Over 500 issues of The Pinehurst Outlook, a weekly paper that began publication in 1897, are now available online in the North Carolina Newspapers collection.
The Outlook covers Pinehurst during an era of rapid development in the early twentieth century, which saw it grow from a small resort town to a nationally-known vacation spot renowned for its golf and equestrian facilities. One of the early issues describes the town in 1900:
“Pinehurst, the famous winter resort owned by Mr. James Tufts of Boston, Mass., is a village of fifty houses, elegantly furnished hotels, boarding houses, public casino, fine hall for church services and entertainments, school house, museum, library, deer park, stores, bowling alley, and 18-hole golf links the finest in the South.”
The Pinehurst Outlook was published by James Tufts in order to promote the village and its activities and to foster a sense of community among visitors. The paper differs from many of the others published during the period in its nearly exclusive focus on local news and events and also for its clean, orderly layout and printing.
Readers interested in the history of golf in the United States will be especially interested in the Outlook’s coverage of the development of many of Pinehurst’s most famous courses by designer Donald Ross, as well as coverage of early tournaments.
