Boxing the Pines

In colonial times and for many years afterward, coastal forests here were shaped by a thriving naval stores industry rather than untouched wilderness, and boxed pines were a common sight. To box a pine, a worker removed a strip of bark with a scraper, or hack, so resin would seep from the tree into a cut box and be collected for turpentine, with the box emptied seven or eight times a year. Eventually the tree became fuel for a tar kiln, and remains of a historic tar kiln are visible farther along the trail.

North Carolina · United States