Naval Stores A History of an Early Industry Created from the South's Forests

You can relive a little known period from the Old South; the story of a former forestry based industry that was once a primary source of industry and work across the South for close to 400 years. When ships crossed seas tall and proud with billowing sails, decks, hulls, and masts of wood, the coniferous trees that once covered the earth across America’s South became an essential core industry.

The industry, known as “Naval Stores”, is today a nearly forgotten Southern legacy. Until ships became the majestic metal technological wonders around the early Twentieth Century, nations depended on, even fought wars, to ensure access to coniferous products. Tar, pitch, turpentine, rosin, were essential to keeping the world of wooden ships afloat, and, also had many other uses prior to the universal conversion to petrochemical based products.

The story of this early, critically important Southern industry is told in grand detail about the trees and lumber used to support this industry:

• ORIGINS OF THE INDUSTRY IN THE SOUTH
• PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES
• SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE NAVAL STORES INDUSTRY
• THE AMERICAN TURPENTINE-FARMERS ASSOCIATION
• THE ROLE OF NAVAL STORES RESEARCH
• DECLINE AND LEGACY OF THE NAVAL STORES INDUSTRY

1 PREFACE

3 INTRODUCTION

5 ORIGINS OF THE INDUSTRY IN THE SOUTH

12 PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES

12 Tar Kilns

13 Gum Naval Stores or Turpentining

18 Wood Naval Stores

22 Sulfate Wood Naval Stores

23 SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE NAVAL STORES INDUSTRY

23 Exploitation, Privilege, and Race

25 Work in the Turpentine Camps

27 Camp Life 29 THE AMERICAN TURPENTINE-FARMERS ASSOCIATION

31 THE ROLE OF NAVAL STORES RESEARCH

32 Replacing “Boxing” with the Cup and Gutter Method

33 Early Forest Service Researchers 35 Forest Service Experiment Stations and Naval Stores Research

38 Other Federal Naval Stores Research 39 DECLINE AND LEGACY OF THE NAVAL STORES INDUSTRY

43 CONCLUSIONS

44 REFERENCES 

Related Products:

Introduction to Prescribed Fire in Southern Ecosystems, Click Here

Virginia's Forests, 2016, Click Now

Anyone who appreciates the history of the Old South, who and wishes to gain a better understanding of how a key industry impacted the economics, the reality of slavery, forced labor, and the importance of forestry products in the South’s evolution into a vibrant society today will value this historical resource. Also instructors and students of Southern history, and industry history may appreciate this publication.  If you enjoy reflections on the days of wooden sailing ships and the evolution of an essential industry that is no longer is relevant, you may will want to consider a purchase of this publication.