Alfred Dixon has walked every square inch of Lost City. He knows where the trash is — everywhere.

“It is incredible what is back in there,” Dixon said. “It should not be this way.”

Dixon, who lives on West New York Avenue and owns a take-out restaurant, was so concerned about the problem of illegal dumping in the small community on Eastman Road on the outskirts of Southern Pines that he got involved with efforts to clean it up.

He is on a 13-member steering committee that has been working for months to organize a community-wide cleanup. It will take place Saturday starting at 9 a.m.

“We are hoping we can make a huge dent,” said Linda Hubbard, former executive director of Keep Moore County Beautiful. She is still on the board of the nonprofit group. “It is such a huge problem.”

Keep Moore County Beautiful has been working with the steering committee and other residents who want to eradicate Lost City’s reputation as an unofficial dumping ground once and for all.

“This is right in our back yards,” Dixon said. “When you really look into all of the little nooks, it’s just awful what is back there. It’s just a big dump site.”

Hubbard, who helped spearhead the cleanup effort along with Voit Gilmore and residents of the area, wants to see this project through to completion, even though she has changed jobs. She is the volunteer coordinator for the Moore County Schools.

“We want this to be something that will be lasting,” Hubbard said. “The land is beautiful in there with the hills. There is a pond. There is such potential for the community.”

Hubbard said the steering committee mailed 40 certified letters to people who own property in Lost City in December, asking for permission to clean up the land. She said only three or four did not respond.

Dixon and other committee members have red-flagged the lots where the owners have not given permission for volunteers to clean up.

What they need now are people and trucks, Hubbard said.

“It is a huge job,” she said. “We need a lot of people to get involved. We really need people with trucks.”

The volunteers are to meet at Pentecostal Church on Eastman Road. Refreshments will be served.

Hubbard said a number of community service groups, including the Men’s Service Club of West Southern Pines, are expected to help. The O’Neal School’s Student Environmental Awareness Club and the Pinecrest High School Key Club are also providing volunteers.

The county is waiving tipping fees at the landfill for the trash that is hauled in from Lost City.

Dixon said volunteers will be assigned to clean up specific areas. He said committee members will supervise the work.

There is one really bad area off Eastman Road where students and other children will not be allowed to work because of the amount of debris, Dixon said. There is a lot of glass, appliances and other debris, he said.

Dumping Ground

Over the last 25 years, Lost City has become a dumping ground. Piles of trash, old appliances, furniture and other debris clutter the hilly landscape. Trash is strewn along the road.

As Southern Pines grew over the years, it annexed land all around the community, leaving the roughly one-square-mile pocket of unincorporated land under the county’s jurisdiction — hence the name Lost City, which came from an old science fiction movie.

Many of the landowners don’t live there and have no desire to be annexed by Southern Pines, because it would mean paying more taxes.

Lost City’s plight has been well chronicled over the years. There have been cleanups in the past. The story has always ended the same way: The spotlight fades, and the dumping seems to worsen.

After a meeting last February to talk about cleaning up Lost City, Southern Pines stepped up enforcement of zoning codes, ordering at least two property owners to clean up their property. The town has zoning authority over the area.

The Moore County Sheriff’s Department tries to keep the area patrolled regularly. Some residents have been more vigilant about reporting illegal dumping.

Hubbard and Dixon hope that the bulk of the trash can be removed Saturday. They said another cleanup could be planned if it is needed.

Both said the long-term solution to prevent more dumping will require people in the area to stay involved. It is a challenge, since many of the landowners don’t live there.

“I think we can really do something good for this community,” Hubbard said. “We want to continue to see good things happen.”