A Proud History, A Brighter Future

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West Southern Pines has a proud and unique history –– a history forged by generations of civic-minded citizens. Its residents continue to preserve the community’s best civic traditions, maintaining West Southern Pines’ distinct identity and yet making it a full partner in the town of Southern Pines. By continuing to strike that delicate balance, the people of West Southern Pines, with the support of others in our town, can forge an even prouder future.

The Pilot’s news editor, Clark Cox, wrote a fascinating account of West Southern Pines’ history for Wednesday’s edition of the newspaper. The community was chartered as a town in 1923 and remained so until 1931. It was the first predominantly black town in North Carolina and, some say, the only one in the nation at that time. It was incorporated for the purpose of providing its residents with water and sewer service, paved streets and police protection.

But municipal status didn’t last long because West Southern Pines’ lack of an adequate tax base made it difficult to provide basic town services at a satisfactory and consistent level. In 1931, the town of Southern Pines petitioned the state legislature to revoke West Southern Pines’ corporate charter. There were racist overtones to the petition, which unfairly described West Southern Pines as a haven for criminals. The legislature approved the revocation petition, and Southern Pines subsequently annexed the community.

In a 1931 editorial, The Sandhill Citizen, an Aberdeen newspaper, set the record straight by saying that the people of West Southern Pines were not to blame for the community’s problems. The real culprit, the newspaper said, was the low tax base.

While West Southern Pines was dissolved as a municipality, it came out of incorporation with a political sophistication to be reckoned with. Under the leadership of the West Southern Pines Civic Club, the people there had learned the value of bloc voting and single-shot voting. They lacked the numbers to elect one of their own to public office, but they held a balance of power that made their support crucial to other candidates.

Their political strength grew in later years, and residents of West Southern Pines won election to the Southern Pines Town Council and the local Board of Education. The community has produced some of Moore County’s most distinguished civic and political leaders. Among them were Felton Capel, who was elected to the Town Council in 1959 and who remains one of North Carolina’s most respected movers and shakers, and Emanuel Douglass, who served as mayor in the 1980s.

West Southern Pines continues to face economic and political challenges. Chief among them is the neighborhood known as Lost City, a blighted residential section that is not part of the town of Southern Pines. The ideal solution for Lost City would be for it to become a housing site of Habitat for Humanity. If Habitat could acquire the property from landlords, some of whom are absentee, the area could become immensely attractive and a vital addition to the tax base. Part and parcel of such a transformation should be the annexation of Lost City by Southern Pines.

The public-spirited people of West Southern Pines have proved time and again that they are up to the task of keeping their community strong. The quality of leaders produced there will be needed more than ever in the exciting years to come.

Again, Thanks to You...

High fives for the leaders, volunteers and contributors who put the United Way of Moore County over the top yet again. The campaign exceeded its ambitious goal of raising $600,000 for local charities.

Thanks are due Jim Sikler, the campaign chairman, Peggy Crutchfield, the United Way’s executive director, and most of all the people in the Moore County community who wrote the checks and made this happen.

Said Sikler: “Never in the history of the United Way has Moore County failed to reach its goal. We really need to thank all of the volunteers who spent so much time putting this together.”