The building of American wooden tall ships triggered the demand for timber from live oak trees abundant on Daufuskie. This hardwood species, unique to the southeastern coast, was prized by shipbuilders for its strength and resistance to rot, as well as its naturally curved limbs. Daufuskie was in the center of the "live oaking" trade crucial to the development of US maritime power. Shipwrights traveled to Daufuskie and the lowcountry to fell the oaks, hew them, and lug the pieces by oxen to coastal landings. The USS "Constitution"—"Old Ironsides"—was constructed with live oak.