Castanea dentata
THE TREE THAT HELPED BUILD APPALACHIAN LIFE

The American Chestnut, Castanea dentata has a long history in Appalachia with a disastrous turn in the early 1900s. This film tells its grand and tragic story (Opens in new window). Old structures were built of it throughout Appalachia, and a few still are. Once standing trees were blighted, they were prone to bug infestation and died as ghosts on the stump, This wood once harvested became "wormy chestnut".  In the early 20th century, wormy Chestnut, was hoarded and highly valued by our forefathers as if it were gold. Stashes of wormy Chestnut remain to this day sporadically throughout the region, and on occasion an old house or barn is taken apart and some of its boards are wormy chestnut. These occurrences are becoming increasingly rare, though there is always hope for a future while there are people putting their energy behind it.

At Mountain Home Woods, we are proud to present wormy American Chestnut pieces in our Heritage Wood Series. It is our hope that these pieces, recovered from old Appalachian structures, will be given another life of meaning in yours.



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​Thank you to the hard work of the people at The American Chestnut Foundation. Mountain Home Woods is not affiliated with The American Chestnut Foundation, we are just appreciative of the hard work they do to keep this part of Appalachian history alive. ​