Sandhills

… a series of rolling hills between the Cape Fear and Pee Dee Rivers covering portions of Richmond, Scotland, Moore, Cumberland, and Harnett Counties. Includes approx. 1,110 sq. mi. The surrounding area is approx. 600 ft. above sea level, but, within the Sandhills, there are ridges rising 300 to 400 ft. higher. Little River, Drowning Creek, and Rockfish Creek are the principal streams. Coarse sandy soil is characteristic of the area. The Basset map, 1676, marks the area "Deserta Arenosa." It has also been called Deserta Montana, Sandy Barrens, Pine Barrens, and the Sahara of North Carolina. William Hooper, in a letter of June 15, 1779, to James Iredell, used the term sandhills. The climate of the region has been classed as "Humid Subtropical," and it has an average annual temperature of approx. 61.5°. The area was settled by Scottish Highlanders beginning about 1740. They found the region covered by a stand of longleaf pines ranging in height from 100 to 120 ft. and with diameters up to 36 inches. Beneath the pines, wire grass covered the ground. Most of the pines were cut between 1875 and 1895 (for an exception, see Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve), and the region is now covered with smaller longleaf pines, scrub oak (chiefly Turkey and Black Jack), and wire grass. Extensive peach orchards have flourished in the Sandhills since 1892. The resort towns of Pinehurst and Southern Pines, which see, have developed there.