On our return from the Green Swamp Preserve, we stopped at this nature preserve not far off Rt 17. It has become an educational forest. Although the labyrinth of trails was confusing, we finally figured it all out. The scene above looks like a bare spot in the forest. It is an indentation which was a tar kiln. Tar kilns were used only once, so there must be hundreds or thousands of them throughout the Coastal Plain. This was the land of the Longleaf Pine. Once numbering about 90 million acres, now just a fraction of that. Tar, pitch and turpentine products were in high demand from England. Naval and cargo ships consumed these products, called naval stores, in vast quantities during construction and maintenance.
The Longleaf Pine provided the resin needed. Many trees were tapped by cutting a v shape or box shape and collecting the resin for distilling into turpentine and other products. Others were cut down and burned in a slow smolder to make tar. Tar could be further refined to make pitch.
The kilns were circular, about 20 feet in diameter. At the bottom of the kiln, a hollowed out log or a metal pipe was used to collect the tar and deliver to barrels outside the kiln. The cut pine was stacked in layers with soil between each layer until it resembled the shape of a beehive. A thick layer of soil topped off the pile. Small holes were dug in the top layer so the wood could be ignited. The object was to smolder the wood for a week. Holes could be added or plugged to keep the smolder burning at a slow rate. Tar dripped from the smolder and collected in the middle where the pipe or hollow log collected it.
Petrified Wood from the Cape Fear River
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