He rose from being a sixteen-year-old drug store apprentice to becoming a wealthy businessman who had the vision and determination to build Pinehurst, in only six months.

[2] 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 Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, formerly known as Cottage City.

James Walker Tufts was a prominent summer resident of Cottage City.

Tufts hired the landscape architecture firm started by Frederick Law Olmsted to do the initial city planning; because his health was failing, Olmsted himself was unable to play an active role.

James Tufts's son Leonard, and his grandson, Richard, succeeded him.