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Pinebluff history, Pinebluff beginnings,
Pinebluff in Moore County, Pinebluff in North Carolina, Pinebluff in the
Sandhills, Pinebluff history, story of Pinebluff, Town of Pinebluff |
Moore ... Towns
Pinebluff
The
influence of the Scottish settlers is obvious when you see their names. In 1884,
John Patrick, the successful developer of Southern Pines bought 772 acres from
Luther C. Speare for $1000. Included in the purchase was a 22-acre mill property
and millpond. He named the streets for Northern cities and published
advertisements in Northern newspapers stressing the towns fresh pine scented
air, mild sunny winter climate, and convenient transportation by railroad. His
plan was to turn Pinebluff into a second Southern Pines. For the next 20 years
Patrick worked diligently to attract settlers and businessmen from the North. It
seemed Patrick was well on his way, by 1915 Pinebluff had 5 hotels and tearooms.
A huge fire broke out in February of
1898. It was started when sparks from the railroad ignited near West End. This
fire spread rapidly and soon reached Pinebluff. Patrick’s office and print shop
were destroyed as well as a new hotel Patrick had constructed called the Collins
Hotel. This was especially tragic because the hotels scheduled opening was less
than a month away.
Pinebluff was devastated by another
disastrous fired on April 4th 1963 at around 10:30 in the morning.
The conditions were very dry at a sawmill site. The fire that broke out had soon
reached the inside of the town and destroyed or severely damaged over half of
the residences in town.
Pinebluff now has close to 1100
residents and is home to several retirees from nearby Fort Bragg and Pope Air
Force Base. Pinebluff no longer has hotels in their their quaint little town,
instead residents like to focus on community and their strong recreational
program centered around Pinebluff Lake. Pinebluff may not be the dream Patrick
envisioned, but it is a wonderful town with the essence of small town
hospitality.
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