American Chestnut

Southwest Virginia Project

Return to "The Environment of Southwest Virginia"

Beneath the spreading chestnut tree The village smithy stands The smith, a mighty man is he With large and sinewy hands And the muscles of his brawny arms Are strong as iron bands

The American chestnut once ranged from Maine to Alabama and Mississippi, along the Appalachian Mountain chain.

In the fall the chestnut fruits fell to the ground in mass, and were important as wildlife food. Settlers also gathered them, at first to supplement food supplies, but later to provide a cash crop. In the 1800's families would rake up the chestnuts by the wagonload, selling them in nearby towns

The wood was not a strong wood for construction purposes, but it was lightweight, easy to split, and resistant to decay. These properties made it particularly desirable but where other woods would quickly rot. As a result it was sought out for use in split rail fences, railroad ties, cabin walls, furniture, and caskets. Some split rail fences made of chestnut have been said to have survived over 100 years, intact.

Chestnut bark and wood were rich sources of tannins needed for tanning leather; by 1900 half of the tannin used in the United States was derived from Chestnut trees. It was not unusual for tanning operations to set up shop in ares where a good supply of Chestnut bark and wood was to be had. The community of Walland, which was established to by a tannery operation probably has its origin in the fact that it was close to the Little River, used in the late 1800's to raft Chestnut logs, and other timber, to the downstream mills from the lumbering operations in the Great Smoky Mountains.

During the late 1800's a parasitic fungus, Endothia parasitica, was introduced in New York on nursury trees from Asia. The fungus was first detected in 1904 in Chestnut trees on the grounds of the New York Botantical Gardens. The fungus spread rapidly, and by the 1950's the American Chestnut was virtually exterpated from its range. Today young trees still arise from the still living root systems of the old trees, but as they are infected with the fungus, few survive to flower and set seed. Uninfected adult trees still survive in isolated grops in the northwestern portion of the Chestnuts range, and their is some hope of reintroducing the species through the development of fungus resistant strains.

See History of the American Chestnut for further information.