Tons of rare, centuries-old wood fished from the bottom of the Rappahannock River may soon be making history anew.

Friends of the Rappahannock is offering the remnants of a historic crib dam to specialty wood companies, cabinetmakers, luthiers and artists who want to work with lumber that's unique. The nonprofit group is still accepting bids for the lumber.

The wood was pulled from the river at Fredericksburg when the concrete Embrey Dam, and its predecessor, a wooden crib dam, were demolished in 2004.

City officials allowed FOR to keep the wood salvaged from the river for fundraising purposes. It's stored in piles in a field behind Bragg Hill apartments.

The crib dam, which supplied water to the Rappahannock Canal and to industries in Fredericksburg, dates from the mid-1800s and was built with massive pine beams and oak planks cut from nearby forests.

John Van Hoy, a member of FOR's executive committee, is handling the sale, which is advertised on the organization's Web site--riverfriends.org/.

Unlike timber of today, he says, the old-growth wood stood for hundreds of years before it was cut and milled for the dam.

"The water changes the cell structure in the wood and the patina, so it's really unique as far as the quality and the color," he said.

And because some of the salvaged wood was used to make furniture in an episode of the "New Yankee Workshop," it's even more desirable.

Local guitar maker and folk singer Bob Gramann made a guitar with the wood. The instrument was sold at an FOR fundraiser last year.

FOR has been selling small pieces, with plaques commemorating the demolition of the dams. It plans to keep some of the wood for that purpose, but wants to sell the rest.

"We've researched this on a national level. We've sent fliers out and had quite a bit of success with people calling and interested," Van Hoy said.

The large lots would go to wholesalers, smaller amounts will probably wind up with small, specialty woodworkers.

"There's one really interesting fellow out of West Virginia who wants small pieces" for fountain pens, Van Hoy said.

Van Hoy is sending pictures and samples of the wood to bidders. FOR hopes to get about $8 a board foot for the pine; $10 for the oak--a bargain price that would still amount to over $100,000 if everything is sold.

Since they were pulled from the river, some of the planks have dried and cracked, Van Hoy said. "But it has remained in remarkably good shape. That's why we want to move it out this year."

Unique and historically connected woods are sought after.

Trestlewood Lumber, with locations in Idaho and Utah, salvages wood from old railroad trestles and barns for use as flooring and roof beams.

Cape Fear Heart Pine, on the Cape Fear River in North Carolina, pulls up 200-year-old longleaf pine logs from the river bottom.

"We have contractors buying it for homes, cabinets and flooring," said Teresa Fisher, the company's administrative assistant.

One customer is making picture frames.

"This is not something you can just walk into Lowe's and pick up," she said.