Palm trees were planted by the American Legion Auxiliary around three sides of the parade ground in the 1920s. The fourth side, where the library stands, did not have a road at the time. They were Washingtonia palms, not palmettoes, although they resemble palmettoes. Only a few out of the original 30 are still alive. Palmettoes have replaced some of them. The trees were dedicated to the men of this area who lost their lives in World War I. Both the sabal palmetto and the Washingtonia are examples of palmate palms, or fan palms, so called because of the arrangement of the leaves. The sabal palmetto, or cabbage palm, is the official state tree of two states, South Carolina and Florida, and is depicted on the flags and seals of both. The sabal palmetto also appears on The Citadel seal, Citadel mace and cadet cap badge. For information about the palmetto as a symbol of two states, see Benjamin F. Shearer and Barbara S. Shearer, State Names, Seals, Flags, and Symbols: A Historical Guide, REF E155 .S44 1987.
