Cultural geography is the study of the geographic aspect of culture. That is, cultural geography analyzes the location and distribution of culture. Since this is a very broad topic, we will try to focus on the cultural geography of the white pine in Michigan. We will analyze its uses and its effects on the Michigan population and culture.

The white pine has many advantageous characteristics. It has very few knots, is very straight, seldom splits, holds paint very well and is easily worked with. Because of these advantages, the white pine was in high demand during the nineteenth century, and to some extent still is today. It was used to build almost everything, from houses to cabinets, to matches. The very large white pines were even reserved to be used as masts for British ships!

The white pine is located in the Northeastern United States. Although there were huge stands of white pine in New York and Maine, by 1840, many of the trees had been logged and lumbermen were looking for new stands.