 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
heartland towns
Aiken, SC
Bennettsville, SC
Camden, SC
Cary, NC
Chapel
Hill, NC
Charlotte, NC
Cheraw, SC
Columbia, SC
Durham, NC
Fayetteville, NC
Florence, SC
Greensboro, NC
Greenwood, SC
Hartsville, SC
Hickory, NC
High
Point, NC
Lexington, SC
Lincolnton, NC
Manning, SC
Marion
County, SC
Newberry, SC
North
Augusta, SC
Orangeburg, SC
Pinehurst, NC
Raleigh, NC
Research
Triangle, NC
Sanford, NC
Santee, SC
Sumter, SC
Vance
County, NC
Winston-Salem, NC
Books About The
Carolinas
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Put your own spin on it.
No matter your age or interest, chances are good you’ll find your niche in Pinehurst. Besides the famously abundant golf – about 50 courses in the area – you can take up equestrian pursuits, antiquing, or the acclaimed pottery in nearby Seagrove. And there’s lots of water for kids!
All photography courtesy of Pinehurst Resort
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Family time!
Play checkers with your children in the park. Play golf with your buddies at the club. All kinds of “families” enjoy life in the Sandhills
of Moore County – the more to play with!
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
No better conclusion.
A round of cheer after a round of golf cements friendships easily made in Pinehurst, where residents from all over the country have chosen to live. Good schools and health care keep those residents satisfied.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Pinehurst Pop.:
10,439
Southern Pines
Pop.:
11,419
Aberdeen
Pop.:
3,850
Moore
County Pop.:
78,191
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Pinehurst, NC
Golf, golf, golf and
a whole lot more
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION:
interesting insights
|
|
he rolling Sandhills of Moore County in central North Carolina have attracted visitors from near and far for well over a century. Three small, separate but neighboring towns – Southern Pines, Pinehurst and Aberdeen – have combined their temperate climate with a lust for the sport of golf that, since the arrival of the railroad in the 1870s, has transformed the region into not only a destination for visitors, but an area that many love to call home.
It wasn’t always lush greens and high-end living in this area, though. The region’s nomadic Native Americans left a well-established trading and hunting path later used by white settlers. After 1739, pioneers traveling up the Cape Fear River from Wilmington or down the Great Wagon Road began to farm the area, mostly in the northern part of the county.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
s its name might suggest, the Sandhills did not offer particularly fertile land. The immigrants here, chiefly Highland Scots, turned instead to producing naval stores from the ample supply of longleaf pine trees.
Just after the end of the Revolutionary War, Moore County was officially established, and Carthage became the county seat.
|
|
|
|
|
The area around modern Pinehurst continued to lag behind the rest of the county until the arrival of the Raleigh and Augusta Railroad. By 1880, small towns were springing up along the railroad as shipping points for the forest product industry.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Soon, however, a national interest in the health benefits of fresh air and mineral water, as well as well-to-do Yankees looking to escape the Northern winters, made the railroad service even more important. A resort named Shaw’s Ridge (later Southern Pines) became one of the most popular destinations. In 1895, a state-of-the-art Pinehurst resort village, complete with electricity and a telephone system, opened just five miles from Southern Pines.
The rest, as they say, is history. The rich and famous flocked to the area. Rockefellers, DuPonts and Morgans paid extended visits, as did Annie Oakley, John Philip Sousa and Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. Gloria Swanson was the lead in The Sun Sets in Pinehurst, filmed here in 1927. The 1983 film Brainstorm, with Natalie Wood, and Tin Cup, starring Kevin Costner, also feature Pinehurst scenes. Great golfers and other Hollywood notables have signed the roster.
Over time, golf has also become a ruling passion around these three towns. Pinehurst Resort alone features eight golf courses, including the world-renowned Pinehurst Number Two, host of many significant amateur and professional tournaments.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg: Beyond Pinehurst, another 43 quality golf courses dot the rolling terrain within easy reach of the three towns.
|
|
|
|
|
Ambience and Southern charm also have a great deal to do with why people come to the area, and why many choose to stay.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Many families come to the area because of the storied history of courses such as Pinehurst #2, which has hosted golf for 100 years. Besides the 40+ golf courses in the area, there are also many shops and restaurants to attract folks. The Village of Pinehurst, built to resemble a small New England town, really hasn’t changed except for the cars over the decades.
According to those who've moved here, the mild winters and weather are draws and the area is very relocation friendly. Very few people here are natives, so it is very accepting and open. Many of the communities have their own social calendars. There’s an exceptional hospital, great senior programs, good schools and a strong community college that also includes
continuing education. For a set of small towns, it’s quite a broad set of offerings.
Jackie Romanker, who arrived in early 2001 with her husband Len, agrees that the folks she met made her welcome a pleasant one. “There are very warm, friendly, helpful people here,” she says. “Everything is so relaxing. And we have found that when you move here, what you left behind is ‘then,’ and your new life here is ‘now.’ We like the character of the small villages.”
The Romankers came to Pinehurst after seven years in northern New Jersey, where Mrs. Romanker also grew up, plus time spent in Connecticut and Illinois. Escaping Northern winters appealed to them as much as it did to earlier visitors.
|
|
|
|
|
“Even when it’s cold out, and even though there are still four seasons, there’s no on-going doom and gloom here,” she notes. “There is so much green in the pines and the golf greens, and that famed Carolina blue sky really is a unique color.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Romankers had eyed the region since 1996, when Mr. Romanker visited a retired friend here and fell in love with the area. He eventually convinced his wife to visit, too. They came in on a Thursday, drove around with a friend on Friday, then with a Realtor on Saturday before buying land. The home followed later.
