Cypress gold

[bay pirate]

I just wanted to share this with all since we we all have a curiosity and need to uncover history.

I have been running this river my entire life and there is a historic home on a wide part of the river. On a point adjacent to the property, there is a rope swing where, in the summer, people gather to swim and have fun. I found these boards lying have buried in the mud and realized that they were left over tailings from some some sort of a mill. Me being an a étude builder of furniture from reclaimed wood and old boat parts, I grabbed them

Then I found this












After a little research, turns out there wasn't a mill per say but these are what was left over when the builders of the home cleared the property and milled the wood to build the home. The wood is cypress and the home is bellingrath gardens. The whole log pictured is 36' long and 38" at the base and 29" at the other end. The home began construction in 1902 or so and was completed around 1915 putting theses boards and logs in the water for over 100 years. I tried counting the rings on the log but gave up at 300 as I was less than have way. I'm guessing that cypress was about 6 to 700 years old when felled by an ax. I'm taking it to a mill to get it board cut and kiln dried. It's estimated to have aboard 1500 board feet in it and worth about 10k retail. Not bad

 

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[bountyhuntergirl86]

wow... never knew wood was worth so much... nice find!

 

[bay pirate]

You should have seen me trying to pull that big bear of a log out with my boat. It was buried in the mud and clay along the bank. I had an audience of about 7 or 8 other boats watching and fishing. When it finally came free, I realized the shear size of this massive log and was afraid that it was gonna sink my boat as the water is 20ft deep in places so I just put my boat in gear and didn't stop till I got to my dock and I floated it on to my boat trailor. The problem I have now it that it to big for my trailor and my boats still in the water. Lol

 

[bay pirate]

Here are a few things I have made from reclaimed wood. Most of this wood came from a wooded Chris Craft wooden boat that I raised last year. It had been sunk in about 6 feet of water for years

 

[bountyhuntergirl86]

Woww! way to go ;-) good luck with that... and be Careful

 

[bountyhuntergirl86]

very nice :-)

 

[webatch]

Bay Pirate NICE find. Great craftsmanship. I really like the tables. Do you ever do any beach detecting? Just wondered how the beaches were after IVAN came thru that area with all the backwash. I used to live in Pensacola until IVAN killed my house. I'm missing the warm weather and beaches right now.

 

[Coldshuz]

I saw a show about 10 years ago that showed 2 gents on one of the Great Lakes that was recovering logs that had sunk at the end of their water travel at what once was an old wood mill. Obviously not cypress up there, but because the density of the logs was so high, they were highly sought after by musical instrument crafters. Evidently, the dense wood provided a better "sound" then the newer forest trees. These guys started basically by hand pulling these logs up and were, as you can, getting $10k per log. They quickly got enough cash to buy heavy equiptment to reclaim the rest of the sunken logs. I can't remember how much they ended up with or if they had completed at the time of the airing.

This dense wood supposedly is comprabable to the wood that made the stradivarius instuments so unique.

Great find, hope you can reclaim a lot more.

 

[Clay Slayer]

Old cypress logging footage from Louisiana back in the 20's.

 

[CoilyGirl]

I did not know cypress was so valuable either but it makes sense as peat is often made from felled cypress trees in bogs.Love the table.My parents had an old Chris Craft boat restored and I remember the wood being beautiful.

 

[Ground Inspector]

Great story. Congrats

 

[ECS]

First growth cypress is highly prized and rare today.Cypress will not rot and used boards will develop a silver grey patina on the surface.
During the 20's & 30's all the first growth cypress on the Oklawaha River in Marion County Florida was clear cut.I have an old block that was taken from a old RR water tower that was demolished for the wood in the 1970's.That block,with the silver grey patina has over 300 rings.Many of the hardware and lumber companies in Ocala sold lumbering tools,peavys,cant hooks,etc.
Thanks for sharing the photos.Great find!

 

[greengold]

Send me a pm if you are interested in selling the lumber. I am in the lumber biz and know some folks who might be interested.

 

[Wildcat1750]

Fascinating!

You've truly found gold of a different color, bay pirate! It's amazing when you consider the local history attached to them and their probable age. To mill them for something special will be a noble way for them to continue their existence!
Nick

 

[hamiddetecting]

Nice!!

 

[bay pirate]

I'm in the middle of building some display racks for a backcountry outfitter in destin, fl. with some tailings I pulled from the same place. I'll post what one can do with a pile of junk wood. I don't believe in "buy it new" when it comes to wood. You can't buy this kinda age and art that only Mother Nature can do. I absolutely love it. Thanks all for the kind words and yes I do sell my work and do consignments, lol

 

[Gunrunner61]

Man I'm headed your way, Don't eat much ,have my own tent, Trailer and winch! lol.............Cool find and congrats on the financial winfall....................HH

 

[chkn]

Way to go Bay Pirate!!!

 

[g-olden years]

Your furniture is beautiful both in wood AND in design! So glad you found that wonderful aged log, persistence pays off for sure. Andi

 

[birdman]

Very nice ! I used to run the river on the Baldwin county side. There used to be some BIG gators in that water. So much history there.

I am going to vote banner but I am not sure if it qualifies .I can't imagine the work it took to get that thing out of that mud.