Population:  12,212

Government:  Council/Manager

Mayor:  Mike Haney

Manager:  Reagan Parsons

Phone:  (910) 692-7021

Address:  125 SE Broad St., 28387

Web site:  southernpines.net

Incorporation:  March 7, 1887

In the 1850s, Charles Shaw acquired a state land grant in southern Moore County. It ­included a high ridge where he began cutting pines. 

In 1876, the Raleigh Augusta Railroad came through. Most of the trees were gone a few years later when John T. Patrick purchased 675 acres of land for $1,265 to build a health resort. He named the streets after Northern states.

Southern Pines proved to be an ideal place for travel-weary train ­passengers to break their journey down from the north to Florida. By 1887, Southern Pines was a thriving resort. 

After World War I, novelist and publisher James Boyd initiated the equestrian and literary pursuits that remain as big factors to this day. 

Southern Pines is the largest town in the county.