Tag Archives: nature’s gold

By Ted Hunt Florida is renowned for its picturesque beaches, tropical climate, theme parks and citrus industry. However, beneath this vacation paradise lies a lesser-known historical treasure — the early turpentine industry. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Florida played a major role in this booming industry, tapping into the liquid gold of its vast pine forests. The foundation of Florida’s turpentine industry lay in the abundant Longleaf Pine forests that covered much of the state. These majestic trees stood as tall sentinels, their trunks harboring a valuable resource known as gum resin/sap or crude turpentine. Turpentine was a …