Arbor Day Festival

A LOVE OF TREES THAT GOES WAY, WAY, WAY BEYOND HUGGING.

Before the Morton family fell in love with sodium, they spread their love of trees. One of the original citizens of Nebraska City, J. Sterling Morton (whose son would go on to found the Morton Salt Company) was a famed agriculturalist who would go on to serve as Secretary of Agriculture under President Grover Cleveland. But first, in 1872, Morton founded Arbor Day to encourage individuals, groups and municipalities alike to plant trees. On that first Arbor Day alone, over one million trees were planted in Nebraska. Today, Arbor Day is celebrated worldwide, but the place to be for friends of trees remains right here, in Nebraska City.