Top: Collecting the crude turpentine. Above left: Running off and barrelling the rosin. Above right: A turpentine and rosin depot on the Cape Fear River. Illustrations by Jas. E. Taylor from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, 1866. its American colonies and the great navy and merchant fleet that was the source of England’s power. For decades, North Carolina in general, and the Cape Fear in particular, were the largest exporters of the naval stores used for maintaining England’s oak ships. The seasoned timbers harvested in North Carolina were used to expand the British fleet, making England’s the most formidable navy on the seas. Naval stores would be a leading export from Cape Fear plantations until the advent of steam engines began. 35 www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM e e Plantations on the lower Cape Fear,the only river in North Carolina that has direct access to the Atlantic Ocean, initially traded in timber, shingles, and the tar, pitch and turpentine harvested from the abundant longleaf pines of the region. IMAGES COURTESY OF NEW HANOVER COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
2014-11
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