The American chestnut was once one of the most important trees in the Eastern forest.
In the heart of its range a count of trees would have turned up one chestnut for every four oaks, birches, maples and other hardwoods.
The tree was one of the best for timber. It grew straight and often branch-free for 50 feet. Loggers
tell of loading entire railroad cars with boards cut from just one tree. Straight-grained, lighter in weight than oak and more easily worked, chestnut was as rot resistant as redwood.
The range of greatest dominance
in the United States stretched from
Maine to Georgia. The tree is now
native to
southern Ontario, and
some researchers believe that until
the late 1800s it may also have
been present in northern Florida.