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THE STORY OF HISTORIC PITCH PINEWhen the colonists first explored America, they found vast forests of Southern Longleaf Pine stretching in a belt 150 miles wide along the Atlantic Coast from south western Virginia, down into Florida and along the Gulf of Mexico into East Texas.
The millions of acres of Longleaf Pitch Pine forests formed a highly efficient ecosystem enabling the trees to live for hundreds of years and to grow to tremendous heights and diameters, sometimes 300 ft high and 5 ft wide. Longleaf Pine (also known as Pitch Pine) was first valued as a source of tar, pitch, turpentine and resin. Exported to England and Europe as naval stores. Heavy exportation of virgin Longleaf Pine began after the American Revolution and intensified with the development of railroads in the late 1800’s and onto England where the timbers were a key building material during the Industrial Revolution. By 1930 virtually all the old growth Longleaf Pine had been cut and used to build factories, warehouses and terminals of industrial America and Europe. Today only 2% of the original Longleaf Pine ecosystem remains with fewer than 1000 acres of virgin timber still standing. What was once a major component of our environment no longer exists, except in the century old structures that Longleaf Pine timbers helped build. As a lot of these old structures are now being demolished, the painstaking process of re-salvaging a small piece of history begins. The Historic Timber Company rescues these timbers and ships them back to our yard in Ireland it is then de-nailed, re-sawn and machined into Historic Pitch Pine flooring. Pitch Pine is a wood of exceptional quality, character and lasting beauty. A slice of history that will truly enhance your home. NOT EVERY FLOOR CAN TELL THIS STORY. A NEW BEGINNING
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