# A Sticky Situation: The Turpentine Industry in North Florida



## rocky1 (Sep 3, 2019)

Found this one on the forgotten Florida page as well, interesting in that I remember large stands of the Cat Faced trees. Back when I was a kid, they were fairly common. Still have several dozen of these resin cups that the wife's father or her grand father had collected, many of which were unused. And, have a collection of the tools used to cut the faces of the trees, clean the pots, etc. 

http://www.flpublicarchaeology.org/blog/ncrc/tag/herty-cup/ 

==============================================

On June 3rd I will be giving a talk on the turpentine industry in North Florida at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. With that in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to blog about it. It was not until I moved to North Florida that I learned about the naval store industry, and I found it fascinating. It has since become one of my favorite topics to research and talk about! I am not going to give away all my fun facts (for that you have to attend the lecture), but this post will give you a good idea of what was going on at that time and perhaps entice a few of you to come check out my lecture!

The turpentine industry has its roots in North Carolina in the mid-1800s. Workers would scar longleaf pine trees (the scars are often referred to as cat faces) which would cause the gum, or resin, from the tree to run. They would




Turpentiners working a stand of longleaf pine trees to collect the resin.

attach a cup and gutters to the tree to collect the resin. This resin would then be distilled in a large still to create pitch. The reason that this industry is often referred to as “naval stores” has its origins in the fact that the majority of this pitch was used to caulk holes in wooden boats and to coat rigging to help it last longer on ocean-going vessels. Eventually the trees stopped producing any significant amount of resin and the turpentiners gradually moved south to new stands of trees. After some time, in the late 1800s, they made their way into Florida’s pine forests.




The Convict Leasing System lasted in Florida from 1875 to 1923.

As you can imagine, this was hard work and dangerous. Collecting the gum was very labor intensive and working the still was hot and very dirty work. The workers, who in some




A box ax recovered from a turpentine site, now part of the State of Florida Collection.

cases may have been leased convicts, lived in camps situated close to the area they were currently working. The housing was considered temporary and was usually poorly constructed. If they were paid (which would not include the leased convicts), usually they would receive their pay in the form of company script or coin. This could only be used at the company commissary, where they could also purchase items on credit. Many workers found themselves in debt to the company store, and of course, could not leave their employment until they settled their debt. Convict laborers were usually treated very harshly and their living conditions varied, but usually were not very hospitable. The camps were usually very remote and not well regulated by the state government.

There were tools and supplies that were very specific to the naval stores industry. The best known tool of the trade is probably the herty cup, which was developed by Dr.




Herty cups were developed by Dr. Herty, who founded the Herty Turpentine Cup Company in 1909.

Charles Holmes Herty, Sr. in 1909. Dr. Herty’s method for gathering gum was more economical, allowing for a higher yield of resin and extended use of the trees. Other tools specific to the trade include box axes, dippers and pulls. A box ax was used to cut boxes into the base of the tree to collect the resin prior to the use of cups. Dippers were used to collect the resin from these boxes and pulls were used to cut the cat face scars into the tree. Eventually, all the resin collected would go to the still to be processed into various grades of turpentine to be put into barrels and shipped off to be used as ingredients in a variety of products (in addition to being used for ship building, as previously mentioned).




Early example of a container lid for Vicks VapoRub, which once contained turpentine as an ingredient.

Many early products contained turpentine, some of which seem bizarre today. Vicks VapoRub, which you can still find on store shelves today, originally contained turpentine. In fact, at many of the turpentine archaeological sites that I have excavated have contained the fragments of the cobalt blue glass from the small jars of Vicks VapoRub. Apparently its use was popular at the time and many company commissaries carried it. Many household cleaners contained turpentine as well and many people would mix turpentine with beeswax to make their own furniture polish. It was also used medicinally to treat burns, bites and stings. However, since that time turpentine has been found to be carcinogenic and there are strict guidelines for the proper handling of turpentine (and it is no longer an ingredient in Vicks VapoRub).

