The Etna turpentine manufacturing town was in operation from 1898 through approximately 1916. During those years, free and convict laborers were employed to extract turpentine from longleaf pine trees. Turpentine production was an integral part of the naval stores industry. It enjoyed a long history in the longleaf pine forests of Florida. Records show that in 1905, 840 workers, including 750 men, 30 women, and 60 children were employed in the turpentine industry in Citrus County.

Cheap labor in this industry during the early twentieth century relied heavily on convicts. (Florida Archives). Wages were typically paid after the harvest, and the laborers were advanced cash or credit in the company store. These company stores often had extremely inflated prices and required payment of interest on debt.

A laborer's typical meal consisted of cornbread, bacon, black coffee, and an occasional treat of baking powder biscuits (Pridgen 1921:104). Hunting and trapping added some variety to the laborer's diet. Wood cabins or shacks with dirt floors often housed as many as eight men (Daniel 1990:39).

According to R. Christopher Goodwin Associates, the Etna Camp contained the structural remains of several dwellings that probably were occupied by laborers, although management may have occupied several at the northern edge of the site. The site, therefore, presented an excellent opportunity to explore the nature of housing in a turpentine town.

The Etna site contained two distilleries and numerous rosin dumps. The collection of pine tree sap extended for many miles to the north of the Etna Town. Even today broken fragments of collection cups can be found about 8 to 12 inches below the surface of pastures south of Cardinal Road. In the 1890s Florida became the largest producer of naval stores in the country.

The resin collector would cut an angular slash on opposite sides of the tree, attach a metal gutter to the tree and hang clay collection cups from the tree below the gutter. The sap would normally run between March and October. Because of the harsh treatment, long leaf pines would produce resin for only about 3 years.

The collected sap would then be transported to one of the on-site distilleries. The steam builers would produce turpentine, gum spirits of turpentine and oils. These raw materials were used in the manufacture of paints, stains, varnishes, shoe polish, chemicals, medicines and of course in the boat building industry.

Unfortunately, conservation was not on the minds of the turpentine producers. As turpentine collection declined, the lumber industry moved in. Pine trees were cut at an alarming rate and, unlike in Georgia, no replanting of pine trees was done. After the collapse of the turpentine industry, the Etna town continued for many years to be a viable part in support of the logging industry and sawmills. Records indicate that the commissary at Etna was still open for business in 1924, selling farm equipment and food to Etna residents and surrounding farms.