History of Carolina Trace

      The vision that spawned Carolina Trace began in 1959 with Joyce and W. M. (“Bill”) Arnold, Jr. So secretive were they that Register of Deeds Chandler Eakes died without knowing the nature of the project he was helping the Arnolds with. That secrecy reigned for ten years, with only Sanford oil dealer Truby Proctor, Jr., aware of what was afoot. They were later joined by Joe Brinns, Ken Eason, Jim Hickey, Dr. W. R. Hartness, C. B. Foushee, Van R. Groce, Jimmy Thomas, and others; and Sandhill Properties, Inc., was formed in 1969. The Sanford Herald's February 10, 1969-- headline--“Giant Golf-Recreational Site Planned for Area”--was a shock. The golf course and dam were started in 1970, the year when the first lots (in North Shore) were sold. Three lotteries, the idea taken from such quiz shows as “The $64,000 Question,” decided who received which lot.  Robert Trent Jones, Sr., designed the two eighteen-hole golf courses, the Lake and the Creek, completed in 1971 and 1979, respectively. They reflect his design concept of “easy bogeys and difficult pars.” He also wanted his courses to be “watered by their own lakes,” as Lake Trace (covering 300+ acres) attests. The Club House was constructed in 1972. 

      Layers of history can be “traced” here. During the Revolutionary War, Light-Horse Harry Lee shadowed Lord Cornwallis; and its only veteran from the Patriot Side, Jacob Gaster, has a memorial stone. Confederates in the War Between the States included David Hawley and John M. Gaster. Family lineage appears in place names and (five) cemeteries, e.g., Carr's Creek, Gaster's Spring (now hidden), Dalrymples, Gilmores, Groces, Hawleys, Morrises, Sommers, and Wickers. The power of the Upper Little River enabled Coxs Mill to sell corn and wheat, gin cotton, and saw wood. Remnants from its water-wheel and decking are incorporated in the bar of the Carolina Trace Country Club.  Human enterprise and initiative are remembered in Brick Mill Branch, an early effort aiding the reputation of Sanford as the brick-making center of the world, and in the slate mine, sand/gravel pit, and “gold holes.” Local lore abounds in “traces” of one-time moonshining and such near-legendary figures as Byrd Wicker, on whom “revenuers” reputedly “went easy” because he was disabled in World War I and had no other means of support. Farmer Will Gilmore took such pride in the excellence of his mash that he “tested” the products of others who wanted to sell under his aegis. When he ran a new batch, the traffic jammed turning into the area. In another of the coincidences that abound in the story of Carolina Trace, he died in 1961, the year the first ABC store opened in Sanford. Dock and Francis Wicker and their “helpful mule” also have a wide following.  Geography asserts itself in the original reference to the area of Carolina Trace as “Foggy Bottom,” where, the locals say, escaped prisoners and those who went AWOL in World War I “hid out.” The Fall Line is much in evidence, separating, in miniature, the Coastal Plains from the Piedmont.