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still British citizens, and the British Navy needed
tar and turpentine to waterproof their boats,
the Scottish people, who had been distillers of
whiskey, knew how to distill turpentine. It was a
win-win situation.
Before all of the pines were harvested, a
preacher Mr. McDuffy from Candor remembered
driving with his father on a wagon from Candor
to Aberdeen for supplies; Southern Pines and
Pinehurst did not exist at that time. “He must’ve
been in his 90’s in the 60s,” begins Annette. “He
said all the way down Yadkin Road, which is 211,
was the most beautiful summer drive; it made
Linden Road look like it doesn’t have any trees.
The pine trees totally lapped over each other
offering cool, pure shade. You could smell the
pine all the way from Candor to Aberdeen."
Once the Page family created a steam train
to West End, they were able to run a “spur” into
Jackson Springs. The train backed “downhill” to
Jackson Springs and then pulled back up to West
End. With the train coming through and the
springs running free, Jackson Springs became a
destination offering many attractions. The hotel
was built by three young men—all Johns—John
Blue, John Currie, John Brown—who graduated
from the local, well-respected NDJ Clark
Academy. Founded by Nevin Daniel Josephus
Clark (NDJ) a native of Jackson Springs, he was
THE WATERS CALL continued THE WATERS CALL continued
among the first graduating class at UNC. Around
1890, the young men noticed Buchanan’s very
successful boarding house in Jackson Springs
where guests would come, pitch tents, and
drink the water. They figured, “Wouldn’t this be
a good place to build a hotel?” They hired the
two Campbell brothers from Aberdeen to build
the hotel which opened in 1891. In 1903, the
hotel advertised having 64 rooms. Annette tells,
“The entire property included 800 acres with
quail, turkey, and fox hunting, horseback riding,
9-hole golf course, tennis, bowling, a lake,
etc. The hotel soon expanded to three stories
with over 100 rooms including two and three
bedroom apartments and an adjoining annex. It
was a large rambling building with wide porches
boasting numerous rocking chairs, similar to
the Carolina Hotel.”
Grander than the Carolina with boarding
rooms, dining rooms, and sweeping porches,
the hotel welcomed guests as the train
frequented the Depot six times a day. “When
the hotel was built,” begins Annette, “they also
built a little thatched roof pagoda covering the
springs. A young man stationed there would dip
water from the hollow of the rock and hand it
to the ladies; the men would dip themselves.
Remember, the ladies wore long dresses; the
men were in suits. They say you could hear the
rhythmic dipping all day. Just dip, dip, dip.”
From near and far, people would come to drink
the water for medicinal purposes and enjoy the
other amenities.
In 1904, the Page family took a water sample
to the World’s Fair in St. Louis; it won a silver
medal for the second highest mineral content
of the samples there. Jackson Springs Water
Company began to bottle its mineral water
which went to drug stores and doctors all over
the state. They sold the water in five gallon, three
gallon, two gallon jugs; the half gallon was the
most popular size. The trains would transport
water bottles, timber goods, peaches and other
crops which helped the economy of the area.
Annette explains the other businesses in town,
“There was a general store, drug store, cotton
gin, bank, the church, etc. Jackson Springs was
a pretty successful town.”
Ironically the area trains also brought a
particular Mr. Tufts, who established Pinehurst
in 1895. Story has it that Richard Tufts was on
his way from Boston to Florida when he came
through this area and thought, “I wonder if I
can make a resort in North Carolina for people
coming from the North.” Tufts approached Mr.
Page who had come to Aberdeen from Wake
County and bought all the pine forests which
were now just barrens. Tufts asked Mr. Page,
“How much would you take for some land?”
Page replied, “Well, I reckon about a dollar an
acre.” He sold him like 658 acres for $700; Page
worried he had charged too much.
Jackson Springs came before Pinehurst,
but just as quickly as the town blossomed, it
seemed to go downhill. Sadly the hotel burned
in 1932; the railroads stopped coming in 1937.
The Depression made the banks go belly up,
and the lake dam burst in 1944. Also during the
town’s heyday people could only travel by train
rather than cars. Annette explains, “Once the
automobiles arrived, people were free to travel
to the beach, mountains, and other places. And
with advances in medicine such as antibiotics
and penicillin, medicines were becoming more
chemistry based and less herbal. In turn, the
medicinal water became less important. Also
Pinehurst and Southern Pines were becoming
tourist destinations. The hotel wasn’t even open
when it burned. A man from Southern Pines had
just recently bought it and plannned to reopen
it; they suspect the cleaning supplies caught fire.”
Now 200 years later, the hustle and bustle of
its heyday have settled into laid back Southern
living, yet signs of its prime still call creekside.
Across the creek from the Depot, the Whitley
Building, established in the 1920s, is the last
remaining commercial building boasting of
better days when it served its little town. Beside
the Whitley, a little brick building sits quiet
and empty. Annette tells, “That’s the ice house.
Workers would cut chunks of ice from the waters
and save it for summertime guests at the hotel.”
Down the lane from the Whitley and the ice
house, one finds some steps that lead up the hill
to seemingly nowhere. In its prime, the steps led
to the grand hotel. Although the local landmarks
are diminishing, the Depot has been restored
by the Jackson Springs Historical Preservation
Foundation created by NC Senator Harris Blake,
a Jackson Springs native. The Jackson Springs
Presbyterian Church stands as a beacon of hope
high on the hill, and the locals calling Jackson
Springs home, love their little town and maintain
a very active community club.
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The Springs today are housed under the
shelter; the creek runs alongside.
Following photos:
The Whitley Building, established 1920.
The Ice House that served the hotel.
The steps leading up to the hotel site.
p.28 The Pinehurst Gazette, Inc. No. 129