Caleb Miles, president
and CEO of the area
convention and visitors
bureau, came to
Pinehurst for a job 22 years ago, by way of Greensboro, Florida and Arizona. When people contact his organization about relocation, the questions are fairly common: location, climate, health care, cost of housing and resale ability.
“We’re not urban,” he says, “but we are central to most of the state’s population centers. Within about two hours west, north or east, you can reach Charlotte, Greensboro and the Triad, the Triangle and Raleigh and Fayetteville, all decent-sized cities. But most everything you need is right here. Even better, we roughly split the distance to the mountains in the west and the Atlantic beaches to the east.”
If it sounds like a perfect formula for visiting or relocating, especially for golf enthusiasts, it just might be. Pinehurst, Southern Pines and Aberdeen have been greeting visitors with class for well over a century. Find out for yourself what has drawn them to these rolling hills.D
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
What to do & What to see
Shaw House Properties
Southern Pines: Several National Register historic homes are opened by the Moore County Historical Society in Southern Pines.
Morganton Road and S.W. Broad Street • 910.692.2051 • www.moorehistory.com
North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame
Southern Pines: In writer James Boyd’s home, displays, photographs and lists of works commemorate notable North Carolina authors, living and deceased.
555 E. Connecticut Ave. • 910.692.6251 • www.weymouthcenter.org • www.ncwriters.org/lhof.htm
Bethesda Church & Cemetery
Aberdeen: Church founded in 1790 whose exterior still displays bullet holes from the Civil War era, as well as an old Slave Gallery and graves of area pioneers.
N.C. 5/Bethesda Road • 910.944.1319
Spend the Night
The Pinehurst Resort
Pinehurst: Since 1895, the world of golf has celebrated this resort, with eight golf courses of its own, and numerous courses nearby. The historic, top-notch Holly Inn and The Carolina Hotels, along with other lodging options, are classic, sophisticated accommodations.
800.487.4653 • www.pinehurst.com
The Pine Crest Inn
Pinehurst: Dating back to the early 1900s, and once home to famed golf architect Donald Ross, the Inn offers a variety of rooms and a cottage.
800.371.2545 • www.pinecrestinnpinehurst.com
Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club, and Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club
Southern Pines: Golf courses and a large range of rooms – and, of course, golf packages. 800.323.2114 • 800.747.7272 • www.pineneedles-midpines.com
Hampton Inn & Suites
Aberdeen: Features 70 rooms and 34 suites; one of the area’s newest hotels.
800.348.2965 • www.hamptoninn.com
Food, Glorious Food
The 1895 Grille
Pinehurst: The only area AAA four-diamond restaurant, in one of two AAA four-diamond hotels, serving favorites from this region of the Carolinas.
The Holly Inn, Pinehurst Resort • 910.235.8434 • www.pinehurst.com
Elliott’s on Linden
Pinehurst: Chef Mark Elliott’s menu is European-influenced but eclectic, including delights from many places.
905 Linden Road • 910.215.0775 • www.elliottsonlinden.com
Ironwood Café
Southern Pines: A diverse menu with a focus on “casual fine dining” is especially well-done in the category of fine steaks.
2176 Midland Road • 910.255-0000 • www.theironwoodcafe.com
Restaurant 195
Southern Pines: American Fusion cuisine with a focus on fresh ingredients and a casual contemporary setting.
195 Bell Avenue • 910.692.7110 • www.195pinehurstdining.com
Ten-Ya Japanese Cuisine & Sushi
Pinehurst: A wide-ranging menu chiefly focuses on Asian offerings.
70 Market Square • 910.255.1085 • www.ten-ya.com
The Italian Table
West of Pinehurst: An ample menu of Italian favorites and wines.
136 Grant Street, Seven Lakes • 910.673.4725 • www.italiantablerestaurant.com
Take a Little Something Home
Pottery
Northwestern Moore County is home to some of the 100-plus potteries that are centered on nearby Seagrove, N.C. Whatever your taste in ceramics, you’ll find something here. Also in Seagrove:
North Carolina Pottery Center • 250 East Ave. • 336.873.8430
Museum of N.C. Traditional Pottery • 122 Main St. • 336.873.7887
Antiques
In addition to shops in the immediate area, the town of Cameron, N.C., at the eastern edge of the county, offers a host of stores in its 1870s-era homes and buildings.
Village of Pinehurst
This replica of an early 1900s New England town is a stroll-and-shop paradise mixing specialty shops, galleries, a mini-mall in a historic building and restaurants.
Downtown Southern Pines
In addition to shopping areas around the region, the historic and charming Broad Street area is another range of options that shoppers can walk and enjoy.
Take it Outdoors
Golf
“Play some golf” should be obvious, but there are other options as well, including:
Horseback riding: McClendon Hills Equestrian Center, West End • 910.673.4971
Carolina Horse Park at Five Points, southeast of Aberdeen: 910.246.9808
Canoeing
Southern Pines: Reservoir Park, Route 22 • 910.692.2463
Skeet, Trap, Rifle, Pistol, Bow & Arrow
Ellerbe: Sandhills Skeet & Trap Club, Millstone 4-H Camp • 910.652.3859
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bill Cissna lives in Kernersville, N.C., just east of Winston-Salem and west of Greensboro. He has lived in North Carolina since 1986, moving from Pittsburgh, Pa., where he attended junior and senior high school. A graduate of Allegheny College, he has worked in advertising and public relations positions, as well as freelance writing from 1982-1986, 1991-1998 and since May 2004.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Facebook