Sandhills Community College

Shortly after the passage of legislation establishing Sandhills Community College, H. Clifton Blue of Aberdeen, NC, led a group of prominent Moore County, NC, citizens in petitioning the State Board of Education to establish a community college in Moore County. Upon approval of the petition, the citizens of Moore County voted in favor of a $1 million bond issue for capital construction and a tax levy for the maintenance of college facilities.

The first board of trustees meeting occurred on December 4, 1963. On December 27, Dr. Raymond Stone was named the first president of the college. Sandhills was chartered in 1963.

The buildings were designed by local architects Hayes-Howell and Associates, and built on 180 acres donated by Mrs. Mary Luman Meyer. The groundbreaking was in November 1964. Legend has it that Dr. Stone and a few others were having lunch at The Gray Fox in downtown Pinehurst and Stone admired the courtyard of the restaurant (now Theo's Taverna). He requested courtyards be implemented into the design of the college buildings. The palladium windows were said to be inspired by the Boyd House in downtown Southern Pines.

Sandhills Community College officially opened October 1, 1965, with classes being held in nine different temporary locations in the downtown area of Southern Pines. The administrative offices were above Patches Department Store, which is now The Ice Cream Parlor. The college moved to the current location in September 1966.

Dr. John Dempsey assumed the presidency in 1989 and served until December 2022. Former Executive Vice President, Brenda Jackson is currently serving as Interim President. On July 1, 2023, Dr. Alexander “Sandy” Stewart became the college’s third president.

Sandhills Community College is located on 150 acres (0.61 km²) of longleaf pine-filled land in Pinehurst, North Carolina. The college moved to its present location from downtown Southern Pines in March 1966.

The Sandhills Community College campus comprises 14 instructional buildings. Several recent additions to the college campus are Logan Hall, the Dempsey Student Center, Little Hall, Steed Hall, and Foundation Hall. Owens Auditorium was named to honor the many contributions made to Sandhills Community College by Dr. Francis Leroy Owens, Sr., who served on the Sandhills Community College Board of Trustees for 22 years. Named for Dr. John Dempsey, the second president of Sandhills, the Dempsey Student Center houses the college bookstore, areas for study, a gymnasium, a fitness center, locker rooms, a game room, a full-service cafeteria, dining areas, and the Ewing Leadership Center. Outside of the Dempsey Student Center is a basketball court, tennis courts, sports fields, a picnic shelter, walking trails, sand volleyball courts, and a ropes course.

Computer technologies, hospitality and culinary arts, and engineering technologies are taught in the building named in honor of the college's long-time board of trustees chair, George W. Little. In Little Hall, the Charles and Jane Wellard Technology Center houses state-of-the-art computer equipment, and culinary and baking classes are conducted in the Peggy Kirk Bell Center for Hospitality and the Culinary Arts.

Steed Hall houses the landscape gardening program, and humanities, math, and English classes are held in Logan Hall. The Kelly Tutoring Center is located there.

Foundation Hall opened in November 2022 and along with the renovated Kennedy Hall, houses the college’s nursing, health sciences, and EMS departments.

Sandhills Horticultural Gardens entrance

The college is also home to the 32-acre (130,000 m²) Sandhills Horticultural Gardens. Designed and maintained by students in the landscape gardening program, the site contains 14 themed gardens, including a whimsical children's garden and a new Japanese garden. The largest accessible holly collection on the East Coast is found in the Ebersole Holly Garden. A formal English garden exhibits several smaller gardens, including the Holly Maze, the Fountain Courtyard, the Sunken Garden, the Ceremonial Courtyard, and the Herb Garden.

In addition to the main campus, the Hoke Center located in Raeford provides curriculum, continuing-education, and basic job skills courses. It is also home to SandHoke Early College High School. Hoke County is the second county Sandhills Community College serves. The college began teaching in Hoke County in 1968 in the Old County Office Building in downtown Raeford. In 2001, Wyatt and Mary Upchurch donated 10 acres of land for the Sandhills Hoke Center. The first building constructed was named in their honor. Since then, Johnson Hall and SandHoke Hall have been constructed.

The college dedicated the Larry R. Caddell Public Safety Training Center in 2011. It is located in Carthage and is used to train emergency-services personnel. It is also the site of the college's fire academy and many workshops each year during the annual Sandhills Emergency Services Seminar.

The college revived its athletic program in 2009. It comprises men's and women's golf teams, a women's volleyball team, and a men's basketball team. Competition is through Region X of the NJCAA. The teams are called the "Flyers".

• Terry Anderson, songwriter and musician
• The Fabulous Knobs, rock band consisting of alumni Terry Anderson, Jack Cornell, David Enloe, and Debra DeMilo