Singing Christmas Tree upon the location. Since then, the singing Christmas tree concept has spread to Canada, the Philippines, South Korea, Switzerland and Sri Lanka. The most attended tree takes place in Knoxville, Tennessee, with 60,000 attendees in 2007. The first Christmas trees came to the United States in the 1740s from Moravian (now part of the Czech Republic) settlers. In 1851, the first commercial tree lot in the United States was set up in New York City. President of the United States Franklin Pierce set up the first Christmas tree in the White House in 1856. Artificial trees were first developed in
Franklin Pierce Rice Franklin Pierce Rice Franklin Pierce Rice (1852–1919) was a self-taught printer and publisher who transcribed and printed and preserved vital records from Massachusetts and was a co-founder of the Worcester Society of Antiquity. Franklin Pierce Rice was born 29 July 1852 in Marlborough, Massachusetts as the only son of Minot Rice and Mary Berry (Felton) Rice. He received his elementary education from his mother, and did not enter public school until he was eleven years old. After completion of his preparatory studies, he intended to enter the medical profession so he began the study of chemistry, anatomy and physiology; however