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through, the water remains a constant, still
flowing from the rock. Following the currents of
the Cape Fear River, Little River, and Drowning
Creek, the Scottish settled near Jackson Creek
toward Foxfire, initially called Foggy Bottom.
During the early 1800s, Jackson Springs was
called Mineral Spring as settlers thought there
was only one spring; they even named their
church Mineral Spring Church, established in
1817. Somewhere along the way they discovered
there was not one but two springs in the rock, so
the name changed to Mineral Springs. However
in 1889, the names of both the town and the
church were changed to Jackson Springs.
Legend tells of two men both named Samuel
Jackson, the namesake of the Springs—maybe
they are one in the same just bearing different
accounts. One account shares that while hunting
for food, Jackson wounded a deer and tracked
the trail of blood through the snow to the springs
that provided life for the wildlife. The other
account tells of Samuel Jackson, who upon an
extremely dry season, was walking in the woods
and discovered a wet patch of leaves. Upon
kicking back the leaves, Jackson discovered the
spring. Intertwined with the folklore, facts reveal
that Samuel Jackson, associated with the springs
was born in Ireland in 1720. Upon receiving land
grants from the King, he settled the area and
died there in 1796. Thus the currents of reality
and legend flow into a fountain of life sustaining
many a thirsty soul.
Still welcoming all who visit the banks of
the creek where the spring enters, Jackson
Springs the settlement was founded long before
the church which was founded in 1817 and
celebrated its bicentennial in 2017. Not only is
Samuel Jackson credited with its heritage, but
our ninth President Andrew Jackson born in
“Carolina” in 1767, a hero of the Battle of New
Orleans who died 1845, was the nephew of the
Jackson of Jackson Springs. Legend shares that
Andrew Jackson frequented the waters when
visiting family. As the springs gather locals and
visitors alike; truly people remain the heart of
Jackson Springs.
One such local Annette Thompson still
returns to the waters as does her friend Betty
McConnell who has come home from Arizona
to attend the celebration at the Depot, the
church Homecoming, and raffle later in the
month at the Jackson Springs Community Club’s
annual event to raise money for its scholarship
program. For 200 years, the depot, the church,
and the people all gather near the springs. As
the names come and go from the roll call of
church membership to the last names on the
mailboxes, and the master of ceremonies, the
constant remains the water that never ceases to
flow through drought and plenty.
Over 200 guests attended the 200 year
anniversary. Annette walks me through the
classic, red, restored Depot in the heart of the
town. Organizers set up the Depot with a farm
scene featuring local agriculture treasures of
peaches, cotton, tobacco. With a post office
located in the Depot, mail services were the
fastest around at that time. At a previous
homecoming, an older gentleman named
Lonnie Smith remembered when he was about
10 or 12 years old and worked for the depot
manager. His job was collect the mail from the
post office and put it on the train. One day he got
to talking and didn’t get the mail on the train, so
he ran all the way from Jackson Springs to West
End following the train. He ran the bottoms off
of his shoes which were stuffed mostly with
newspaper. Annette smiles, “He said the trestle
on Jackson Creek slowed him down, but he
caught the train when it slowed down at West
End, and he threw the mail on just in time.”
Early on, Moore County became known for
its rail transportation; primarily to move the
harvested pines and timber products to the
processing plants and interstate railroads. The
Page family built many of the first railroads—
one of the first from Aberdeen to the now
nonexistent town of Craigrownie—traveling
through the current Foxfire Lake. Most of the
early railroads were wooden tracks with carts
being pulled by mules or horses. Since the
timber was so heavy that you could not pull a
wagon through the sand, rails were demanded.
Annette remembers, “The first railroad from
Aberdeen to West End was a wooden railroad
actually built by an ancestor of my great aunt’s
husband. He would walk through the woods, cut
down trees, and had workers following behind
him clearing a right of way. He built a wooden
railroad that went from his turpentine mill in
West End down to Southern Pines where the
main rail traveled. Once his wooden tracks got
worn out, he sold the right of way to Page who
built a steam railroad up to West End.”
At that time, the defining industry in Moore
was the lumber industry—turpentine, tar, and
timber. The pine forests not only brought the
lumber industry, but it also brought the Scottish
settlers who were fleeing religious persecution
from the British government. Since they were
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The Jackson Springs Depot.
p.8 The Pinehurst Gazette, Inc. No. 129
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