Exposure to light will change the color of most woods. But you have cedar for sure, as many have witnessed.
Going to burn it, turn it, or make something else from it?
The grain sure looks like cedar to me...
you are south US so it is Eastern Red Cedar!!!!
Juniperus virginiana
Looks just like cedar to me...
ditto ... Cedar
Looks like cedar
Cedar, for certain.
I've never seen wood this color. It really is purple. The color is more striking in person than in this photo (taken just after the wood was split).
The tree in question has been dead for a long time -- in February of '09 when I got the place the tree looked quite dead. There is no bark or leaves.
Does anybody know what kind of tree this is? I'm curious since the color is so odd.