Cypress |alamo hardwoods | san antonio| lumber

American "Bald" Cypress(Taxodium distichum) is an ancient species with a well known history in the United States. The giant cypress trees were a wonder to the explorers who first came across them in the swamps of Louisiana and Florida. These trees rivaled their close cousins, the giant redwoods for age, often reaching 2-3000 years old! Unlike other "evergreens" or "soft"wood species, they will drop their leaves in the winter, like most temperate zone "hard"woods. This gave them the nickname "Bald".

Some lumber from these giant, ancient trees was cut and warehoused at Cypress Gardens in Florida and never used back in the 1910's-20's. This stock has boards over two feet wide and up to 18 feet long! (see bottom of page) This wood was used for counter-tops and "Drain-boards" in the South for many generations, until the large, old trees were cut out by about 1920. Some logs were lost on the bottoms of rivers before they made it to the mill and this gives us "Sinker" stock today. While cypress is famed for its Cypressene oil and rot resistance, newer, younger cypress trees are perhaps fifty years old and do not have the rot resistance of the older stock. New lumber does have exceptional beauty and works well for many interior applications. We work with local mills to request special cuts and sizes from the Hill country.

Many names are used to describe the wood from the cypress tree. "Tidewater" and "red" are used to imply that the wood came from the ancient trees growing in the swamps where the salty sea water would slow down the growing process. These claims are not based on actual grades. Therefore the origin of the wood must be carefully matched to the final usage to ensure a long lifespan for the project. The wide, antique milled stock that came from Florida is reserved for special table-tops and counters (see below). The mIlls that put their names on these giant planks of lumber, Wilson (in Palatka, on the St. John's River) and Burton-Swartz (in Perry, in the panhandle) were out of business well before World War II. One board references "Red Cypress" from the "Jeanerette Lumber and Shingle Company" in Louisiana. The company still exists as an oil and gas company and says they haven't cut a board since 1920. (They provided the 1905 copy of American Lumberman with a history of the Louisiana mills and many great photos).