Oakum
Oakum is a preparation of tarred fibre used to seal gaps. Its main traditional applications were in shipbuilding, for caulking or packing the joints of timbers in wooden vessels and the deck planking of iron and steel ships; in plumbing, for sealing joints in cast iron pipe; and in log cabins for chinking. In ship caulking, it was forced between the seams using a hammer and a caulking iron, then sealed into place with hot pitch.
Tar River
North Carolina was originally a naval stores colony—that is, the blanket of long leaf pines that covered the coastal plain was used by the British Navy for ships' masts and the pine pitch was used to manufacture tar caulking for vessels. The river derives its name from its historic use as a major route for tar-laden barges as they headed to the sea. The city of Tarboro is on the banks of the river. Recent research conducted by East Carolina University, Greenville and Pitt County historians has uncovered documentation noting that before the Civil War, the North Carolina Legislature had appropriated funds to construct dams and locks on the Tar River in an attempt to facilitate almost year round navigation for the farm products and naval stores shipping plus passenger boats which were travelling between Tarboro, through Greenville to Washington.
Among the towns and cities along its course are Louisburg, Rocky Mount, Tarboro, and Greenville. The village of Old Sparta was formerly an important riverport on the Tar, but has declined in the 20th century.