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On March 5, 1946, the signing of a lease on 1,365 acres of The Big Woods, near Como, North Carolina, to the United States Forest Service. The signing by officials of Camp Manufacturing Co. marked a big step forward in forestry development and preservation in the tidewater regions of Virginia and North Carolina.  Signers of the lease were James L. Camp Jr., president of Camp Manufacturing Co., Franklin, Va., and Dr. I. T. Haig, director of the Appalachian Forest Experiment Station, Asheville, N.C.

The lease was to be renewable annually for a period of 30 years.  In accepting the lease, Dr. Haig pointed out that the rental is a nominal $1.00 per year.  In effect, Camp Manufacturing Co. is dedicating the tract to forest research.  Dr. Haig further commented that the Camp company had long been a recognized leader and a major influence in the field of conservation and forestry in the tidewater regions of Virginia and North Carolina. He praised the current action as one of the most significant to date. 

James L. Camp Jr. described the experimental tract as a portion of the ten thousand acre old-growth loblolly pine forest lands, purchased by his Uncle Paul D. Camp from various landowners, incrementally. This period dates from as far back as the year 1889 to well into the early 1900s. 1900s.  Those forest lands,  collectively, were called “The Big Woods”.  

Prior to 1887, Paul D. Camp was in full vigor of his early manhood residing at the Old Cowper Home Place at Como, N. C. – where his sons Paul Ryland Camp and John Madison Camp were born.  In 1887, Camp Manufacturing Co. was established, at Franklin, Virginia, with Paul as president; his brother James L. Camp, Sr., as vice president; and brother Robert J. Camp, as secretary-treasurer.  

The purchased forest lands, when consolidated under Camp ownership, became known as “The Big Woods”.  It was located in Hertford County, North Carolina — about eight miles northeast of Murfreesboro.  In 1946, “The Big Woods” covered approximately twelve-thousand acres and was located in an angle formed by the junction of the Meherrin and Chowan rivers and bounded on its north by Buckhorn Creek and on its west by Liverman Creek. 

Incidentally, over a good period of time, starting around 1900, Paul Camp, with his brothers and their sons, conducted many hunting trips – for their customers and friends – into “The Big Woods”.  They mostly pursued deer, quail, and wild turkey.   After moving to Franklin, Paul would take trips to the “The Big Woods” on his horse and buggy, crossing the Nottoway River at Smith’s Ferry.  Starting in 1915, though, he drove his Buick touring car — still catching the ferry.  (The General Vaughan Bridge replaced the Smith’s Ferry crossing in 1920.)  Some time, he would stay overnight, using for sheltering an abandoned farmhouse or makeshift lean-tos.   In 1927, a large log-house type hunting lodge was built and dubbed “Camp P.D.” in memory, of course, of Paul D. Camp who had died in 1924.  Over the ensuing years, a lot of hunts were held using the hunting lodge as a base of operations; and, many feasts took place there. 

The only timber cutting of consequence in “The Big Woods” for an extended period of time was the removal of selected trees for pilings during World War II.  This was one of the few forests along the East Coast capable of supplying 100-foot pilings in any quantity.  In preliminary surveys, foresters found trees over fifty inches in diameter at breast height – some having a total height of 150 feet.   This unusual growth was due to the high productivity of the soil and forest preservation that had occurred over many years.   

The research tract was the scene of many different experiments.  Some of the research focused on the different tree harvesting methods of the forest crop — to ensure its renewal and perpetuation; other research was designed to determine methods of maintaining the maximum growth rate throughout the life of the crop.  All studies were directed toward determination of the most profitable methods of managing loblolly pine in the Coastal plains of Virginia and North Carolina.   

The Northern Coastal Plain embraces an area of thirteen million acres in the tidewater regions of Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina.  In 1946, according to the most recent United States Forest Service survey figures, eight million of those thirteen million acres were classed as commercial forest land.  At that time, forty-eight percent of those forest lands were owned by farmers in individual woodlands averaging fifty acres in size.  Inasmuch as all the research findings on the “The Big Woods” tract was made available to the public, small woodland owners as well as larger industrial owners benefitted from the results obtained.  According to James L. Camp Jr., the continued welfare of the wood-using industries of the coastal plains was in large part dependent on increasing the productivity of forest resources.

The Franklin Research Center, as it was frequently called, concentrated on the study of loblolly pine — as this type of tree covers about one half of the eight million acres in the North Atlantic Coastal Plain.  Bottomland hardwoods comprised the next largest forest type, about one and one half million acres.

CLYDE PARKER is a retired human resources manager for the former Franklin Equipment Co. and a member of the Southampton County Historical Society. His email address is magnolia101@charter.net.