Carpinus caroliniana, musclewood 

Thank you! You can compare their characteristics at www.wood-database.com/. Ostrya virginiana, hophornbeam, is slightly harder.

@@SylvanGreenEarth Thanks for the correct answer. I also did my research and looked it up. Found the same website. Good stuff. It's amazing that our Hornbeam "Ironwoods" are actually not at the very high end of the most dense hardest woods. As a large portion of the most densest and hardest woods are often the Tropical Hardwoods. I also remember from years ago in my observations, that one negative effect of Hornbeam breaking down and rot quickly in the wilds of nature. However if you harvest it, debark and Season it indoors all of it's Streangths will come together to be preserved. American Hop Hornbeam like you said is slightly harder and more resistant to rot if left out in the wilds. The larger European size version of Hornbeam is not as hard as the American version.