Page 4-Sectioii II
THE PILOT—Southern Pines, North Carolina
Wednesday, June 27,1984
Aviation Came To Dairy Field At Pinehurst In 1911
BY JIM McDuffie
Less than a decade after Or
ville and Wilbur Wright made
their conquest of the skies over
Kitty Hawk, the first airplanes
appeared in Moore County.
Lincoln Beachy, described in
the newspapers of the day as one
of America’s most daring early
aviators, brought his biplane to
the dairy field at Pinehurst.
Although this arrival of aviation
in the area was a nuisance to the
resort guests and native cows-
often the targets of hawk-like
dives by Beachy-it was thrilling
to most.
As the Pinehurst Outlook of
April 1, 1911, reported, “All
Moore County gathered to wit
ness Saturday’s special
exhibition bi-plane flights and all
Pinehurst joined in touching
elbows and exchanging greetings
with the residents from towns
within access of special trains.
‘County Fair’ day it was, a
holiday long to be recalled in a
firelight glow, round cabin
fireside, an epoch in Village
history.
“The flights, three in number,
were perfect exhibitions, mar
velous when we recall the
progress that has been made
within a few short years.
“The first flight was over the
golf course where the tournament
YOST PLANE — Lloyd Yost aboard his Fairchild cabin monoplane, the
jirst to serve the growing resort communities of Pinehurst and Southern
Pines. —(John Hemmer Photo, Tufts Archives).
(North and South Amateur) was
in progress; the second, sharp
turns, rapid rises, and quick dips
above the aviation field; and the
third, a long straightaway which
reduced the machine to a mere
speck which hovered afar off,
then drew rapidly nearer,
passing three thousand feet
above the earth.”
Beachy left Pinehurst to con
tinue his exhibitions nationwide.
His last show came in 1915 when
his plane plunged 7,000 feet into
San Francisco Bay and he was
drowned.
Sport of “Buzzing”
But the cows and caddies of
Pinehurst had not seen the last of
airplanes.
In the early 1920s Lloyd Yost
left his native Pennsylvania to
establish an agency at the dairy
field for selling WACO airplanes
and to teach flying.
Like Beachy and other early
aviators, Yost had a penchant for
Whispering Pines Began With Comer Land Sales
BY EDWARD L. COMER
In 1947,1 began doing business
in insurance and real estate from
an office in Carthage. Several
years later, in 1958, a Mr. A.B.
Hardee from Lexington
happened to come into my office.
He stated that he was attending a
Rotary convention in Pinehurst
and had become very impressed
with our area. He expressed an
interest in buying a large lake or
lakesite for the purpose of
creating a lakeside development.
I showed him around and was
fortunate to sell him the perfect
piece of property, which
contained 475 acres and included
a 275 acre lake known as
Thagards Lake. This lake was
over 200 years old and had been
used as a grist mill and later to
generate power. Until that
fortunate day for all of Moore
County, there had been
practically no growth or
progress in the county since the
great depression.
I then entered into a signed
agreement to obtain additional
parcels for him and to represent
him in sales. I was able to obtain
enough property adjoining the
original tract to build four more
lakes and three golf courses. The
tremendous success of this
project was due in part to the
resident engineer, Ernest
McCutcheon, who provided for
ample sized lots, parks and
community beaches. Being
practically a native of Moore
County, I saw the great potential
of this area for new growth in
recreation and retirement. As a
result of this successful venture,
there followed the creation of the
Country Club of N.C., Foxfire,
Seven Lakes, Lake Surf (now
Woodlake) and the expansion of
Pinehurst.
At the inception of what is now
the Village of Whispering Pines,
there was only one home on the
approximate 2,500 acres and the
total valuation of this acreage
would not have been over
1250,000. Today, we are the
county’s third largest taxpayer.
According to “Poor Cliff’s
Almanac,” just the real estate
valuation base is over $54,000,000
and is over $14,000,000 higher
than Aberdeen. Whispering
Pines is rated as the fourth most
affluent town in the State of
North Carolina.
In summary, I can only say
that I feel privileged to have been
a part of this most important and
historical event in our beloved
county. I appreciate the
wonderful people who find our
area desirable and elect to come
here to enjoy life with us.
Today, Comer’s Realty is still
a flourishing, one-man operation,
active in most of Moore County.
Waterey Branch
Waterey Branch School was
near an old copper shop below the
McLaughlin home on the present
Lake Surf (Woodlake) Road.
There is reference of a young
“Mr. Currie” who taught school
at Waterey Branch in 1878. He
supposedly surveyed the first
land in Vass.
