Story of George Goodwin

Posted on 30 may 2008

Good ideas come when they are not expected. Just that very case occurred with George Goodwin. When he went fishing onto a small Florida river, somewhere in the early seventieth, he fished out more snags than perches.

Goodwin fished out that is also known as “sunken logs” (big trees, which float in the rivers). In 1800s woodcutters were felling centuries-old cypresses and pines, used on construction sites. It was they who invented that way of the wood delivery – to float trees by the rivers. That time, millions of acres of land in the south of US were covered with dense, virgin forest, and workers did not cause harm to the environment. But today their abundance fell up to 5–10 thousand acres, the majority of which is under the State protection, unlike the trees floating in the water.

As Goodwin became interested in sunken logs, he learned that after quite prolonged period of time, which a tree is in water, the outer side of it is decomposing, and the interior side remains in an excellent condition. By the way, interior side of trees is known as the “heart of pine” or “heart of cypress” in the production of floor decking and wood panels.

Goodwin purchased a sawmill, where he and his wife Carol, the vice president of the company, lived and worked. They paid divers for 2–3 dollars per a sunken log, extracted from rivers in Florida. Then they cleared trunks and made from them the material for flooring, which was sold for 5–20 dollars per foot. Some years ago the company staff encountered 25 people, and the budget allowed to take a loan to build a warehouse, measuring 15 000 square feet, to store nearly 2 million of boards.

“Goodwin Heart Pine” supplied the builders of houses of such celebrities as Paul McCartney, Morgan Freeman and Ted Turner. Also, this wood is used for historical sites, including “Ernest Hemingway Home” and “Museum in Key West”. Floor Decking by Goodwin were very similar to those from Hemingway’s, said Linda Mendez, the museum director.

The growing popularity of antique wood attracts many competitors to this market, not all of them have good intentions. “There is a joke in the South – all who have pick-ups, a little at a time sell the heart pine,” said Carol Goodwin, “But you never sure what you buy.” Because there is no current requirements to that is called heart pine – the latest documents dated year 1924 – inadvertent buyers can buy the core of young pine trees, which in quality has not the slightest resemblance to Goodwins’.

When a hurricane knocks down old trees, the Goodwins often buy them. Also they buy and sell timber from old buildings.

www.heartpine.com