where the chestnuts grew native (east of the Mississippi) they were the #1 food source...even over white oak acorns. The chestnuts started dying out the same time the passenger pigeon did. Lots of wildlife and people relied on the nuts that fell every year from the trees. 1/4 of all the trees in the Appalachia used to be Chestnut.
Here are a few facts about the Chestnut from the ACCF.
When the Europeans arrived in North America, one-fourth of the trees in the forest were American Chestnuts (Castanea dentata). Commonly over one hundred feet tall with trunks five to seven feet in diameter, they were the tallest and most bountiful member of the forest community. The durable, straight-grained wood was used for houses, barns, furniture, paneling and fences. Today much of the rail fencing along the Blue Ridge Parkway is chestnut. A dependable yearly crop of nuts provided food for wild birds, squirrels, turkeys, deer, and bears and cash for mountain families. Before 1900 and the introduction of Chestnut blight, Chestnut mast fell like rain in the fall of the year. After the blight struck, it left in its wake over 3.5 billion dead Chestnut trees and a void that could only partially be filled by Oaks and other tree species. Through the years, much has been learned about Chestnut Blight and breeding for resistance so that today, with recent breakthroughs, restoration of the American Chestnut tree is increasingly possible.
A favorite among loggers, the American Chestnut was a large tree comparable to the Tulip Poplar, growing to over 100 feet tall on good sites and could live several hundred years. Chestnut lumber was strong, straight grained, lightweight, and easily worked. Its uses ranged from fine furniture to utility poles.
The drought resistant, late blooming Chestnut was a dependable source of mast for wildlife. Unlike many Oaks, its nut crop was unaffected by late freezes. The Chestnut thrived on dry, well-drained slopes where many other tree species struggled.
Here are a few vintage pics of the American Chestnut