By Mauricio Segura June 17, 2025
Photo: Photo: Mauricio Segura / GBT Graphics
Long before Interstate 80 sliced through Vacaville, a tiny fruit stand sat beside the Lincoln Highway, shaded by a lone black walnut tree. It was 1921, and Helen Harbison and Edwin “Bunny” Power, trying to salvage what they could after a crop-ruining frost, decided to sell their remaining fruit to Fourth of July travelers. They made $15 that day, and unknowingly planted the seed for one of California’s most iconic roadside stops: the Nut Tree.
What started as a humble operation quickly became a magnet for motorists. By the summer of 1922, more than a thousand cars a day were stopping for fresh fruit, water, and a bit of rest. The Nut Tree soon began shipping “gold nugget” packages, candied fruits and nuts. to customers across the country. But it was in the postwar boom years that the Nut Tree blossomed into something truly unique.
By the mid-20th century, the Nut Tree had evolved into a sprawling complex that was part restaurant, part bakery, part toy store, and part theme park. There was a miniature train, an aviary, even an airstrip. Design director Don Birrell and Ed Power Jr. transformed the space into a California-modernist playground with clean lines, colorful signage, and Eames-style furnishings. Think of it as a mid-century Disneyland for road trippers.
Inside the restaurant, the food was as distinct as the decor. Signature dishes like chicken curry, fresh fruit with marshmallow sauce, turkey tamales, and mini loaves of bread defined the menu. It was a strange but satisfying blend of homestyle and high concept, comfort food with flair. Patrons were just as likely to be California families on vacation as they were to be presidents or royalty. Ronald Reagan, Shirley Temple, and Queen Elizabeth II all passed through its doors.
But no amount of fame could protect the Nut Tree from family turmoil. In the 1990s, the Power family began to fracture. A lawsuit between Robert Power’s widow and other family members over mismanagement and ownership led to a court-ordered sale of the property. At the same time, the newly opened Vacaville Premium Outlets across the freeway started siphoning off foot traffic. The Nut Tree, designed for long lunches and leisure, struggled to compete with the convenience-driven culture emerging around it.
After a failed deal with a developer and years of decline, the Nut Tree closed in 1996. By 2003, most of the original site had been demolished.
Still, nostalgia has a way of holding on. In 2006, redevelopment began, and a reimagined Nut Tree Plaza emerged. By 2009, visitors could once again ride the old Nut Tree Railroad, now restored to run a loop around a shopping center. A carousel was added. National chains moved in. The original Harbison House was preserved and restored, now serving as a quiet tribute to the stand that started it all.
The modern version is more mall than memory, but echoes of the original Nut Tree remain, if you know where to look. The whimsical signage, the miniature train, and the wide-open views of the Vacaville hills still offer a glimpse into its golden past.
For decades, the Nut Tree wasn’t just a pit stop; it was the destination. And though the original is gone, its legacy lives on, in the hearts of those who remember marshmallow-drenched fruit salad under a walnut tree on a long summer drive.
