster was not the site of the first American Christmas tree by citing earlier instances in Cleveland and Buffalo, NY.
Painting of August Imgard, the man credited with bringing the Christmas Tree to Wooster. For many years, local legend suggested that he was the first to bring the Christmas tree to America.
Every winter, the Wooster Cemetery (Oak Hill Cemetery) decorates a large evergreen tree for Christmas. The tree stands majestically in front of the tombstone of the man that legend claims first brought the tradition to Wooster from his native Bavaria in 1847. August Imgard, a tailor,1 was feeling homesick for his native Bavaria when he decided to cut down a Christmas tree and decorate it in his brother Peter’s home. The tree was a sensation in Wooster; by next winter, several shops in town were selling Christmas tree decorations.2 For many years, Wooster tradition held that Imgard was not only the first to bring the Christmas tree to Wooster, but to all of the United States. This claim has been largely disputed by local historians, such as Dr. William Schreiber who taught German at the College of Wooster for many years. In addition, the Ohio Historical Society cites early letters from the Krausnick and Rehfuss families in Cincinnati as proof of a Christmas tree surviving in the Ohio River region as early as 1835.3
1 Cleveland Plain Dealer Pictorial Magazine, December 23, 1951.
2 Daily Record, December 17, 1979.
3 “Echoes,” Ohio Historical Society 3, no.12 (December 1964).