Tufts Archives and the Village of Pinehurst Print This Page

Welcome to the Tufts Archives

The Tufts Archives preserves the unique history of Pinehurst, North Carolina from its founding in 1895 to the present. The archives, located in a wing of the Given Memorial Library on the Village Green in Pinehurst, was built in 1975. Its creation was spurred by Richard S. Tufts, grandson of the founder of the village. He created the Tufts Foundation, which provided the funding for the construction of the archives and provided an endowment for its continued operation. Tufts Archives is a private institution and open to scholars and the public.

The Tufts family guided the development of Pinehurst and firmly established its international reputation as one of the world’s premier golf attractions. Pinehurst, including its cottages, streets, utilities, fire and police departments and most businesses, was owned almost exclusively by its founder, James W. Tufts, and his descendents. The village remained a sole proprietorship run by three generations of the Tufts family from 1895 to 1970 when Pinehurst was sold to the Diamondhead Corporation. That ownership lasted until 1982 when a bank consortium took control and then in 1984 sold the property to the current owners, Club Corporation of America.

Richard S. Tufts sought to preserve this unique early history and so provided the archives with historic family records, including thousands of copies of correspondence dating back to the founding of the village and the earliest days of golf. The Tufts Archives also has thousands of historic photographs and negatives, maps, artifacts and memorabilia.

Ross Collection

No history of Pinehurst is complete without the story of Donald Ross. Tufts Archives has many of the original golf course plans of Ross, the famed Scottish-born golf course designer. Donald Ross was credited with designing or revising more than 400 courses, including the internationally acclaimed Pinehurst No. 2. He lived and worked in the village every season, and later in his life year-round, from 1900 until his death in 1948. The Donald Ross Society made the Tufts Archives the repository for the original plans, filed notes and drawings and course layouts of Ross-designed courses. The archives also has reproductions for sale of Donald Ross.

Exhibits

The Tufts Archives exhibits photographs, documents, maps and artifacts from the Tufts family and the people who visited, worked and lived in Pinehurst. There are James S. Tufts’ marble and silver 19th century Arctic Soda Fountain machine and items from the Tufts Silverplate business. Sales from the designs and patents for the soda machines and the company James Tufts founded, the American Soda Fountain Company, provided the fortune that made Pinehurst possible.

The archives has more than 80,000 negatives from the John Hemmer collection. Hemmer was the official resort photographer for more than four decades from the late 1920s. His photos promoted Pinehurst on the front, sport and society pages of newspapers across the country. The maps at the archives include the original drawings for the layout of Pinehurst by the firm run by Frederick Law Olmstead, who designed Central Park in New York City. Photographs and plans for some of the original village cottages are also available. 

There are displays from the early days of what was fondly called the “Queen of the South,” as the Carolina Hotel, now the Pinehurst Resort and Country Club. The china used at the Holly Inn, the earliest Pinehurst hotel that opened on New Year’s Eve day in 1895 is also displayed. Annie Oakley, the internationally-famous sharpshooter who starred in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, was the shooting instructor for the Pinehurst Gun Club from 1916 to 1924. The archives has memorabilia, photographs and cards she used as targets when she performed for hotel guests.

The Tufts Archives is open Monday through Friday from 9:30 AM until 5:00 PM and from 9:30 AM until 12:30 PM on Saturday.