By the end of the 18th century, North Carolina exported 70% of all North American tar, thanks in large part to the Tar River’s role as a major transportation route. The once vast longleaf pine forest in North Carolina was decimated in order to preserve ships at sea and abroad.
Today, pine tar is still one of the best ways to preserve and protect wood. And it’s a big reason why we’re able to build things that last at Tar River Timber Works.
Purpose and identity
Pine tar is the byproduct of dead, resin-rich pine wood. When the wood is heated up in an oxygen-poor environment, the resin decomposes and releases dark, thick and sticky pine tar.
Although its most well-known function is as a wood preservative, pine tar has been used to treat skin conditions in ancient Greece. The Vikings used it to waterproof their ships and stave churches between the 12th and 14th centuries. Now, we find pine tar in soaps and shampoos and use it to improve grip on baseball gear.
But here in North Carolina, pine tar has been and continues to be much more than a product. It’s central to an identity.
We earned the nickname “The Tar and Turpentine State” from our Revolutionary War era production. Later, one Ohio journal published in 1845 labeled North Carolinians as “Tarboilers,” a nickname also used by the legendary poet Walt Whitman (though not in an endearing way). And the term “Tar Heel” was an insult against the poor and uneducated who did the dirty work of producing pine tar, pitch and turpentine.
