LA's Oldest Palm Tree Thrives after 150 Years

That’s the estimated age of the fan palm located at Exposition Park’s Figueroa Street entrance. The palm began its life in a desert canyon, then was transplanted to San Pedro Street in the late 1850s. In 1888 the tree, now 30 feet tall, was moved again, this time to Arcade Station at Central and Fifth streets.

Several decades later, the planned expansion of the Southern Pacific railroad station required that the fan palm be moved a third time, this time to its present site. The tree now tops 100 feet and is likely the city’s oldest.