RIDGELAND, Miss. ( WJTV ) – The City of Ridgeland recently designated the pecan as the official tree of Ridgeland in honor of the city’s 125th anniversary.

On Tuesday, July 16, during the Mayor and Board of Aldermen meeting, the anniversary planning committee commemorated the occasion, which included the reading and signing of the resolution.

The pecan was chosen as the official tree because it was one of the first documented crops planted in the Highland Colony of Ridgeland. By 1898, nearly 1,400 pecan trees had been planted, 100 acres of which were planted by Gorton Nichols and R.H. Thompson, two of the owners of the Highland Colony Company.

Today, the remnants of the old pecan groves and orchards planted by the first settlers of Ridgeland and the Highland Colony are scattered throughout the city. One such orchard can be found at Freedom Ridge Park.

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