Pinehurst, North Carolina

History

In 1895, James Walker Tufts purchased 500 acres (2.0 km²), and eventually purchased an additional 5,500 acres (22 km²), of land for approximately $1.25 per acre in the North Carolina Sandhills, with the vision of building a "health resort for people of modest means". Tufts retained Frederick Law Olmsted to design the village, which features curving lanes and a pictureseque central green.

Originally dubbed Tuftstown during development, Tuftstown became the village of Pinehurst, and home of the Pinehurst Resort. In 1890, the village became a municipality.

The first golf course at Pinehurst Resort was laid out in 1897-1898. The first championship held at Pinehurst was the United North and South Amateur Championship of 1901. The best known course, Pinehurst No. 2, was designed by Donald Ross and completed in 1907. Pinehurst Race Track was established in 1915. The resort now has nine golf courses, three hotels, a spa, and extensive sports and leisure facilities.

In 1999, National Public Radio reported that many local business owners in Pinehurst were upset because the Pinehurst Resort was using lawsuits to prevent local businesses from using the term "Pinehurst" in the names of their businesses. The village council sought a written guarantee from the Pinehurst Resort that it would not force any business in the village to remove the name "Pinehurst" from its name unless the business is a direct competitor. The request came a week later in a local newspaper. The village also sued the resort over control of the name shared between the resort and village.

The Lloyd-Howe House, Pinehurst Historic District and Pinehurst Race Track are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

Pinehurst is located at 35°11′46″N 79°27′51″W (35.196053, -79.464109). According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 14.9 square miles (38.6 km²), of which, 14.3 square miles (37.1 km²) of it is land and 0.6 square miles (1.5 km²) of it (3.89%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 9,706 people, 4,510 households, and 3,310 families residing in the village. The population density was 676.9 people per square mile (261.3/km²). There were 5,668 housing units at an average density of 395.3 per square mile (152.6/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 95.31% White, 3.27% African American, 0.24% Native American, 0.62% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.27% from other races, and 0.28% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.04% of the population.

There were 4,510 households out of which 13.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.5% were married couples living together, 3.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.6% were non-families. 24.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.05 and the average family size was 2.38.

In the village, the population was spread out with 11.7% under the age of 18, 2.1% from 18 to 24, 16.7% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 42.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 60 years. For every 100 females there were 86.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.2 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $58,950, and the median income for a family was $67,353. Males had a median income of $51,958 versus $32,181 for females. The per capita income for the village was $41,992. About 1.3% of families and 2.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.8% of those under age 18 and 3.7% of those age 65 or over.

Points of interest

Education

Transportation

Notable people