In 1923 the convict leasing program was abolished in Florida due, in part, to the death of Martin Talbert. He was a convict that was killed at a turpentine camp as a result of very harsh physical punishment. By the mid-1900s the industry started its decline due, in part, to the advent of steel ships and the development of synthetic chemicals. By the 1970s the industry had pretty much vanished from the Florida landscape. However, the turpentine industry left a lasting legacy on the landscape. This industry was very destructive to the longleaf ecosystem and the many plants and animals that depended on it. Fewer than 3 million acres of old growth longleaf forest survived. Today on many of the trees in Florida’s old growth forests you can still see the old cat face scars. While hiking many of these same forests you might come across pieces of herty cup or similar metal cups that once collected the resin (and as a reminder, it is against the law to remove artifacts, like herty cups, from state and federal land!).

The turpentine industry helped to shape a fascinating time in Florida’s history and has had a lasting effect on our environment and our culture. Much of the land that is part of the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge was once part of various turpentine operations. Today wildlife and habitat restoration efforts are being undertaken to restore these stands of forest to their previous state, prior to being worked for turpentine. I hope you can join me on June 3rd to learn more! If you are unable to join us though, there are many wonderful books dedicated to this industry. So be sure to visit your local library and check some of them out!


http://www.flpublicarchaeology.org/blog/ncrc/tag/herty-cup/

Reactions: Great Post 1 | Way Cool 5 | Informative 7


----------



## Mike Hill (Sep 3, 2019)

That is immensely interesting!

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Wildthings (Sep 3, 2019)

Pretty cool! Thanks for posting


----------



## FLQuacker (Sep 3, 2019)

Putting that date on my calendar...then to Riverside Cafe, St Marks!

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## rocky1 (Sep 3, 2019)

More interesting yet when you know and understand things locally.

When I was a kid and leased hunting initially began here. We leased several thousand acres of bear hunting territory here in the woods as it encompasses some of the foremost bear territory in the state. Along with that lease of course were rights to establish a hunting camp. On that lease was one of the old turpentine camps.

Said camp site is 9 miles from the highway, there was approximately 10 acres cleared there, and the old commissary building was still standing and is used by the deer hunters for a camp, to this day. During it's heyday there was more than a dozen homes in there used by foremen, managers, and the commissary proprietor. But those had all been torn down or moved back in the late 60s early 70s when I first wandered up there.

There was only one other structure of any nature on the nine miles in there, and that was originally an old logging camp office, turned single family dwelling, and it was moved out back around 1970. A black family, lived at the old turpentine camp up until 1967 - 68 or so, he was employed by the timber company. And, stayed up there to look over equipment stored at the site.


But... They had cleared right of way, and ran power 9 miles up into the woods, to serve that turpentine camp, and picked up the logging company office along the way, when power first went in.

When the industry shifted to paper production here, turpentine was then distilled in the processing of pulp, and is to this to day. The gum and alcohol floats off in the process and is skinned from the top of the vats, and harvesting gum in the woods, as an industry, went by the wayside

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 1


----------



## FLQuacker (Sep 3, 2019)

Anyone who has in interest in the pine industry should read this book, 1 of many fascinating accounts.

In *Looking* *for* *Longleaf*, Lawrence S. Earley explores the history of these forests and the astonishing biodiversity of the *longleaf* ecosystem, drawing on extensive research and telling the story through first-person travel accounts and interviews with foresters, ecologists, biologists, botanists, and landowners. For centuries, these vast grass-covered forests provided pasture for large cattle herds, in addition to serving as the world's greatest source of naval stores.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## rocky1 (Sep 3, 2019)

Concerted efforts are underway to restore such. One chunk of National Forest here was cleared of all slash pine and has been planted in long leaf. Approximately 9000 acres of long leaf pine planted randomly by hand, and has been weedeated several times since.

Reactions: Like 2


----------



## sprucegum (Jan 17, 2021)

That's interesting, there are so many forgotten trades and industries.

Reactions: Agree 1


----------



## kimnwf (Feb 14, 2021)

rocky1 said:


> Found this one on the forgotten Florida page as well, interesting in that I remember large stands of the Cat Faced trees. Back when I was a kid, they were fairly common. Still have several dozen of these resin cups that the wife's father or her grand father had collected, many of which were unused. And, have a collection of the tools used to cut the faces of the trees, clean the pots, etc.
> 
> http://www.flpublicarchaeology.org/blog/ncrc/tag/herty-cup/
> 
> ...


I also have one of the cups. My wife uses it as a planter.

Reactions: Way Cool 1


----------

