James Walker Tufts

James Walker Tufts (February 11, 1835 – February 3, 1902), is probably best known for his founding of The Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina (USA). He also founded the Arctic Soda Fountain Co. and eventually merged with A.D. Puffer & Sons (Boston, Massachusetts), John Matthews (New York City, New York), and Charles Lippincott (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) to form the American Soda Fountain Co. Tufts was the inventor of the Arctic Soda Fountain and was installed as the first president of the merger that formed American Soda Fountain.

Tufts was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts to Leonard Tufts and Hepzebah Fosdick Tufts. He was "an entrepreneur, inventor, and philanthropist. He rose from being a sixteen year old drug store apprentice to becoming a wealthy businessman who had the vision and determination to build Pinehurs, in only six months." In 1895, Tufts initially purchased , and eventually purchased an additional , of land for approximately $1.25 per acre in the North Carolina Sandhills, with the vision of building a "health resort for people of modest means". Originally dubbed "Tuftstown" during development, Tuftstown became the village of Pinehurst, and home of the Pinehurst Resort -- the name was chosen from a list of losing names proposed for Martha's Vineyard.

Tufts hired...
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