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

As early as 1700, Naval Stores became major export products from the North Carolina forests.

Yet, the reality of this industry, based on North Carolina forestry products, was not all positive. Even after the Civil War, when slavery was abolished, labor was driven by coercion, convict leasing, and debt peonage.  As time passed, lightwood became increasingly scarcer. Soon, newer technologies turned to resin collecting from live trees (gum). Ultimately the end result was the decimation of the once thriving longleaf forests of North Carolina. In the late 20th century, naval stores’ operations ceased to exist. Naval stores are now forgotten forest products. History, however, reveals an industry that became an economic engine of the South for hundreds of years when there were not many viable options available.

Historical photographs, illustrations of wood-based production processes, light-hearted cartoons are sprinkled throughout the pages, portraying a colorfully historic past – now forever gone – the naval stores industry.

Decline came almost overnight. In 1950, there were 9,000 turpentine producers;, by 1960, their numbers fell to 1,000. Then in 2001 the last barrel of gum was gathered from a pine forest in Georgia.

Related Products:

Introduction to Prescribed Fire in Southern Ecosystems Click Here:

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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.