Hi all :
great conversation and good subject, and one that I have pondered myself many times over the years. But I think as you all probably know by now I refer back to buildings that have really stood the test of time like 150 to 200 years of wind, snow loads, earthquakes etc. A majority of the buildings around here in the north country, and I might add framed by settlers from the Eastern United States used Northern White pine predominantly for their frames, posts, plates, flooring--you name it. They easily withstood the loads exerted on them, and are still standing nice and straight. I have noticed some smaller buildings, like driveshed for instance that were framed entirely with white ash, in this case they were able to use smaller dimension timbers, and the appearance of the frames are really neat, and strong. But having said that I know from experience that hewing, and framing using the hard woods are tricky, time consuming, and you have to do it in the cooler weather to avoid warping and twisting. There is no mistake about it Pine is and was by far the #1 choice of timbers used for barns, houses, drivesheds used by the early timber framers, and these trees grew abundantly in most areas.
NH