From 1883 to 1949; Southern Pines Grows Fast To Become Today’s Unique Resort
j Streamlined Modern Community Keeps
Hotels, Guest Houses, Motor Courts
Extend Hospitality - Sonthern Styl
Traditions Built Up
Over Many Years
Sandhills hotels formerly all
closed in the summertime, in
keeping with the character of
Southern Pines and Pinehurst as
winter resorts.
Now some of them stay open
all summer long. These are in
Southern Pines, which is becom
ing more and more of a year-
round town, a place of homes
where winter visitors still come
and go but where many families
> have their permanent lares and
penates and travelers drop in in
July as well as in Jamoary.
There are still, however, a num
ber which are exclusively “win
ter resort,” with all the service
and luxury that implies.
The entire group of hotels of
fers accommodations to practical
ly everyone, with a wide range of
atmospheres, services and prices.
They include several which are
^ world-famed, with a prized heri
tage of hospitality dating from
the early days of the century.
Among Southern Pines resort
hotels, the Highland Pines
Inn, built in 1912, is the largest,
though the others are also quite
capacious and all serve hospitably
as headquarters for numerous
conventions throughout the fall,
winter and spring.
At the Highland Pines Inn,
owned and managed by partners
Charles L. Stitzer and Walter Lee
Nicholson (the latter a new part
ner this year) the “hunting
crowd” finds a congenial head
quarters, as young Proprietor
Stitzer is definitely one of them
and horsemen have a way of at
tracting others. Nicholson, a golf-
minded hotel man, has some
special events up his sleeve for
the coming winter. Interlaced
with all of these will no doubt
be many of the other events, so
cial and cultural, for which the
Inn has become well known and
in which the townsfolk join in
hearty appreciation with the
guests. Art exhibits, dramatic
presentations, buffet suppers and
bridge parties keep things lively
at this beautiful hotel throughout
the season.
* Ralph Seabury is at the desk
again this year, with Mrs. Sea
bury keeping house, and Mrs.
Emma Collins in charge of the
dining room. The Seaburys have
a gift shop, the Wellsweep, at
Oakland, Maine, in the summer.
The Hollywood, which is
managed by John arid George
Pottle, is two blocks from the
heart of town, yet it is a quiet
g. and homelike place which an-
* nually attracts large numbers of
guests from the north, many of
them coming for their 25th or
30th winter. The present building
is only slightly younger than the
Highland Pines Inn, as it was'
‘completed and opened for its first
season in 1913. However, its
builder and owner, grandfather
of the “Pottle boys” of today, had
been in the hotel business here
% and Pinehurst for several years
. before that. The Pottles are new
year-round residents and are con
sidering keeping their hotel open
all year instead of from October
to May, as they have many re
quests to do so.
Hugh Galbraith and Miss Doro-
they McNichol are back at the
" Hollywood desk this year, with
Miss Margaret Toth as hostess in
the dining room and Miss Lena
Lancaster as housekeeper. In the
kitchen Henry Sutton, who has
served as assistant chef'for some
30 years, is head chef this year.
The Mid Pines club, a golfer’s
paradise, is located a mile or two
outside of town, in beautiful
Knollwood. It was built in the
20s as a “rich man’s club,” an
swering every need for luxury
and service of a group of fasti-
dious northerners. It was later
purchased by John Sprunt Hill, of
Durham, and other stgckhplders,
and six years ago placed under
the efficient management of Mr.
, and Mrs. Frank E. Cosgrove. With
their golfing daughters, Louise,
Ann and Jean, the Cosgroves
have made of the Mid Pines a
charming, informal, hospitable
center of sports and social life,
attracting golf parties large and
small as well as conventions for
which everything must be “jusl
right.”
The Cosgroves are being assist
ed by a star-studded staff, whici
includes three women’s'State gol
champions arid one of the best'
known pros in the country. The
champs are Ruth Woodward
Massachusetts; Pat O’Sullivan
Connecticut, and Mae Murray
Vermont; the pro, Johnny Bulla
who soon after coming to the Mic
Pines this year won second monej
in the North and South.
Another local hotel of long tra
dition, which has gone on a year-
round schedule just this year, it
The Southland, owned and man
aged by Mrs. Bernice Har- j
rington, who has been on
the job since 1926. The Southland,
Hotel, with its wide veranda and
gracious shaded garden—newly
cleared out and beautified this
year—offers a haven for the
whole winter to visitors from the
north and is also becoming more
and more popular as a vacation
hotel for golfers, family parties
and honeymooners.
The Southland has undergone
extensive renovations this year,
and a marquee at the entrance
gives it quite an air, besides iden
tifying it easily among other
downtown buildings.
Mrs. Sarah McCrea, of Bethler
hem, N. H., has been housekeep
er at the Southland for 20 years.
Old-Time Flavor, Year-Round Charm
Since the town board took, its oath of office in May it has undergone one or two changes. Two mem
bers have resigned; one new bne has been added. The majority, however, remains as shown above; from
left, Howard Burns, city clerk and treasurer; Mayor C. N. Page; L. V. O’Callaghan; C. C. Kennedy
(resigned)- C. S. Patch, Jr.; E. C. Stevens; John S. Ruggles (resigned, succeeded by Walter E. Blue).
