Old-Field White Pine Forest on Abandoned Farmland

Diorama scene of white pine logs lying on a ground with standing white pines in the background. Two men saw a fallen log with a two-person saw.

As the “old-field” stands of white pine reached middle age, it became evident that they contained a valuable and rapidly growing crop of second-growth timber. As this white pine became marketable portable sawmills appeared across central New England. One of the most common and valuable uses of these pines was for “box boards” used to make shipping containers prior to the development of corrugated cardboard in the 1930s. 

Time period: AD 1910