I don’t know if this is true - maybe someone else here does - but I’ve heard that Georgia was not originally called the “Peachtree State” but the “Pitch-Tree State,” referring to the pine tar, rosin, and turpentine industries.
Thanks for this glimpse of history. I have old family movies of a visit to a turpentine plantation in the 1930s when I guess it was a dying industry. My father used to take the family on long trips around the country and he documented a lot of pre-WWII life that has long disappeared.
That's so intriguing. No Disney then. Maybe you saw this one: The McCranie family worked in the turpentine industry prior to 1900 and continued for generations.[2]: 23 This turpentine still was built in 1936. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCranie%27s_Turpentine_Still
I am so happy to have found my way to a site that contains so much readable and interesting information. The “Turpentine” piece reminded me of the Lamb Fish Lumber company, of Charleston, MS, once the largest lumber producer in the world, maybe.
Imagine the misery of being a convict working either at Lamb Fish or in a turpentine operation! Ugh. I’d rather be dead.
I was born in Charleston, but I grabbed my diaper bag and soon skedaddled. A cousin now lives at the site of the remnants of the Lamb Fish office. The structure was a double-wythe brick building, approximately 350 sq. ft. Only the four walls remain. Ozymandius, anyone?
The archeology of past industries is ongoing interest. I found a book about "your career as an antennae installer' (pre-cable). In this Substack libraries and museums can lead me many places. Thank you. We're all slouching now.
Yet once again I feel smarter after reading your articles.
I don’t know if this is true - maybe someone else here does - but I’ve heard that Georgia was not originally called the “Peachtree State” but the “Pitch-Tree State,” referring to the pine tar, rosin, and turpentine industries.
Given how big the industry was it sure seems possible.
I appreciate the post - I grew up in Georgia and this industry is just not something they teach you about!
Thanks for this glimpse of history. I have old family movies of a visit to a turpentine plantation in the 1930s when I guess it was a dying industry. My father used to take the family on long trips around the country and he documented a lot of pre-WWII life that has long disappeared.
That's so intriguing. No Disney then. Maybe you saw this one: The McCranie family worked in the turpentine industry prior to 1900 and continued for generations.[2]: 23 This turpentine still was built in 1936. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCranie%27s_Turpentine_Still
Hi Kathleen,
You have "Nora Neale Hurston" twice, once in text, once in footnotes. It should be "Zora."
From your friend and amateur copy editor,
CP
Of course I know that! Thanks. I'll fix it, but not sure it will work.
Did it fix? I see it fixed, but do you? The link includes her typed notes which I was reading in the library ( my jumping off point in these Substacks) and that has always made me interested in this subject and then my typo. THANK YOU. https://www.floridamemory.com/learn/classroom/learning-units/zora-neale-hurston/documents/essay/
I see it fixed!
I am so happy to have found my way to a site that contains so much readable and interesting information. The “Turpentine” piece reminded me of the Lamb Fish Lumber company, of Charleston, MS, once the largest lumber producer in the world, maybe.
Imagine the misery of being a convict working either at Lamb Fish or in a turpentine operation! Ugh. I’d rather be dead.
I was born in Charleston, but I grabbed my diaper bag and soon skedaddled. A cousin now lives at the site of the remnants of the Lamb Fish office. The structure was a double-wythe brick building, approximately 350 sq. ft. Only the four walls remain. Ozymandius, anyone?
The archeology of past industries is ongoing interest. I found a book about "your career as an antennae installer' (pre-cable). In this Substack libraries and museums can lead me many places. Thank you. We're all slouching now.