Randy Harris

Turpentown Randy Harris

During the late 1890's, turpentine began to replace oranges as Florida's number one agricultural product. A succession of devastating freezes all but wiped out the citrus industry. The sap extracted from the Longleaf Pine trees was distilled to produce turpentine and pitch or "Naval Stores" used to help waterproof wooden ships. The work required to extract the sap was hard and sometimes brutal. "Turpentine Camps" were set up to house the workers who extracted the sap, from sunup to sundown. The workers were treated poorly and kept indebted to the company store to prevent them from leaving. Turpentown is about one such camp.