Back to the Future: River-reclaimed heart pine spruces up new homes, by Sandra Hendricks, First Coast Lifestyle, Volume 1, Issue 2, October 2003

Three centuries ago, longleaf pine forests covered 90 million acres in the Southeast, stretching from Florida north to Virginia and west to Texas. Living as long as 500 years, the immense trees grew four to five feet in diameter and 180 feet tall. The heart of these strong and stately pines, often referred to as “the wood that built America,” served as foundation, framework, and furnishings in the new country’s homes, factories, government buildings, and infrastructure. Founding Fathers trod heart pine floors in the White House, Independence Hall, Mount Vernon, and Monticello, and the wood was instrumental in the building boom of America’s Industrial Revolution . By the 1930s, however, extensive logging had depleted the virgin forests—fewer than 10,000 protected acres of old-growth longleaf pine remain today—and the original source of antique heart pine disappeared.

Now 21st-century architects, designers, homebuilders, and homeowners are rediscovering the beauty and durability of this historic wood through the efforts of companies such as Goodwin Heart Pine Company in Micanopy. Founded in 1976 by George and Carol Goodwin, the company salvages and mills antique timber to produce wood for use in today’s homes and buildings.

The company’s signature line of wood is antique heart pine milled from logs that sank more than a century ago while being floated to sawmills along Southern rivers. Preserved in the dark, cool waters of spring-fed rivers, the wood retains its natural beauty and strength. Goodwin works with teams of divers who locate these logs by sight and carefully raise them out of the mud.

At the mill, each log is fed by hand through a saw. The company controls the quality of its products by turning each beam to render the highest quality timbers and reduce the amount of waster. After sawing, the timber is air- and kiln-dried to achieve the optimal moisture content that will ensure that the wood remains stable in its setting. Finally, milling transforms rough lumber into flooring, paneling, molding, and custom wood products. Throughout the process, the company meticulously sorts the wood based on grade and grain pattern so that the wood the customer receives is 100 percent usable. The company’s river-recovered pine is 100 percent heartwood from tress 200 years old or more.

Once milled, the antique heart pine displays its unique characteristics: a strong, tight grain and a telltale red tone, which grows richer as it ages and ranges from golden amber to dark cherry. This luminous patina is that distinguishes antique heart pine from other hardwoods.

“You can almost see through it,” said Carol Goodwin. “It has a holographic effect.” Grain patterns vary from vertical pinstripes to cathedral arches. One out of every few hundred logs yields a board or two of a rare curly grain that is ideal for accent projects. With the range of styles and grades available, Goodwin says the wood complements any décor, “from high contemporary to cabin.”

The river is not the only source of antique heart pine; the company also saves the antique wood from structures slated for demolition. Like the river-recovered wood, the reclaimed pine is sawn, kiln-dried, milled, and graded according to the company’s rigorous standards. The resulting lumber is idea for historical restoration projects where original wood must be matched. Because the salvaged wood can contain nail holes and stains, cracks, and other imperfections that testify to the wood’s storied past, Goodwin said the reclaimed antique heart pine also appeals to homeowners who want something that is “beautiful, durable, and was part of our culture.”

In addition to antique heart pine, the company offers reclaimed wild black cherry and a line of antique heart cypress wood that is both river-recovered and reclaimed form old construction. Bald cypress were the patriarchs of southern swamps, living and growing more than 1,500 years, until logging depleted their numbers. This ancient wood is a particular favorite of Carol Goodwin, not only because of its “prehistoric” past, but also because of its unique beauty. The wood is fine-grained with straight lines and delicate swirls. “It looks like an early Indian painted the grain with watercolors,” she said. Finished cypress ranges in color from warm golden brown to dark chocolate; unfinished, the cypress ages to a signature muted gray. The company’s cypress products are 100 percent heartwood from trees 500 years old or more.

Goodwin Heart Pine Company sells only 100 percent heartwood produces from trees 200 years old or more. Wood prices range from under $5 to $20 a square foot . Goodwin said customers are getting “quite a terrific value” for the money. Because the trees grew slowly over hundreds of years, the wood is much more stable than that from younger and faster-growing trees. With its tighter grain, richer patina, incomparable durability, and historical significance, antique wood adds tremendous value to a home or building. The wood also exhibits a striking, distinctive appearance. “Everybody ought to have a little bit of it in their home,” said Goodwin.

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