Naval Stores

The abundance of pine trees along the coastal region of the East Coast offered a much-needed resource in the colonies where a flow of goods depended on shipping. Even Sir Walter Raleigh’s first expedition reported seeing pine trees suitable for naval stores. Tar, pitch, and turpentine were important to Great Britain,  a nation that had the largest fleet of ships in the world. By around 1720, these commodities had become essential exports, and England encouraged it with special bounties to make it more lucrative since their navy and shipping industry depended on these products.

Turpentine had a great many uses, such as a laxative, a way to make cloth or leather water repellent, cheap fuel for lamps when combined with a little alcohol, and eventually as a solvent in paints. Tar and pitch helped seal wooden vessels, including boats and ships, to make them watertight. Tar also kept ropes and riggings strong longer, greased wagon wheels, preserved wooden fences, and was used to treat wounds on livestock. Much later, it would also be used on roofs and to build roads.

Tar was made by slow-roasting pine limbs in a kiln. As the resin heats, it flows out and can be collected. Pitch comes from boiling tar to make it more concentrated. It nearly solidifies when cooled but can be spread like paint when it’s heated, making it an excellent protectant for ships. Turpentine is made by distilling pine gum, the material that forms around a cut or wound in a pine tree. Workers would collect the pine resin in barrels and often transport them on flatboats along the river systems to a port city.

The coming of the railroads made transportation easier and increased naval store activity for a while. However, production declined after the Civil War for several reasons. The longleaf pines had been overharvested, Sherman's troops had burned some of the Southern pine forests, the ironclads showed promise and eventually wooden hulls would give way to iron ones, kerosene would replace the camphene for lamps, and synthetic solvents would eventually make turpentine less necessary in things like paint. In a way, the naval stores gave way to new innovations and progress.

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