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This article is from the Encyclopedia of North Carolina edited by William S. Powell. Copyright © 2006 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

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Maple Syrup

by William S. Powell, 2006

Maple syrup and maple sugar, usually associated with Vermont and other parts of New England, began to be produced by Moravian settlers in Piedmont North Carolina soon after they arrived in the region. A daily journal for 3 Jan. 1754 recorded that the settlers boiled sap from maple trees (Acer saccharum) growing around them to make syrup. Ten years later, they noted that the sap was "so sweet that some sugar can be boiled from it, and so plentiful that some use it for a drink at the time it is rising. It flows best on clear, cool nights in spring." Early settlers discovered the Indians using maple sap in this manner.

Reference:

Adelaide L. Fries, ed., Records of the Moravians in North Carolina, vols. 1 and 2 (1922).

Image Credit:

Maple Syrup. Image courtesy of Flickr user Susy Morris. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/chiotsrun/4425645764/ (accessed August 20, 2012).

Subjects:

Colonial period (1600-1763)

Food and drink

Moravians

Precolonial period (pre-1600)

Authors:

Powell, William S.

Origin - location:

Winston-Salem

From:

Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.

1 January 2006 | Powell, William S.