Lloyd' Clark was appointed this week to succeed Mr. Kennedy. (Photo by Humphrey)
FIRST MAYOR
SQUIRE C. W. SHAW
Mrs. Eloise Stephens, of Raleigh,
assists Mrs. Harrington in the
capacity of secretary.
During the year the Southland,
with its excellent cuisine is the
setting for many local social
events. Many of the teen-age and
‘college set” dances are held
■(here.
-Constant renovation, with ad
ditions from time to time, have
kept these hotels modern and up
to-date, with antiquity only in
their histories and traditions of
service.
The town has only one hotel
which might be called strictly of
today—^The Belvedere, a commer
cial hotel of brick construction
which can hold its own with any
iof its type in many a larger place.
It is the only one in the Sandhills,
one of the few in the state which
can offer air-conditioned rooms to
(Continued on page 5)
A DEDICATION
“Piles of sand, with a few tracks for streets and if you walked along them you had to
shoo cows and pigs out of your way.” .i -n- ■ u
That’s the way the oldest Old-timers used to describe Southern Pmes, way back when.
The next Old-timers, ten years or so later, tell of the business center on Pennsylvania
Avenue and the homes along Bennett Street; they tell of meat coming in by schooner
wagon and of the trolley that ran between Southern Pines and Pinehurst . . . and they
add: “What a pity that it was ever given up!”
Be that as it may, Southern Pines and Pinehurst are a good many jittnps ahead of
those old cow-and-pig-and-trolley days, and riding from one to the other m a two-door
job, along the pinetree-bordered double road will get by with most people today. They
are very pleased with this section, just like it is. -
But then there are the Young-timers, the forward-looking young men and women of
the town who have, as is only right that they should, visions of a future that is brighter
than the brightness of today. In their hands lies this future and already it is evident
that they are going to meet it with good sense and ability. -r. • +
In a special sense this Resort Issue of The Pilot is their paper. For in its page^ that
tell of the things of the past and those of the present, is inherent the promise of the fu
ture. And they are the future. , . -n j • n f
The Pilot dedicates this issue to the young people of the Sandhills and, especially, of
Southern Pines. To the Young-timers!
A POSTSCRIPT
And having done that, we think of the Old-timers, the ones who have gone on and
the ones who are still here. They are the past and in a very special sense, also, they are
with us today. For it was their dreams that made this place possible, it was their work
and courage and good sense that made it come true. The Pilot is going to choose three
of them today, three to represent all the rest, and add another dedication: To Bion But
ler, Frank Buchan, and Claude Hayes. -
How Patrick Built A Town In The Sandhills
And Others Made It A Good Place To Live
Elsewhere in these pages, it is
told how pinetrees were turned
into dollars in the Sandhills and
dollars into resorts. In Southern
Pines, a sandbank was turned into
a town, attracting in the process
a concourse of folks from all
parts of the country, who- turned
themselves into Tar Heels with
out more ado. Several of them
became nationally famous while
they were doing it.
The Founding Father of South
ern Pines was a Tar Heel already
and was from Wadesboro. His
name was John T. Patrick, and
he is spoken of as Industrial
Agent for the Seaboard Airline.
He bought 570 acres of land at
$2.50 an acre and declared it a
town. That was in 1883.
But a town that had streets
laid out and named, and lots
staked out, still needed some
thing. People perhaps? John T.
Patrick got aboard a Seaboard
train and went up north to look
for people for his town. And just
to make sure he got them, he
took along a minstrel shov/ and
he advertised his lots by swap
ping a lot for an ad in the north
ern papers.
'Ware BullI
The result' of all this activity
was the incorporation of South
ern Pines. It became a town four
years later, in 1887. That is, it ac
quired a mayor' and board of
commissioners then, and was duly
and legally incorporated, but the
stock ran wild in the center of
the new metropolis so that you
fell over a sleeping hog when you
went for your mail in the eve
ning, and were liable any time to
be chased up street by an angry
bull if you had the wrong color
shirt on. The streets were deep
[with dust in the summer and lit
tle more than tracks, and some
people might have been found
to dispute the fact that Southern
Pines really was a town, mayor
or no mayor, incorporated or not
incorporated.
But only a few would haVe
been so carping. Most of them
knew right well that they lived in
a town, and a fine town, to boot.
There was a post office, there was
a church, where all denomina
tions worshipped by turns, a
community idea that has a good
deal to be said for it. There was
one drug store and, very soon,
two. There were homes and shops
and the hotels went up over night
like mushrooms. And if some of
them burned up very fast, too,
that was nobody’s fault, but the
heart pine they were made of
and lack of water.
(Continued on Page 4)
A Town of Homes,
Schools, Churches
If you’re looking for the usual
history-encrusted Southern town,
replete with Civil War memories,
grey moss, lavendar and old lace,
you won’t find it in Southern
Pines—though you’ll find all the
hospitality and friendly ways
which grow naturally in Dixie.
