The story of New England is inseparable from the story of its forests and the lumber they have provided. From the earliest colonial settlements to the modern reclaimed lumber movement, wood has shaped the economy, architecture, and culture of the northeastern United States.
The Colonial Timber Trade (1620-1776)
When European colonists arrived in New England, they found a land covered in seemingly inexhaustible old-growth forest. White pine, oak, hemlock, chestnut, and birch towered over the landscape in densities that were staggering by European standards -- centuries of undisturbed growth had produced trees of enormous size.
The British Crown quickly recognized the value of these forests, particularly the tall, straight white pines that made ideal ship masts. The Broad Arrow Policy reserved the tallest pines (24 inches and larger in diameter) for the Royal Navy, marking them with a broad arrow blaze. This policy was deeply resented by colonists and is considered one of the lesser-known grievances that fueled the American Revolution.
Colonial sawmills sprang up along rivers throughout New England, using water power to process the abundant timber. By the mid-1700s, lumber was one of New England's most valuable exports.
The Age of the Sawmill (1776-1860)
After independence, the logging and lumber industry expanded rapidly. Water-powered sawmills became increasingly sophisticated, and the introduction of the circular saw in the 1810s-1820s dramatically increased milling efficiency. (This is why many reclaimed boards from this era show distinctive curved saw marks.)
Lumber fueled westward expansion, shipbuilding, and the construction of cities. New England timber built the factories of the Industrial Revolution, the clipper ships of the China trade, and the farmsteads of the expanding frontier.
The Great Deforestation (1860-1920)
By the Civil War era, New England's original old-growth forests were largely gone. The combination of clearing for agriculture and relentless commercial logging had reduced forest cover to its lowest point in history -- estimated at just 30-40% of the landscape in many New England states, compared to over 80% at the time of European contact.
During this same period, the chestnut blight (first detected in 1904) began its devastating march through the region, eventually killing virtually every mature American chestnut tree. This is why reclaimed American chestnut is so rare and valuable today -- it is the only source of this once-dominant species.
Recovery and Reforestation (1920-1980)
As New England's agricultural economy shifted and farms were abandoned, forests began to reclaim the landscape. Today, New England is actually more forested than it has been in 200 years, with forest cover exceeding 75% in most states. However, these are second-growth and third-growth forests, fundamentally different in character from the old-growth forests that the colonists encountered.
Meanwhile, the old barns, mills, factories, and homes built with that original old-growth timber continued to stand, their lumber aging and seasoning naturally.
The Reclaimed Lumber Movement (1980-Present)
Beginning in the 1980s, a growing awareness of environmental sustainability, combined with an appreciation for the unique qualities of old wood, gave rise to the modern reclaimed lumber industry. Pioneers in the field began salvaging timber from structures slated for demolition, recognizing that these buildings contained irreplaceable old-growth wood.
Today, reclaimed lumber is a thriving industry that serves everyone from individual homeowners to major commercial developers. The wood that built New England's past is now helping build its future -- one board at a time.
What We Carry Today
At Boston Lumber, every piece of reclaimed wood we sell carries this history. When you install a reclaimed heart pine floor, you are walking on wood from trees that may have been saplings when Columbus sailed. When you mount a hand-hewn chestnut mantel, you are preserving a piece of a species that has been functionally extinct for a century. That connection to history is something no new material can ever replicate.