North Carolina Trivia & Tidbits - Page 5

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

Fort Bragg (pop. 29,183) is one of the largest and busiest military complexes in the world, covering almost 251 square miles. About 43,000 military and 8,000 civilian personnel work at the post.

first appeared: 7/2/2006

The state operates two deep-sea ports for international shipping. One port is located on the east bank of the Cape Fear River in Wilmington and the other is operated at Morehead City (pop. 7,691).

first appeared: 6/25/2006

In 1973, Sandra Forcier Waldron became the nation's first paid female firefighter when hired as a public safety officer, with both police and fire duties, for the city of Winston-Salem. She later moved into a firefighting-only position.

first appeared: 6/4/2006

Held since 1924, the Fiddler's Grove Ole Time Fiddler's and Bluegrass Festival in Union Grove is the nation's oldest continuous old-fashioned fiddle contest. Workshops and contests promote traditional bluegrass at the Memorial Day weekend gathering.

first appeared: 5/21/2006

Dubbed "Korner's Folly," a house completed in 1880 by painter Jule Korner in Kernersville (pop. 17,126) has 22 rooms with ceilings ranging from 6 feet to 25 feet high, cubbyholes, trapdoors, pivoting windows and irregular-size doorways.

first appeared: 5/14/2006

Hurst Jaws of Life rescue systems are manufactured by Hale Products in Shelby (pop. 19,477) and are credited with saving thousands of lives. George Hurst invented the tool in the 1960s to rescue racecar drivers trapped in wreckage.

first appeared: 4/23/2006

Since 1928, Tryon (pop. 1,760) has been home to a giant rocking horse, a jumbo version of a popular toy built by the Tryon Toymakers and Woodcarvers. Today’s landmark steed is displayed in downtown Tryon and serves as a billboard for the Tryon Riding & Hunt Club.

first appeared: 4/9/2006

The North Carolina Transportation Museum is on the site of the former Southern Railway Co.’s steam locomotive repair shops in Spencer (pop. 3,355). A 37-stall roundhouse includes 25 locomotives and other railroad exhibits.

first appeared: 3/26/2006

"Buffalo Bob" Smith and his sidekick marionette entertained on television from 1947 to 1960 on The Howdy Doody Show. Smith lived in Flat Rock (pop. 2,565) from 1991 until his death in 1998.

first appeared: 3/12/2006

Cobras, mambas, rattlers and bushmasters, which grow to a length of 8 to 12 feet, are among 100 species of exotic snakes on display at the Cape Fear Serpentarium in Wilmington. The indoor park exhibits lizards and other reptiles, too.

first appeared: 2/26/2006

The North Carolina Zoo in the Uwharrie Mountains in Asheboro (pop. 21,672) is the nation’s largest walk-through, natural-habitat zoo. The African and North American exhibit spans more than 500 acres, has five-plus miles of walkways and features polar bears, river otters, elephants, giraffes, rhinoceros, sea lions, gorillas, baboons and zebras.

first appeared: 2/12/2006

Yancey County (pop. 17,774) is the state’s loftiest county with an average elevation of 2,817 feet. The county is home to Mount Mitchell, the state’s tallest peak at 6,684 feet, in the Black Mountains.

first appeared: 1/29/2006

The Cheoah River near Robbinsville (pop. 747) is the state’s newest white-water destination. Last September, water was released in the river after decades of being diverted to produce hydroelectricity.

first appeared: 1/15/2006

MISS NORTH CAROLINA 2006—Brooke Elizabeth McLaurin of Fayetteville underwent brain surgery three years ago to remove a tumor. Now recovered, she speaks about the threat of brain tumors.

first appeared: 1/8/2006

In 1946, Elwood "Buck" Perry of Taylorsville (pop. 1,799) invented the popular Spoonplug fishing lure. Before witnesses, he cast the Spoonplug 30 times—and caught 30 bass. Perry died at age 90 last August.

first appeared: 1/1/2006

Walls are baked and mortared with icing for the whimsical and edible creations at the National Gingerbread House Competition and Display every Christmas season at the Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa in Asheville.

first appeared: 12/18/2005

America’s largest house, George Vanderbilt’s Biltmore Estate in Asheville (pop. 68,889), with 250 rooms and four acres of floor space, opened three fourth-floor servants’ bedrooms to visitors in July to illustrate the lives of the men and women who worked at the estate in the early 1900s.

first appeared: 12/4/2005

Divorced and living without electricity, Roxanne Quimby teamed with beekeeper Burt Shavitz in 1984 to make candles from beeswax. Founded in Maine, Burt’s Bees moved to North Carolina in 1994, and today the multi-million dollar company makes lip balm, soap and other natural personal-care products in Durham and other locations.

first appeared: 11/6/2005

The Perley A. Thomas Car Works manufactured streetcars in High Point from 1916 to 1936 and then switched to school buses. Some of the company’s 1920s streetcars are still in operation.

first appeared: 10/23/2005

Franklin Garland, owner of Garland Gourmet Mushrooms and Truffles of Hillsborough (pop. 5,446), cultivates black Perigord truffles. The fungi, native to France, grow underground on the entwined roots of hazelnut trees and sell for several hundred dollars a pound.

first appeared: 10/9/2005

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