Bismark Longleaf Pine
From shiplap to shop, Bismark Longleaf Pine carries its story forward.
The Story
Sometimes reclaimed wood doesn’t come from the curb or a storm-felled tree — sometimes it comes from right across the street. When our neighbor on Bismark decided to remodel, she had longleaf pine shiplap pulled from the walls of her early-1900s home. At first she thought she’d keep it, until she started pulling out the hundreds of tiny tacks left behind from muslin and wallpaper. That job turned out to be more than she bargained for, and the pile was headed for the city pickup.
Before it was hauled away, she asked if I wanted it. It was all or nothing. My answer? “Hell yes.”
I spent the next two weeks bent over that stack, pulling nails one by one until the boards were clean. Slow and tedious work, but worth it. What might have ended as landfill now sits in my wood bin, ready for its second life.
About the Tree
Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) once stretched across the American South in vast old-growth forests, covering some 90 million acres. These trees grew tall and straight — often over 100 feet — with dense, resin-rich heartwood that set them apart from the plantation pines we know today.
By the mid-20th century, longleaf pine was almost wiped out. Logging and land clearing reduced it to a fraction of its range, and what survives today is mostly second-growth or plantation pine — faster grown, softer, and without the same tight grain.
The boards pulled from Bismark weren’t cut from modern stock. They came from old-growth trees harvested over a century ago, when longleaf pine was still abundant enough to sheath homes in shiplap. That makes this wood both rare and irreplaceable.
The trees shown here are simply examples of the species — not the exact ones that supplied the boards salvaged from Bismark.
About the Wood
Old-growth longleaf pine is a world apart from the plantation pine you find at the lumberyard today. The boards cut a century ago are dense, resin-rich, and tight-grained — qualities that gave them strength in the walls of early homes and now give them new life in the shop.
The photo here shows a charcuterie platter crafted from Higgins Longleaf Pine, another salvage. Though it comes from a different source, the look is nearly identical to the Bismark boards: warm amber tones, close grain lines, and the kind of character you’ll never see in modern pine.
In the shop, this wood planes smooth, sands clean, and finishes with a glow that highlights its age and story. Strong enough for daily use yet striking enough to stand out, it carries forward the legacy of old-growth longleaf pine — lumber once hidden in walls, now given a second life.
Why It Matters
Every board of Bismark Longleaf Pine carries more than tight grain and warm color — it carries the story of a neighbor’s remodel, a pile headed for city pickup, and two weeks of patient work pulling tacks one by one. What might have been discarded is now stacked in my yard, waiting for its next chapter.
This isn’t plantation pine. It’s old-growth longleaf, milled a century ago and hidden in the walls of a home until the day it was pulled free. Rescuing it means more than saving lumber — it means giving a second life to wood that can’t be replaced, and honoring the history built into every board.
Bismark Longleaf Pine in the Shop
No finished pieces from Bismark Longleaf Pine have left the shop yet — but the wood is here, reclaimed and ready. For now, here’s a look at the boards themselves, waiting their turn at the bench.
Reclaimed Bismark Longleaf Pine stacked in the Salt Shaker wood bin — rescued, cleaned, and waiting for its second life.
Close view of the tight-grained shiplap boards salvaged from the Bismark remodel, showing the warm amber tones of old-growth pine.
Pieces from Bismark Longleaf Pine aren’t in the store just yet — but they’re coming soon. In the meantime, you can browse other reclaimed woods available now, or request a custom order to be first in line for Bismark Pine.