Chance discovery sparks renewed interest in North Park's pine tree 'star' planted in 1938

Ken Interval doesn’t think of himself as some sort of sleuth.

But the Pine resident has keen observational skills that came into play when he recently spotted what appeared to be a stand of trees in North Park that were planted in the shape of a giant star.

“I’m a geologist and have a particular interest in aerial imagery,” said Interval, 65. “I wasn’t looking for the stand of trees, but when I saw it I wanted to find out how it got there. I’ve lived here most of my life, and for all I know it’s a well-known feature. But if it is, I‘ve never heard about it.”

Interval said the stand of trees is located on a hillside off Pearce Mill Road about half a mile from the entrance to the Rose Barn after entering the park from Babcock Boulevard.

There is no sign or plaque marking its location across from the back end of the Go Ape treetop adventure course.

“What’s most curious about it to me is that from the ground, you really can’t tell that the trees are arranged in a star pattern unless you know what you’re looking at,” he said. “You have to wonder who was supposed to be able to see it after it was planted?”

According to North Park ranger Deaglan McManus, the stand of trees was planted in 1938 as part of a federal Works Progress Administration project and was quite visible for many years.

The WPA was announced in 1933 in response to the Great Depression by President Franklin D. Roosevelt “to provide jobs to thousands of unemployed Americans in construction and arts projects across the country,” according to the National Archives.

The star was made with 590 pine trees and was part of a series of WPA projects in the park that included completion of the clubhouse at the golf course, the Cabin, the lodge and its furniture, the tennis clubhouse and the Schoolhouse shelter, McManus said.

Between 1935 and 1941, WPA improvements to the park also included transplanting 7,800 trees, constructing 11.5 miles of trails, improving 16 miles of trails, constructing 22 bridges and painting 3,500 picnic tables.

Mary Bates of the North Park Council of Friends said in addition to the “star” trees, pines of various colors were planted in the park in different configurations.

“Down the hillside from the golf course ending at Kummer Road you will see plantings of pine trees,” she said. “Different shapes were planted. One shape might consist of red pine trees and another might be white pine trees, which created paths. You can still see it today.”

Pine trees also were planted in the shape of the Allegheny County emblem across the lake from the Rose Barn pavilion, but time and the elements have obliterated the feature, which was made with 900 pine trees, according to the Allegheny County Parks Department’s annual report for 1938.

“I could only find one pine tree left in the area,” Bates said.

When Steve Johnstonbaugh of the North Park Council of Friends learned inquiries were being made about the star, he contacted Brian Hathaway, who regularly uses a drone to capture video and images in the park.

“I’ve heard about the tree stars, but I’ve never actually gone up there to see it,” said Johnstonbaugh. “I was hoping that there was a chance that he (Hathaway) had video of it so I could see what it looks like from the air.”

Hathaway, 71, of Avalon, who operates Hathaway Drones.com, said he also had heard about the star while growing up but never saw it and didn’t know its origins.

“I was in North Park in April using my drone to make a video featuring the water tower,” he said. “So when I heard there was some interest in the star, I went back and reviewed the files from that day to see if I recorded it and there it was.”

Hathaway said he is able to monitor what his Hasselblad camera is recording from the ground but said he missed seeing the star the day he was making the video.

“I was focused on the water tower in the distance,” he said.

“So it was kind of a surprise when I went back and looked at the video and realized what was on it.”

McManus said visitors to the park can view the tree star while hiking along the Red Trail. A mobile application has been created to navigate the trails in Allegheny County’s parks.

The decorative tree plantings in the region were not isolated to North Park.

The most iconic one is the Murrysville tree sign, which was planted in the early 1930s by Boy Scouts.

The sign is made entirely of arborvitae that have grown to more than 150 feet tall. It has been featured in the “Guinness Book of World Records” and on “Ripley’s Believe it or Not.”