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Front Page of “The Pilot” newspaper from Southern Pines, NC, dated August 7th, 1968
Thanks to our partner, Southern Pines Public Library, Digital NC now has available new additions of the local newspaper “The Pilot” ranging in the years 1956 to 1968. A local staple in the community, “The Pilot” covers news stories in Southern Pines and the surrounding areas of Moore County. Still active today, “The Pilot is published twice a week.
To see more of the newspaper collection for “The Pilot”, visit here. To view the collection from our partner, Southern Pines Public Library, visit here.
You can also check out our wide selection of newspapers throughout North Carolina by visiting our North Carolina Newspaper Collection.
Back in December, we announced our annual call for microfilmed newspaper digitization. We asked institutions throughout North Carolina to nominate papers they’d like to see added to DigitalNC. As it is every year, it was an incredibly tough choice – we are typically able to choose between 40-60 reels out of over 500+ nominated. This year we’ve chosen the following titles and years.
Title |
Years |
Nominating Institution |
The Elkin Tribune (Elkin, N.C.) |
1942-1949 |
Elkin Public Library |
The Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.) |
1943-1954 |
Martin Community College and Martin Memorial Public Library |
Gates County Index (Gatesville, N.C.) |
1942-1956 |
Gates County Public Library |
Green Line (Asheville, N.C.) |
1987-1994 |
Buncombe County Public Libraries |
The News of Orange County (Hillsborough, N.C.) |
1944-1964 |
Orange County Public Library |
The Pamlico News (Bayboro, N.C.) |
1976-1987 |
New Bern-Craven County Public Library |
The Pilot (Southern Pines, N.C.) |
1965-1968 |
Southern Pines Public Library |
The Smithfield Herald (Smithfield, N.C.) |
1911-1925 |
Johnston County Heritage Center |
The Wallace Enterprise (Wallace, N.C.) |
1931-1955 |
Thelma Dingus Bryant Library |
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Charlotte, N.C.) |
2017-2018 |
Forsyth County Public Library |
For our selection criteria, we prioritize newspapers that document underrepresented communities, new titles, papers that come from a county that currently has little representation on DigitalNC, and papers nominated by new partners. After selection, we ask the partners to secure permission for digitization and, if that’s successful, they make it into the final list above.
We hope to have these titles coming online in the first half of 2021. If your title didn’t make it this year don’t despair! We welcome repeat submissions, and plan on sending out another call in Fall 2021.
16 years and over 800 issues of The Pilot have been added to DigitalNC, courtesy of our partner, the Southern Pines Public Library. While we previously held issues of the Pilot from its inception in 1920 to 1948, we now have issues dating to 1965, nearly doubling our collection. Based out of Southern Pines, this newspaper services Moore County.
Taken from an article about the graduating class of Southern Pines High School of 1950, the largest up to that point
A December 1963 retrospective on the biggest local stories from that year
Published twice a week, The Pilot covers breaking news, local developments, politics, business, and sports. For example, the newspaper detailed the major stories and events in 1963 in the retrospective on the right. One reporter wrote glowingly of a bond being secured to improve the local community college and county schools, while they said that the next biggest story was an April fire that destroyed over 25,000 acres in the town of Pinebluff.
Another mentioned the creation of the Moore County Mental Health Clinic and an expansion of the Moore Memorial Hospital. Others mentioned new real-estate developments, a new golf course, and new manufacturing industries that came to the county. All of these help paint a bigger picture of what life was like in Moore County in the middle of the 20th century.
To browse through other materials from Southern Pines Public Library take a look at their partner page, or check out their website.
The following microfilmed newspapers were selected for digitization in 2017-2018. Thanks to supplemental funding from the State Library of North Carolina, we were able to complete more reels than in previous years. Reels were chosen from nominations according to our Criteria for Selecting Newspapers to Digitize from Microfilm.
Title |
Years |
Nominating Institution |
Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.) |
1927-1947 |
Alamance County Public Libraries |
Carolina Indian Voice (Pembroke, N.C.) |
1977-1995 |
UNC Chapel Hill |
Carteret County News-Times (Morehead City, N.C.) |
1948-1960 |
Carteret County Public Library |
Charlotte Post |
1971-1987 |
Johnson C. Smith University |
The Cherokee Scout (Murphy, N.C.) |
1944-1988 |
Murphy Public Library |
Duplin Times (Warsaw, N.C.) |
1962-1985 |
Duplin County Library |
Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.) |
1934-1942 |
Martin Memorial Library |
Farmville Enterprise |
1942-1947 |
Farmville Public Library |
Franklin Press and the Highlands Maconian (Franklin, N.C.) |
1943-1960 |
Fontana Regional Library |
The Franklin Times (Louisburg, N.C.) |
1925-1944; 1963-1969 |
Louisburg College |
Hertford County Herald (Ahoskie, N.C.) |
1914-1923 |
Chowan University |
Journal-Patriot (North Wilkesboro, N.C.) |
1947-1950 |
Wilkes County Public Library |
Mount Airy News |
1917-1929 |
Surry Community College |
News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) |
1976-1988 |
Madison County Public Library |
Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.) |
1944-1989 |
Perquimans County Library |
Pilot (Southern Pines, N.C.) |
1948-1965 |
Southern Pines Public Library |
The Roxboro Courier (Roxboro, N.C.) |
1927-1935 |
Person County Public Library |
Smithfield Herald |
1901-1911 |
Johnston County Heritage Center |
Transylvania Times (Brevard, N.C.) |
1933-1940 |
Transylvania County Library |
Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.) |
1950-1963 |
Watauga County Public Library |
Waynesville Mountaineer |
1952-1956 |
Haywood County Public Library |
Winston-Salem Chronicle |
1997-2016 |
Forsyth County Public Library |
Donald Ross in Pinehurst, 1935 [Tufts Archives (Pinehurst, N.C.)]
