North Carolina Trivia & Tidbits - Page 4

Looking for North Carolina trivia? Try our list North Carolina little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

—The remnants of Stagville in Durham, once one of the largest plantations in the South with 30,000 acres and 900 slaves, today encompass 71 acres and include late-18th- and 19th-century plantation buildings, a barn and slave homes.

first appeared: 4/22/2007

—Thousands of rockhounds each year prospect at Emerald Hollow Mine in Hiddenite, the only emerald mine in the United States open for public mining. The site encompasses 70 acres with a half-mile of waterways.

first appeared: 4/8/2007

—In 1899, the U.S. Postal Service merged the post offices of Winston, founded in 1849, and Salem, founded in 1766, and created a Winston-Salem postmark. In 1913, the cities were officially merged.

first appeared: 3/25/2007

—The world’s largest turkey processing plant, with 1 million square feet, is Butterball LLC in Mount Olive (pop. 4,567). Carolina Turkey bought the Butterball brand last October for $325 million from ConAgra Foods.

first appeared: 3/11/2007

—In 1820, during a debate over the Missouri Compromise, Rep. Felix Walker gave a rambling, irrelevant speech before Congress. He defended the speech, saying it was not intended for Congress, but for his constituents in Buncombe County. Buncombe, or “bunkum,” soon came to suggest any foolish talk.

first appeared: 2/27/2007

—A stationary antique red British double-decker bus is a welcome sight in downtown Asheville (pop. 68,889), where the Double Decker Coffee Co. serves up coffee, milkshakes and desserts.

first appeared: 2/11/2007

—The world’s only multi-channel re-circulating whitewater river is the U.S. National Whitewater Center, which opened last year and is located on 300 acres along the Catawba River near Charlotte. Paddlers of all skill levels, from weekend warriors to Olympic athletes, use the river. Rock climbing and mountain biking and running trails are among other activities available.

first appeared: 1/28/2007

In the 1950s, trucking company owner Malcom McLean invented container shipping, whereby a tractor-trailer can be loaded directly onto a ship. Before his invention, the backbreaking and time-consuming work involved unloading and reloading crates of cargo by hand. McLean was born in 1914 in Maxton (pop. 2,551).

first appeared: 1/14/2007

—The Stompin’ Grounds, also known as the Clogging Capital’s Hall of Fame, is in Maggie Valley (pop. 607). Scottish immigrants brought clogging dances to the region.

first appeared: 12/17/2006

—The Elizabethan Gardens on Roanoke Island near Manteo (pop. 1,052) are a memorial to the first English colonists in the New World. Adopted as a project by the Garden Club of North Carolina in 1951, the gardens feature antique statues, period furniture, rose and herb gardens, and other native shrubs, flowers and trees.

first appeared: 12/3/2006

—Begun in 1988 as a tribute to musician Eddy Merle Watson (1949-85), MerleFest in Wilkesboro (pop. 3,159) has blossomed into one of the nation’s largest “Americana music” events, attracting 80,000 visitors and top entertainers each April. Merle was the son of musician Doc Watson.

first appeared: 11/19/2006

—The largest sanctuary for rare and endangered lemurs, outside their native Madagascar, is the Duke Lemur Center in Durham, established in 1966 as the Duke Primate Center by Duke University. The center houses more than 230 lemurs.

first appeared: 11/5/2006

—Opened in 2004, the North Carolina Baseball Museum in Wilson (pop. 44,405) highlights the baseball greats who played in the state, including Catfish Hunter, Hoyt Wilhelm, Gaylord Perry, Enos Slaughter, Rick Ferrell and Buck Leonard.

first appeared: 10/22/2006

—At Camp Flintlock in Four Oaks (pop. 1,424), young campers get to sample 1700s-style living by dressing in Colonial-era garb, shooting muskets, chopping wood, fetching buckets of water, throwing tomahawks and writing with quill pens.

first appeared: 10/8/2006

The geographical center of the state is in Chatham County (pop. 49,329), founded in 1771. The county is home to Jordan Lake, a reservoir that encompasses 46,000 acres.

first appeared: 9/24/2006

The newest classroom at Polk County High School in Columbus (pop. 992) is roofless and covers 10 acres. A community fund-raising campaign helped buy the land for an educational farm where students will get hands-on experience with livestock, gardening and even building.

first appeared: 9/10/2006

The Smithfield (pop. 11,510) Post Office became the Ava Gardner Post Office in March with President George W. Bush's stamp of approval. The name honors the North Carolina-born actress who appeared in more than 60 movies. Gardner, who died in 1990, is buried in Smithfield.

first appeared: 8/27/2006

Fliers can chill out in rocking chairs at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. An airport art exhibit, Porchsitting, included the chairs and, when it came time to dismantle the exhibit, passengers petitioned the airport to keep the first-class seating.

first appeared: 8/13/2006

Begun in 1924 by Joe Hartley Sr., the "Singing on the Mountain" celebration is held every June at Grandfather Mountain near Linville. The event started as a family reunion, but today is the oldest ongoing old-time gospel convention in southern Appalachia.

first appeared: 7/30/2006

Lowe's, named for James Lowe, began as a small-town hardware store in North Wilkesboro (pop. 4,116), selling everything from horse collars to washtubs to boots. But partner Carl Buchan foresaw the post-World War II building boom and began specializing in building materials in the 1940s. Today, more than 1,250 Lowe's stores operate in 49 states.

first appeared: 7/16/2006

jump to page: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17

newspaper partner login create account

Recent

Popular

Recipes

Below are the most recent American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile recipes:

Relish

Spry

Below are the most recent articles from our Relish sister site. Click on the "Spry" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.

Below are the most recent articles from our Spry sister site. Click on the "Relish" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.