After six years the posts on our front porch need to go. Several are
rotting and the rest are coming apart where the sundry tiny scraps of
wood were finger jointed together to create something that mimicked a
board.

Hollow or solid? I've read that columns should be hollow and vented top
and bottom to allow moisture to escape. These will be 5" x 5" X 96",
replacing the somewhat skimpy looking solid 4x4's. Is a hollow center a
good idea on posts of this size?

What wood? White pine seems to be the long time favorite around here
(Massachusetts). I've got a call in to a local sawmill for information
on their material. Any better choices? I don't much fancy turning knotty
wood--knots in softwood are like turning rocks. I priced western red
cedar this afternoon and while it was very nice, and I bought some to
make some garden ornaments for SWMBO it ran from $4.50-$6.50 a board
foot for the OK to really nice material. (It was even worse at the
Despot, where the "1X's" were barely a half inch thick and they don't
stock 2X material. At that price Teak or mahogany start to look
competitive! --but painting them would be painful. I'm *really* not
anxious to turn treated SYP from the Despot, but would like something
more rot resistant the junk the cheapo builder installed.

Thanks,
Roger