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PinehurstRealEstate.us |
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Pinehurst
Southern Pines NC Real Estate and Relocation Guide |
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Horse Riding Trails in Southern Pines
North Carolina
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The
Walthour-Moss
Foundation is a unique area of 4,000 acres, preserved specifically
for the enjoyment of all equestrians. Southern Pines, North Carolina is
ideal for those who love horses and those who generally love tranquil,
beautiful living. The acquisition of property for the purpose of
developing a new competition park, Carolina Horse Park at Five Points,
ensures that the equestrian tradition will continue to grow and flourish
in this unique area of North Carolina.
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Home to rare and threatened species of
wildlife. The majestic longleaf pine forest, which once covered over 90
million acres in the Southern United States, finds dramatic expression on
the Foundation. Miles of quiet trails and sandy lanes provide access to
walkers, hikers and equestrians of every description.
The Walthour-Moss foundation today is a 4000-acre natural resource—perhaps
unique in the nation. At a time when open land is constantly threatened by
development, the Walthour-Moss Foundation has been able to preserve
significant tracts of land, more than doubling the acreage under its
protection in the past twenty years.
Virginia Walthour Moss and W.O. “Pappy” Moss set out to create a dream over
seven decades ago. Today the mission of caring for that dream and preserving
it for future generations has been taken up by friends of the Walthour-Moss
Foundation who provide the financial and volunteer support to maintain and
improve the 4000 acres under the Foundation’s protection. |
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PURPOSE | Preserve open land, to protect and improve wildlife habitat
and offer a place for equestrian purposes. |
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HISTORY | Ginnie and Pappy Mosses’ vision of a special place in the
Sandhills took shape in 1974 when the Walthour-Moss Foundation was formed as
charitable trust. At a time in life when many people would have been
thinking of retirement, Ginnie and Pappy created the “vessel” into which
they and the community would place over 4000 acres in the next 30 years.
Pappy Moss died in 1976. Sadly, he did not live to see his dream of the
“Foundation” become a physical reality. But his legacy lived on. In 1978,
with a bequest from Pappy’s estate of 1739 acres, the Foundation which we
know today truly began. This was the first of many gifts from the Mosses.
In 1979 Mrs. Moss gave 15 acres. In 1980 she gave 30 acres and in 1983 she
gave an additional 39 acres. In 1985 Mrs. Moss gave 67 more acres. These
remarkable gifts of land brought the Foundation to 1890 acres. In 1987 Mrs.
Moss gave an additional 566 acres to the Foundation.
In 1985 the Foundation—with substantial support from the community—purchased
315 acres from Maxwell Forest north of Furr Road. This was the first
acquisition of land outside the main Foundation and the first acquisition
which was not a gift from the Mosses. This purchase was also the beginning
of what has become known as the Foundation North Country. In 1993 the
Foundation undertook a campaign to raise approximately $550,000 for the
purchase of 209 acres north of Young's Road from Eldridge Johnson. Mr.
Johnson generously offered the land (which was in two parcels) to the
Foundation through a gift/sale arrangement at the very reasonable cost of
$2600 per acre. The campaign was successful and the Johnson land was
acquired, bringing the number of North Country acres to 524 and the total
number of acres of The Walthour-Moss Foundation to 2980. In 1999, Mr. and
Mrs. Richard Webb made a generous donation of 50 acres adjacent to the
Johnson tracts. In 2000, the Walthour-Moss Foundation Board took the bold
step of purchasing 417 acres in the North Country from the estate of Raymond
Firestone for $3,110,000. The land, which was in two large parcels, was
purchased at an average cost of $7500 per acre.
The Land Preservation Campaign Phase I was undertaken and the community
responded with extraordinary generosity. The debt was retired a year ahead
of schedule and an effort began to replenish the “Land Fund” for future
acquisitions. By the year 2000, the gift by the Webbs and the acquisition of
the Firestone tracts brought the total North Country acreage to 991 and the
total Foundation to 3447 acres. In 2004, the Walthour-Moss Foundation was
fortunate to be able to acquire 216 acres of wonderful land in the North
Country from the Paul Burns family and an additional 34 acres adjacent to
the Burns tract from the Gregson/Johnson families. The total commitment for
these two purchases is $3,130,000. The Land Preservation Campaign Phase II
is currently underway to complete this purchase—with $1.5 million remaining
to be raised. In the spring of 2005, the North Carolina Department of
Transportation transferred 180 acres of environmentally-sensitive land north
of Aiken Road to the care of The Walthour-Moss Foundation. In transferring
this land to the Foundation’s care, the NC DOT found the Foundation to be
“good stewards of the environment and the appropriate entity to care for
this special piece of property.”
In January 2006 Virginia Walthour-Moss passed away peacefully at home on her
beloved Mile Away Farm—so named by Pappy and Ginnie when they moved there in
1937 because “it was a mile away from the train station in Southern Pines.”
She was 96.
As the community came together to celebrate her remarkable life, the true
dimensions of Mrs. Moss’s vision and her belief in the future were revealed
yet again.
In January of this year, The Walthour-Moss Foundation was advised that Mrs.
Moss had bequeathed 114 acres of additional land in the heart of the North
Country to the Foundation. This magnificent tract included Sweetheart Lake
and joined together three North Country parcels purchased between 1993 and
2000. Her wonderful gift effectively completes the “North Country circle”
and brings the total gifts of land by Ginnie and Pappy Moss to over 2500
acres and the Foundation to over 4000 total acres.
In 2003—nearly 30 years after her first gift—Mrs. Moss continued her ongoing
philanthropy to the Foundation, giving an additional 51 acres behind
Mile-Away Farm. Today the Main Foundation stands at over 2500 acres—created
entirely by gifts of land from Ginnie and Pappy Moss. |
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CONTACT
INFORMATION |
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Walthour-Moss Foundation
Post Office Box 978
Southern Pines NC 28388
Phone: 910.695.7811
www.walthour-moss.com
info@walthour-moss.org
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