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C+History
History · Pinehurst

Pinehurst’s post office opened in 1895, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #151 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Pinehurst Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, and two historic districts with 36 buildings between them. Most of Pinehurst was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1920 on, and the census since 1950.

1895first post office
3on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
11old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Pinehurst’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Pinehurst began

When was Pinehurst founded?

1895

The Pinehurst post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,016 in 19502020 census: 17,581131 years

How historic is Pinehurst?

C+

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Pinehurst post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Pinehurst’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pinehurst is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #151 of 290 in North Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pinehurst’s overall grade.
Founding era1895, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19403.2% of homes (±1.2) · typical NC town 4.1% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register3 listings, 37 historic buildings, 20.3 per 10,000 residents · typical NC town 12.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 41%
NewerOlder
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 48%

North Carolina towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical North Carolina town has 12.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Pinehurst’s 20.3 sits near the middle of its state (61% of North Carolina towns have fewer) while its 37 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Pinehurst’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Pinehurst Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, takes in 26 historic buildings.A National Historic Landmark3 places on the National Register, including Pinehurst Historic District, a National Historic Landmark.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

3 listings protect 37 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmark
1
Pinehurst Historic District
historic buildings protected
37
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Pinehurst Historic District
Lloyd-Howe HousePinehurst Race TrackPinehurst Historic District★
BuildingsDistricts★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian1
Vernacular1
Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival1
Agricultural/Vernacular1
★ Landmark
Pinehurst Historic DistrictLate Victorian
Lloyd-Howe HouseVernacular
Pinehurst Race TrackMission/Spanish Colonial Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Pinehurst came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Pinehurst.

Read it all →

In 1895, James Walker Tufts purchased 500 acres (200 ha), and eventually purchased an additional 5,500 acres (2,200 ha), 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 picturesque central green.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Pinehurst, 1895 to 1996

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1895Post officeThe Pinehurst post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900In the archiveBargain day, a covered wagon traveling salesman weighing produce
  5. 1918In the archiveJames Walker Tufts (1835–1902)
  6. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1970In the archiveSandhills '70 [1970]
  8. 1996LandmarkPinehurst Historic District named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Pinehurst, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s7 items
Bargain day, a covered wagon traveling salesman weighing produce1900Bargain day, a covered wagon traveling salesman weigh…Polo1900PoloThe Carolina1905The CarolinaPine Grove1905Pine GroveThe Magnolia1905The MagnoliaThe Music Hall1905The Music HallPark in Pinehurst, 19061906Park in Pinehurst, 1906
1910s2 items
James Walker Tufts (1835–1902)1918James Walker Tufts (1835–1902)Signature of James Walker Tufts (1835–1902)1918Signature of James Walker Tufts (1835–1902)
1920s–1960snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1970s2 items
Sandhills '70 [1970]1970Sandhills '70 [1970]Sandhills '72 [1972]1972Sandhills '72 [1972]
1980s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today1 recent
Chorale performs in The Village Chapel in2004Chorale performs in The Village Chapel in
On the map

Pinehurst on the map, 1948 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pinehurst. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Pinehurst on the 1948 USGS mapPinehurst on the 1950 USGS mapPinehurst on the 1976 USGS mapPinehurst on the 1984 USGS map1948Southern Pines sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Pinehurst.

Every building

Pinehurst, building by building, 1920–1927

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Pinehurst fire insurance map, 1920, sheet 11920Sheet 1 of 6
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bargain day, a covered wagon traveling salesman weighing produce
Retake this viewBargain day, a covered wagon traveling salesman weighing produce, 1900

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Pinehurst’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Pinehurst, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018,000196019802000202017,581

Grew from 1,016 people in 1950 to 17,581 in 2020, more than tenfold.

7 censuses, 1950–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pinehurst’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old corners

Pinehurst’s post office has been open since 1895.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Garren Hill

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Pinehurst’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBargain day, a covered wagon traveling …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Southern Pines7 historic placesBTaylortownIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAberdeen4 historic placesB

Questions about Pinehurst’s history

What year was Pinehurst founded?

The Pinehurst post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Pinehurst rank for history?

Pinehurst is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #151 of 290 in North Carolina. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Pinehurst?

Three places: the Pinehurst Historic District (listed 1973), the Lloyd-Howe House (1983) and the Pinehurst Race Track (1992).

How old are the homes in Pinehurst?

3% of Pinehurst’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 4.1% for a North Carolina town; the median home was built in 1995.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the Library of Congress (6), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.