You’ll find also a modem year-
round community with resort fea
tures which lift it from the usual
—golf courses second to none, a
vigorous riding and bunting life,
tennis and other sports, along
with smart modern shops, excel
lent schools both public and pri
vate; six churches, two theatres,
two modern hospitals close by,
services of all sorts to satisfy
those who are used to the best.
Southern Pines is making her
own history as she goes along,
and it is like no other except, of
course, for the kinship it bears to-
its sister resort, Pinehurst, just
six miles down the road. But even
these heavenly twins have then-
differences.
Founded Iii 1880's
Though history in the sur
rounding reaches of Moore county
dates back far before the Revolu
tion, to the days of doughty Scot
tish pioneers (most of whom
fought for the King when the
Revolution came along), the story
of the town itself goes back only
to the early 1880’s.
Its site was apparently discov
ered simultaneously by some New
Englanders in search of warmth
and health, and by an astute pro
moter who saw in their liking for
the area a rich vein of ore, to be
profitably worked. The difference
between this and numerous simi
lar promotional projects going on
within the state at the same time
was that here, the real stuff was
offered; those who answered the
call found just what the ads said
—fine climate practically all year
round, a healthful dryness of at
mosphere attributable to the
sandy soil (which keeps the tern
perature in winter constantly
slightly above that of surround
ing areas) and plenty of oppor
tunity for new business, good liv
ing and excellent sport.
Scotsmen Came Too
As things started perking along
FOUNDING FATHER
in Southern Pines, Scotsmen liv
ing in the country round about
caught the enthusiasm and came
flocking, so that the development
of the community resulted from
the intermingling of Yankee and
Scottish enterprise.
They turned -out to be conge
nial in many ways, and the blend
was a sturdy one, partaking little
if at all of the slow and easy ways
traditional to the south. These
were go-getters, and without de
lay they built them a town, all
marked out in tidy lots in a pat
tern still used, right in the heart
of the blackjack wilderness.
John T. Patrick, the chief pro
moter, laid out the lots each with
its central square, designed to be
used as playgrounds for children
away from the streets and the
dangers of horse-drawn traffic.
These squares have not been de
veloped according to plan. Prob
ably the children preferred to be
where they could see what was
going on. And a lot did go on, as
new people came, businesses got
started, a sporting life began, golf
courses were built, winter himt-
ing was developed, organizations
were formed (the Village Im
provement society was one of the
-early ones,) trees and gardens
were planted, schools and church
es were built and over the years
Southern Pines became an unus
ual, beautiful and thriving town.
A Town of Homes
It has had its ups and downs,
as must any town devoted as much
as this one to resort life and “win
ter people” (just ask the down-
easters about the “summer peo
ple”—it’s the same thing, in re
verse!) but its main reliance has
been placed on homes and home
keeping families. They’re the
backbone of the nation and
Southern Pines, too, has found
them a sturdy prop.
For this is today truly a town
of homes. Many families live here
all year round, while others go
away in the summer. They wel
come the winter guests, the sport
ing gentry, the travelers along
US Highway 1 who stop by for a
night, or a week or two, en route
to Florida and back. They’re used
to cars with out-of-state licenses
and to accents speaking of Maine,
Boston and Ohio. They’re used to
adapting the town’s economy to
a fluid population—yet more and
more, they are growing accus
tomed to seeing these visitors set
tle down becoming neighbors
and good ones too, because
they’ve picked the place they
liked best of all for home.
All this makes for a cosmopoli
tan life which lifts Southern
Pines to the unusual among vil
lages—for “village” the town still
calls itself, and many of its pleas
ant village ways remain.
Yet the quaint, quiet village of
old, shown in pictures made ne^
the turn of the century and still
dear to the memories of old-
timers, has changed as the years
have brought progress—progress
worked for as diligently by its
citizens as the early settlers work
ed to build- a town in the wilder-
ness. From the start this has been
a civic-minded citizenry, joining
(Continued on Page 5)
The Panoramic study of old Southern Pines shows the section along West Broad
Street from a little south of New York Avenue to New Hampshire Avenue. Several
people have taken a hand at identifying the buildings and we report their findings. At
the left, the second house is the Claude Hayes house, the big house on the corner be
longed to the Grovers then; (it is now the VFW hall), up on the hill behind it stands the
long white Piney Woods Inn, which later burned down. Next'' is the double-porched
Southern Pines Hotel, also the victim of fire, but not until it had reached a ripe old age.
A dim shade, over the top of the pinetrunks insert, is the Prospect House, with Tara
Nook to its right; the Central Hotel adjoins. Then, on Pennsylvania Avenue, me Ham-
lin house stands on the left corner, and the Ruggles store across the street in the center
of the block. The Congregational church, which must have been brand new, towers m
the rear. The Stringer Building, Patch’s Store and the Municipal Building continue up
Broad Street, with the Ozone Hotel, very white, ending the procession.
(Picture courtesy Mrs. John Adams of Pmebluff)