Editing Pinus strobus (section)

== Historical uses ==

=== Lumber ===
In the 19th century, the harvesting of [[Midwestern United States|Midwestern]] white pine forests played a major role in America's [[Territorial evolution of the United States|westward expansion]] through the [[Great Plains]]. A quarter-million white pines were harvested and sent to lumber yards in Chicago in a single year.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cronon |first=William |title=Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West |year=1991 |publisher=W. W. Norton and Company |location=New York, NY |pages=183 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7OCQAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA183 |isbn=9780393072457}}</ref>

The white pine had aesthetic appeal to contemporary [[Naturalism (philosophy)|naturalists]] such as [[Henry David Thoreau]] ("There is no finer tree.")<ref>{{cite book |last=Thoreau |first=Henry David |title=The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: Journal |year=1861 |pages=33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u_URAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA33}}</ref> Beyond that, it had [[logging|commercial applications]]. It was considered "the most sought and most widely utilized of the various forest growths of the [[Northwest Territory|northwest]]."<ref name="Hotchkiss 1861 752">{{cite book |last=Hotchkiss |first=George Woodward |title=History of the Lumber and Forest Industry of the Northwest |year=1861 |pages=752 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U5c4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA752}}</ref> Descriptions of its uses are quoted below from a 19th-century source:

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|quote = Being of a soft texture and easily worked, taking paint better than almost any other variety of wood, it has been found adaptable to all the uses demanded in the building art, from the manufacture of packing cases to the bearing timber and finer finish of a dwelling. Of light weight, it has borne transportation to the farms of the west, where it is used for building purposes in dwellings, barns, and corn cribs, while as a fencing material it has no superior. Aside from those conditions which demand a dense strong timber, such as ship-building or in wagon-making, white pine has been found adaptable to all the economic uses in which lumber is required, not excluding its use in coarser articles of furniture. No wood has found greater favor or entered more fully into supplying all those wants of man which could be found in the forest growths.<ref name="Hotchkiss 1861 752" />
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The species was imported in 1620 to England by Captain [[George Weymouth]], who planted it for a timber crop, but had little success because of white pine blister rust disease.

Old-growth pine in the Americas, of various ''Pinus'' species, was a highly desired wood since huge, knot-free boards were the rule rather than the exception. Pine was common and easy to cut, thus many colonial homes used pine for paneling, floors, and furniture. Pine was also a favorite tree of loggers, since pine logs can still be processed in a lumber mill a year or more after being cut down. In contrast, most hardwood trees such as cherry, maple, oak, and ash must be cut into 1" thick boards immediately after felling, or else large cracks will develop in the trunk which can render the wood worthless.<ref name=ling /><ref name=":0" />

Although eastern white pine was frequently used for flooring in buildings constructed before the [[U.S. Civil War]], the wood is soft and tends to cup over time with wear. [[George Washington]] opted for the much harder [[southern yellow pine]] at Mount Vernon, instead.<ref name=ling />

=== Mast pines ===
During the 17th and 18th centuries, tall white pines in the [[Thirteen Colonies]] became known as "[[mast (sailing)|mast]] pines". Marked by agents of [[the Crown]] with the [[Broad arrow#Use in the American colonies|broad arrow]], a mast pine was reserved for the British [[Royal Navy]]. Special barge-like vessels were built to ship tall white pines to England. The wood was often squared to better fit in the holds of these ships.<ref name=ling /> A {{convert|100|ft|m|order=flip|adj=on}} mast was about {{cvt|3|x|3|ft|m|order=flip}} at the butt and {{cvt|2|x|2|ft|m|order=flip}} at the top, while a {{convert|120|ft|m|order=flip|adj=on}} mast was {{cvt|4|x|4|ft|m|order=flip}} by {{cvt|30|in|m|order=flip}} on its ends.

By 1719, [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire]], had become the hub of pine logging and shipping. Portsmouth shipped 199&nbsp;masts to England that year. In all, about 4500&nbsp;masts were sent to England.<ref name=NEF2019>{{cite AV media |people=Asselin, Ray (producer, narrator) |date=2019 |title=Eastern White Pine: The Tree Rooted in American History |medium=Motion picture |publisher=New England Forests |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQs7novlvtA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/bQs7novlvtA |archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live |access-date=2021-03-11}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The eastern white pine played a significant role in the events leading to the [[American Revolution]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-04-13 |title=The New Hampshire Pine Tree Riot of 1772 |url=https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/new-hampshire-pine-tree-riot-1772/ |access-date=2020-07-28 |website=New England Historical Society |language=en-US |archive-date=2020-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728213200/https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/new-hampshire-pine-tree-riot-1772/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=nizalowski>Nizalowski, E. 1997. The mystery of the Pumpkin Pine. Newark Valley Historical Society, Newark, NY.</ref><ref>Sloane, E. 1965. A Reverence for Wood. Balantine Books, NY.</ref> Marking of large white pines by the Crown had become controversial in the colonies by the first third of the 18th century. In 1734, the King's men were assaulted and beaten in [[Exeter, New Hampshire]], in what was to be called the [[Mast Tree Riot]]. Colonel [[David Dunbar (colonel)|David Dunbar]] had been in the town investigating a stock pile of white pine in a pond and the ownership of the local timber mill before caning two townspeople.<ref>{{cite book |title=American Canopy: Trees, Forests, and the Making of a Nation |first=Eric |last=Rutkow |date=24 April 2012 |publisher=Scribner |page=30 |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4391-9354-9}}</ref> In 1772, the sheriff of [[Hillsborough County, New Hampshire]], was sent to the town of [[Weare, New Hampshire|Weare]] to arrest mill owners for the illegal possession of large white pines. That night, as the sheriff slept at the Pine Tree Tavern, he was attacked and nearly killed by an angry mob of colonists. This act of rebellion, later to become known as the [[Pine Tree Riot]], may have fueled the [[Boston Tea Party]] in 1773.

After the Revolutionary War, the fledgling United States used large white pines to build out its own navy. The masts of the [[USS Constitution|USS ''Constitution'']] were originally made of eastern white pine.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brooks |first=Rebecca Beatrice |title=Construction of the USS Constitution |website=historyofmassachusetts.org |date=June 27, 2017 |url=https://historyofmassachusetts.org/uss-constitution-construction/ |access-date=2021-03-08 |archive-date=2021-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210317010239/https://historyofmassachusetts.org/uss-constitution-construction/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The original masts were single trees, but were later replaced by laminated spars{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} to better withstand cannonballs.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

In colonial times, an unusually large, lone, white pine was found in coastal South Carolina along the [[Black River (South Carolina)|Black River]], far east of its southernmost normal range.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}} The king's mark was carved into it, giving rise to the town of [[Kingstree, South Carolina|Kingstree]].<ref name="Williamsburg Hometown Chamber">{{cite web |title=History of Williamsburg County |publisher=Williamsburg HomeTown Chamber |url=http://www.williamsburgsc.org/history.htm |access-date=November 10, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131184534/http://www.williamsburgsc.org/history.htm |archive-date=January 31, 2012}}</ref>

Eastern white pine is now widely grown in [[plantation]] [[forestry]] within its native area.