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West End In the late 1800’s if you traveled thirteen miles from Aberdeen or thirteen miles from Carthage through mostly woodlands you would find yourself at Daniel McDonald’s turpentine distillery. In order to accommodate transporting timber and naval stores from the fields to the local commercial areas, a path was cleared for a railway to go from Southern Pines to the turpentine distillery. Eventually a non-traditional railway was constructed with wooden rails on huge crossties so that mule drawn cars could follow the path while workers collected timber from either side of the track. In late 1890 the Aberdeen and Asheboro Railroad was completed. At the railhead, the most western extension, a town was began and aptly named… West End. By 1898 West End’s population had risen to around 200 residents. The Great Fire of 1898 blew through West End and out of fifteen buildings; the fire only spared two, the drugstore and the railroad depot. In later years a furniture-manufacturing mill was built that became the Sandhills Furniture Corporation. In 1965 this mill was sold to Stanley Furniture Company and until it closed its doors in the early 2000’s it was one of the largest employers in Moore County. |
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