Oscar Sommers Gray moved to Arlington in 1926 to teach agronomy at North Texas Agricultural College, now UT Arlington. Beyond the classroom, he turned 46 acres—today part of O.S. Gray Natural Area—into a living laboratory, testing new ways to grow pecans.

Known across Texas as a pecan expert, Gray developed six paper-shell varieties - GraTex, GraKing, GraZona, GraBohls, GraPark Giant, and GraCross - that were shipped as far away as Brazil. His legacy lives on in this park and in the pecan trees that still stand here today.

To learn more about pecan trees follow this link:
http://texastreeid.tamu.edu/content/treedetails/?id=22