Mrs. Sadie Gilliland Oldham
and her mother were carried to a
little house near the school on
Monday morning and stayed until
Friday so that Sadie might go to
school.
Donnie Mcdonald from
Cameron taught at Waterey
Branch along with Mr. Currie.
Will McCraney and John
William Smith were some others
who attended Waterey Branch.
1784 NA
200
^ V 1984
Riley Paving
Company
Salutes
Moore County's
200th Anniversary
Our new modern paving facility at Liberty, N.C.
•Asphalt Paving •Resurfacing •Streets
•Driveways •Parking Lots •Tennis Courts
Our Main Number: 947-5376 At our Carthage Plant, Sanford Road
37 Riley ^3^7
YEARS Paving Inc.
Jimmy Riley, Owner
exciting the Village. It was only a
short time after his arrival that
he received the first of several
complaints about “buzzing”
golfers.
Pinehurst, Inc. President
Richard S. Tufts received on Feb.
2,1926, a letter from resort guest
Frank Finney requesting that
Tufts prohibit flights over the
links.
Finney wrote, “I have long felt
that the airoplane flying over the
golf courses was a nuisance to the
players. Today I was scared out
of my wits, as well as others with
me, when the plane shut off its
engine and swooped down to a
height of about 25 feet over our
heads on the 16th hole, course
3...and coasted to the field amid
laughter in the plane at our
discomfort.”
“Couldn’t the flyers keep away
from the courses and fly out in
the country just as well?” he ask
ed. “I think every golfer would
send you...a gold medal if those
darn planes would keep away
from the courses.”
Finney closed his letter saying,
“the worst part of the episode”
was losing the 16th hole.
Tufts replied, “If you ever hear
of that fellow doing any such fool
trick again just step down to my
house and get a shot gun and go
up and promptly shoot it into (the
plane).”
But, as many in the community
later attested, Yost never ac
tually endangered lives. In fact,
his passenger services became
an asset to the resort and his
early efforts to gain im
provements at the dairy field led
to the construction of the modern-
day Moore County Airport.
Airport Growth
By the mid-1920s, Yost had firm
assurances from Tufts that a
“first rate” airfield would be
completed before the decade en
ded. In January 1928 Tufts met
with other area businessmen to
study the feasibility of a new air
field, concluding that people were
turning to aviation as they had to
automobiles and that an
adequate facility was necessary.
After enlisting federal
assistance in the selection of a
site, a crew of about a hundred
men spent the early summer
months clearing land and plan
ting grass for the new airfield.
One county newspaper called it a
“model field ideal for the pur-
~ Crow* regularly gathered at the new Moore
chi^e%^ ^ ^ shows.—(John Hemmer Photo, TuftsAr-
pose” and “one of the big flying
fields of the South.”
Although regular passenger
service became commonplace
when the field was opened, the
local newspaper continued prin
ting the “Airport Notes” column
which logged the cities and towns
from which resort guests,
businessmen and other hailed.
For the year round residents less
given to air travel, this news ten
ded to offer a sense that their
community was in a national
mainstream. After all. New York
was only a “six or seven hour
hop.”
Occasionally the press had
more interesting copy to file from
the airport.
It was reported in 1931 that a
“mighty legion of Sandhill folks”
greeted world famed pilot Amelia
Earhart when she flew in aboard
an autogyro-the “windmill
plane” that was a prototype of
the helicopter.
Similar crowds assembled in
the winter of 1932 to watch about
100 fliers in 40 planes, all entrants
in the New York to Miami Air
Derby, make an overnight stop at
the airport.
In the years that followed
bigger and faster planes arrived
regularly to replace the old
biplanes which had “buzzed”
cows and given new meaning to
the golf term, “birdie.” Aviation
was coming of age.
AMELIA EARHART — Famed American pilot
Amelia Earhart visited the Moore County Air
port in the 1930s and exhibited her gyroplane, a
forerunner of the helicopter. —(John Hemmer
Photo, Tufts Archives).
Distinguished Fashions
For Men And Women
Since 1972
Town & Country Shopping Center
Aberdeen
We Share A Sense Of Special Pride In Working And Playing
With Delightful Neighbors In Beautiful Moore County, 200
Years Young On July Fourth. Thank You For Yoiu Friend
ship And Warm Anniversary Greetings.
1784
200
Voit Gilmore, President
Charles Cole, General Manager
Sara Wathen, Manager-Ladieswear
Bud Esleeck, Manager-Menswear
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