" Tight as the Dickens "

Based in Charleston, South Carolina, Born Again Heartwoods is dedicated to giving life to sinker logs once lost to the untamed bottomland swamps and rivers by early South Carolinians. Sinker logs are known by several names such as deadheads, old growth, and virgin growth. These sinker logs emerge from their dark, muddy tombs with an unmatched strength and beauty lost to timber today due to modern cultivation. By recovering these sinker logs, Born Again Heartwoods gives birth to a variety of virgin cypress, longleaf heart pine, and other heartwood products which are a GREEN resource. South Carolina was once the home of some of the largest old growth virgin bald cypress trees in the country, just over a hundred years ago. Men like Francis Beidler could see the value in what was considered worthless bottomland swamp. Between the end of the Civil War and World War I the southeast United States virgin bottom land forest were cleared at an alarming rate. Virgin forest that were once the home of huge cypress, black tupelo, black oaks, longleaf heart pine, shortleaf heart pine, black walnut, willows, sweet gum, green ash, and so much more. Today modern cultivation has left our southern landscape covered with southern yellow pine which grows to saw log size in under 50 years. Thanks to Mr. Beidler, a small plot of virgin bottomland forest still exists as the Congaree National Park where huge old-growth cypress and virgin longleaf pine can still be found.

Born Again Heartwoods not only recovers lost sinker cypress and heart pine from the rivers, bottomland swamps, and lakes of South Carolina, we also provide a verity of products such as T&G flooring, T&G paneling, siding, large table top slabs, beams, rough-cut lumber, S4S lumber and much more. Born Again Heartwoods provides custom milling to meet the specifications of almost any project in which our wood can be used. Sinker old growth virgin cypress and heart pine are far more durable than that of modern cypress and heart pine. Old growth virgin cypress siding can still be found on most homes in historical Charleston with over a hundred years of service under it's belt. Heart pine beams still support the roofs that line Charleston Battery after centuries of hurricanes and warfare. Once great plantation halls still line the Ashley River with heart pine flooring that look as great as they did almost three hundred years after being installed. At the same plantations water is still impounded in the rice fields virgin cypress timber dams were built to hold back over a century after they were forgotten. Born Again Heartwoods not only bring back to life the superior old growth virgin heart woods of ole but the piece of my that has also been lost to the modern cultivation of southern yellow pine.

South Carolina Logging History

The logging of South Carolina's virgin bottomland forests in the early 1600's. Wealthy landowners cleared lands to cultivate cash crops such as indigo, rice, and cotton. Early loggers could only cut the bottomland forests that were closest to the rivers. After logs were cut and dragged into the rivers, they were rafted together and floated down the river to mills in cities like Charles Towne and Georgetown. Until the Civil War, plantation owners made huge profits on their cash crops of indigo, rice and cotton due to the overabundance of slavery. By the late 1860's the end of the Civil War had left these plantations burnt and slave-free. Unable to farm their huge plantation without slave labor, owners were forced to sell or lease their land to carpetbaggers from the north, just to pay the property taxes. Sawmill towns sprang up across the state along the rivers and streams. Timber was cut upstream from the mills, rafted together, and floated downstream to the mill.

By the 1880's, railroads were quickly adopted to penetrate the uninhabitable bottomland forests. Steam powered tugboat made it possible to pull logs upstream to the mill. By 1930 most of South Carolina's virgin bottomland forests were gone.

South Carolina at one time had a large amount of virgin long leaf pine. These trees were sapped by cutting deep chevron cuts into the heart pine. The sap was collected in drip pans in the same way maple is collected to make syrup. The sap was then distilled to make turpentine, pine tar and other navel supplies. The heart wood of the longleaf heart pine has the tightest growth rings of any other southern grown heart pine. Born Again Heartwoods only recovers longleaf heart pine with a minimum of 10 growth rings per inch and most recovered heart pine logs exceed 15 rings per inch. These tight growth ring hearts pines have been sought after for hundreds of year for their rich colors, and a hardness not found in any other species of heart pine. Old growth virgin longleaf heart pine is equal to white oak in hardness. It's hardness makes it an amazing choice for heart pine floors. The floors of Mt. Vernon (The home of George Washington) are longleaf heart pine and still going strong after more then 250 years. Born Again Heartwoods recovers these longleaf heart pine logs similar to the logs below with flooring in mind. Please see our flooring page for our different grades.

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