In 1700 a vast, virgin forest of Southern longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Pinaceae) stretched

from Virginia to Texas, and the supply of this prized timber seemed limitless.

Two hundred years and an Industrial Revolution later, virtually none remains.

Highly sought after since colonial days for its natural strength and beauty, straight form, and

inherent resistance to decay,  these trees were felled for construction of barns, mills, and

warehouses in the emerging South of the nineteenth and early  twentieth centuries. In colonial

 times, "the choicest stands of longleaf pine were set aside by the English Crown for the

exclusive use of the British Navy." (Harrar, E. S., and J. G. Harrar. Guide to Southern Trees.

Dover Press, New York, New York. 1962.)

In today's technological age, these buildings have outlived their usefulness. Their impending

demolition to make room for the growth of the new South affords today's homebuilder a

unique opportunity to recover this prized wood.

A longleaf pine must attain an extreme age before it begins to produce the characteristics of

heart pine within its wood. Upon germination, a longleaf pine may remain virtually dormant

above ground, the so-called "grass stage," for up to seven years before beginning its vertical

growth. Over the next several hundred years, the longleaf pine will reach a height of

approximately 100 feet and create the heartwood for which it is so famous. The time required

to reach this level of maturity assures that true heart pine will never again be commercially

grown. It is, therefore, a non-renewable resource of extreme value

AMERICAN CHESTNUT HISTORY
Castanea dentata

Researched and Written By
Judy C. Treadwell, March, 1996

Castanea dentata (American Chestnut) was once

 a native tree that grew from southern Maine across the Midwest to Michigan, down

through Indiana and Illinois, and south to Alabama and Mississippi, and eastward into the

Appalachians. The American Chestnut was cultivated in 1800 and was once considered to be

the queen of the eastern American forest. With massive, wide-spreading branches and a deep

broad-rounded crown, the American Chestnut was known to reach a height of 100 feet. Its

greatest size was reached in the southern Appalachians. Chestnuts grew in the eastern forests

along with several species of oak, hickory, maple, and birch. It was commonly found on

mountains, hills, and slopes in gravelly or rocky, well-drained glacial soils.

The flowers of the American Chestnut appeared in June- July, producing a spectacular display

of creamy-yellow blossoms and were strongly scented. The flowers were similar to those of

the Chinese Chestnut, Castanea mollissima. The fruits ripened and dropped after the first

frost. The fruit was much smaller and more flavorful than its Asian counterpart. The nuts of

the American Chestnut were large, sweet, and highly desired by people, deer, squirrels, and

chipmunks. In the days before the Chestnut blight, the tree reproduced abundantly by seeds

and sprouts, had few insect enemies, and competed well with the other trees of the forest.

Today, the American Chestnut is known only in memory because the young American

chestnut trees rarely survive long enough to produce flowers and fruits.

For the people of the southern Appalachians, the American Chestnut was economically

important. The reddish-brown wood was lightweight, soft, easy to split, very resistant to

decay; and it did not warp or shrink. Because of its resistance to decay, industries sprang up

throughout the region to use wood from the American Chestnut for posts, poles, piling,

railroad ties, and split-rail fences. Its straight-grained wood was ideal for building log cabins,

furniture, and caskets. Split-rail fences made from the American Chestnut can still be found

along country roads throughout the northeast United States and the southern Appalachians.

The fruit that fell to the ground was an important cash crop. Families raked up chestnuts by

the bushels and took wagon loads of them to sell in nearby towns. The people even cooked

the chestnuts for their own use. The bark and wood were rich in tannic acid which provided

tannins for use in the tanning of leather. More than half of the vegetable tannin used by the

American leather industry at the turn of the century came from the American Chestnut. So

important was the American Chestnut in the southern Appalachians that some of the major

timber operations became subsidiaries of leather companies which were organized to harvest

other species for lumber on land bought to insure supplies of chestnut tannin extract.

In addition, the American Chestnut was a graceful shade tree found in city squares and on

the rural homestead.

Chestnut Trees of approximately 20 feet in diameter dwarf lumberjacks in this turn-of-the-

century photograph from the Forest History Society, Inc.