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3	What we lost The American chestnut was a fine timber tree. Its wood had multiple uses. The nuts were sweeter than those of Asian chestnuts. Wildlife depended on chestnuts for food.
4	The Redwood of the East
5	The Redwood of the East
6	Former range of the American Chestnut
7	Abundance of American Chestnut in Tennessee According to Ashe (Chestnut in Tennessee, 1911)
8	A fast-growing tree This photo is of a chestnut tree cross section; it was 6 inches in diameter and 12 years old when it died from the blight
9	Chestnut wood Chestnut rail fences were a common sight in Middle Tennessee during the 1800s and early 1900s. The chestnut fence posts and utility poles were as durable as cedar. Chestnut was used heavily for railroad ties.
10	Chestnut wood Chestnut split easily because of its straight grain. In the 1800s, chestnut shingles were often used for roofing and unpainted chestnut planks made durable siding.
11	chestnut Wood Chestnut, oak, and tulip poplar logs were often used to build log houses and barns in the late 1700s and throughout the 1800s in Tennessee.
12	Chestnut Wood This house in the Mount Vernon Community of Sumner County was built in the 1800s; the siding (chestnut?) conceals chestnut and oak logs.
13	Chestnut wood Wormy chestnut is now highly prized for paneling and furniture. The worm holes were caused by the chestnut timber worm.
14	Sweet flavorful nuts
15	Dependable food for wildlife
16	A devastating disease The chestnut blight was brought to this country on Asian chestnuts probably in the late 1800s. It was first noticed at the New York Zoo in 1904. The American chestnut was defenseless. The blight quickly spread southward and ripped through Middle Tennessee in the 1930s; only a few large trees were still alive in the early 1940s By 1950, practically all standing American chestnut trees in the eastern U. S. had died. This monarch of the eastern hardwood forests was reduced to small persistent sprouts which are now rare in Tennessee and most areas of the eastern U. S.
17	Chestnut blight
18	A battle-scarred chestnut
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