As the sporting world descends on Pinehurst for the U.S. Open this week, I thought it would be a good time to look at some of the terrific resources available on DigitalNC.
At the center of all research on Pinehurst history is the Tufts Archives. Located in the Givens Memorial Library in the village of Pinehurst, the Tufts Archives is home to photographs, manuscripts, and artifacts related to the history of the town of Pinehurst. It is especially strong in the establishment of golf in the region, with papers of the legendary course designer Donald Ross. Yesterday’s New York Times had a feature on the renovation of the famed Pinehurst No. 2 golf course and talked about the importance of the Tufts Archives in determining the original condition of the course.
The Digital Heritage Center has worked with the Tufts Archives to digitize and share online a small selection of historic photos from the collection. These include images of prominent golfers in Pinehurst, including Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, and a young Jack Nicklaus.
The Center has also digitized early issues of The Pinehurst Outlook, a weekly paper that started publication in 1897, just as the town was being developed as a resort community. One of the earliest mentions I found of golf in the paper was an article from February 18, 1898, announcing the completion of the first golf course in Pinehurst, a nine-hole course modeled after the famed St. Andrews course in Scotland. The course included “a thick growth of rye” which was kept short by a flock of sheep.
These early issues of the Outlook also include many mentions of Donald Ross, who was at the time not known as a designer but simply as an accomplished golfer available for lessons. The paper reported on Ross’s ongoing improvements to the courses and the steadily growing interest in golf in Pinehurst.
Also available on DigitalNC are more than 20 years of issues of The Pilot, from the neighboring community of Southern Pines. The Pilot has always done a terrific job covering the local community and these early issues include many articles about golf in the region.
Keep up with the Digital Heritage Center on Twitter where we’ll share more highlights from Pinehurst history this week and next.
Caro-Graphics, a single panel cartoon focused on North Carolina history, trivia, and oddities, ran in
The Pilot (Southern Pines, N.C.) from 1935-1937. We have assembled a slideshow of a sample of Caro-Graphics from this run, highlighting the variety of reader submissions illustrated for the comic.
Primary creator, Murray Jones, Jr. of Durham, worked on Caro-Graphics during his time as a student at Duke University – we have included a photo of him from the
1934 edition of Duke’s yearbook, The Chanticleer. He went on to become a prominent artist and professor of the arts. He died in 1964; today would have been his 97th birthday.
Caro-Graphics have been
featured previously on NC Miscellany, through which the strip garnered the attention of comic strip historian Allan Holtz. Soon afterward, Caro-Graphics were featured as the “
Obscurity of the Day” in Holtz’s blog on American newspaper comic strips. Earlier this year, Murray’s career and personal life were described in an “
Ink-Slinger Profile” on the blog. Thanks to Holtz and his colleague Alex Jay for their help in providing more contextual information about Jones and Caro-Graphics.
These home-grown comics provide another lens through which to look at North Carolina history, culture – and humor!
The following newspapers were digitized from microfilm in 2011 and 2012.
Title |
Years |
Nominating Institution |
The Mebane Leader |
1911-1915 |
Alamance County Public Library |
Highland Messenger (Asheville) |
1840-1851 |
Buncombe County Public Library |
The Standard (Concord) |
1888-1898 |
Cabarrus County Public Library |
Daily Concord Standard |
1895-1899 |
Cabarrus County Public Library |
Mecklenburg Jeffersonian (Charlotte) |
1841-1849 |
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library |
Miners’ and Farmers’ Journal (Charlotte) |
1830-1834 |
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library |
Catawba Journal (Charlotte) |
1824-1828 |
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library |
Western Democrat (Charlotte) |
1856-1868 |
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library |
North Carolina Whig (Charlotte) |
1852-1863 |
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library |
Fayetteville Observer |
1851-1865 |
Cumberland County Public Library |
The Carolina Times (Durham) |
1951-1964 |
Durham County Library |
The Lincoln Republican (Lincolnton) |
1840-1842 |
Gaston County Public Library |
The Lincoln Courier (Lincolnton) |
1845-1895 |
Gaston County Public Library |
The Roanoke News (Weldon) |
1878-1922 |
Halifax County Public Library |
The Marion Progress |
1916, 1929, 1940 |
McDowell County Public Library |
Marion Record |
1894-1895 |
McDowell County Public Library |
Marion Messenger |
1896-1898 |
McDowell County Public Library |
The Pilot (Southern Pines) |
1920-1945 |
Southern Pines Public Library |
Sylvan Valley News |
1900-1911 |
Transylvania County Library |
The Pinehurst Outlook |
1897-1923 |
The Tufts Archives |
The Goldsboro Headlight |
1887-1903 |
Wayne County Public Library |
The Elm City Elevator |
1902 |
Wilson County Public Library |
The Wilson Advance |
1874-1899 |
Wilson County Public Library |
Over 600 issues of The Pilot, from Southern Pines, N.C., are now available on DigitalNC. Founded in 1920 in Vass, N.C., The Pilot has provided continuous coverage of Moore County communities, especially Southern Pines and Pinehurst. The issues available online now range in date from September 13, 1929 through October 30, 1942. We’ll work on earlier issues, beginning in 1920, in late 2012.
The Pilot is the first of many titles that will be added to the
North Carolina Newspapers project in 2012. It was nominated for digitization by the Southern Pines Public Library. We’ll post announcements here as more titles are available.