North Carolina

                      



North Carolina
Entered the Union: Nov. 21, 1789 (12)

Motto: Esse quam videri (To be rather than to seem)

State symbols:
Residents: North Carolinian
flower dogwood (1941)
tree pine (1963)
bird cardinal (1943)
mammal gray squirrel (1969)
insect honeybee (1973)
reptile eastern box turtle (1979)
gemstone emerald (1973)
shell scotch bonnet (1965)
historic boat shad boat (1987)
beverage milk (1987)
rock granite (1979)
dog plott hound (1989)
song “The Old North State” (1927)
colors red and blue (1945)
fruit scuppernong grape (2001)
Fish: Channel Bass (1971)
National Forests: 4
• State Parks: 27
Famous For: Great Smoky Mountains, Blue Ridge National Parkway, Wright Brothers Memorial, beautiful beaches

Famous North Carolinans: David Brinkley (TV newscaster), Howard Cosell (sportscaster), Virginia Dare (first person born in America to English parents), Elizabeth Dole (senator), Donna Fargo • Roberta Flack • Ronnie Milsap (singers), Ava Gardner (actress), Billy Graham (evangelist), Andy Griffith (actor), O. Henry (writer), Andrew Johnson • James K. Polk (Presidents), Charles Kuralt (TV journalist), Sugar Ray Leonard • Floyd Patterson (boxers), Dolley Madison (first lady), Thelonious Monk (jazz pianist), Arnold Palmer (golf), Richard Petty (auto racer), Alfred Moore (US Supreme Court), Soupy Sales (comedian), John Coltrane (jazz), Earl Scruggs (bluegrass), Randy Travis (musician)

Economy:
Agriculture: Poultry and eggs, tobacco, hogs, milk, nursery stock, cattle, soybeans.
Industry: Tobacco products, textile goods, chemical products, electric equipment, machinery, tourism.

The flag of North Carolina shall consist of a blue union, containing in the center thereof a white star with the letter N in gilt on the left and the letter C in gilt on the right of said star, the circle containing the same to be one-third the width of the union. The fly of the flag shall consist of two equally proportioned bars; the upper bar to be red, the lower bar to be white; that the length of the bars horizontally shall be equal to the perpendicular length of the union, and the total length of the flag shall be one-third more than its width. That above the star in the center of the union there shall be a gilt scroll in semi-circular form, containing in black letters this inscription "May 20th, 1775", and that below the star there shall be a similar scroll containing in black letters the inscription: "April 12th, 1776".

Mount Mitchell, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, is the highest peak east of the Mississippi. Height is 6,684 feet.

The first English settlement in the New World was in NC - The Lost Colony that no one knows what happened to!

From Manteo in the east to Murphy in the west, North Carolina is 560 miles long, making it the longest state east of the Mississippi.  (Measured east-west.)

The largest, privately owned house in America is Asheville's Biltmore House

NC boasts the most outdoor dramas of any state, we also had the first outdoor drama - The Lost Colony that details the first English settlement

The Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest brick lighthouse in the US

Pepsi Cola was invented in North Carolina 100 years ago in 1898

NC was the last state to secede from the Union during the Civil War

Belmont Abbey was the first abbey cathedral in the Western Hemisphere

The top industry in the state is Textiles, followed closely by Furniture

The first English colony in America was located on Roanoke Island. Walter Raleigh founded it. The colony mysteriously vanished with no trace except for the word "Croatoan" scrawled on a nearby tree.

Fontana Dam is the tallest dam in the Eastern United States, at 480 feet high.

Raleigh-Cary, with a metropolitan area population of 1,130,490, is the 4th fastest growing metro area in the U.S. (2010 census) with 41.8% growth.


Some Dates In NC History

    1492-1692. Diseases carried by the foreigners brought about the demise of about 95 percent of the Cherokee Nation during the first 200 years of European presence.

    1629. King Charles I. grants territory, located between 31° and 36° N latitude, to Sir Robert Heath, who names it "Carolina" after the king.

    1705. First school opened, in Pasquotank County. Bath is first town incorporated.

    1710. Colony of Swiss and German Protestants founded New Bern.

    1711-1713. Indians massacre settlers in Tuscarora War.

    1713. Tuscarora Indians migrate into New York.

    1712. Carolina divided into two provinces.

    1729. Seven lords proprietors sell lands to George II.

    1771. Farmers oppose British rule; are defeated in battle of Alamance Creek.

    1774. Provincial congress organized at New Bern to plan resistance against royal rule.

    1775. Citizens of Mecklenburg County may have issued first declaration of independence.

    1776. Milita defeat Loyalist troops at Moore's Creek Bridge near Wilmington Feb. 27th.

             First state constitution adopted May 20th. (Population: 300,000; 3rd largest in the Union)

    1780. General Charles Cornwallis occupies Charlotte.

             Frontiersmen attack Tory forces at King's Mountain Oct. 7th.

    1781. Cornwallis forced to retreat at Battle of Guilford Courthouse.

    1784. State of Franklin organized; collapses in 1788.

    1789. North Carolina is 12th state to ratify United States Constitution, Nov. 21th.

    1790. North Carolina cedes western lands to United States.

    1792. Permanent capital site surveyed; named Raleigh.

    1813. First Cotton Mill founded near Lincolnton.

    1829. Andrew Jackson becomes seventh president of US.

    1838. Most of the Cherokee tribe is forcibly moved to Oklahoma (Trail of Tears).

    1840. Present State Capitol completed.

    1845. James K. Polk, born 1795 in Mecklenburg County, becomes 11th US president.

    1861. North Carolina secedes from Union, May 20.

    1865. Andrew Johnson, born 1808 in Raleigh, becomes 17th US president.

            Wilmington is one of last Confederate ports captured

            Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrenders to Gen. William T. Sherman at Durham.

            Legislature ratifies the 13th Amendment to the US constitution, ending slavery, Dec 4.

    1868. North Carolina readmitted to Union, July 20.

    1890. James B. Duke founds American Tobacco Company.

    1901. Governor Aycock vigorous developments natural resources and better schools.

    1903. Wright brothers make flight near Kitty Hawk.

    1944. Fontana Dam completed (480 feet tall).

    1953. Nuclear reactor dedicated at North Carolina State University.

    1957. Research Triangle Park created by area Universities.

    1963. State House completed; houses state legislature.

    1965. First state-supported school for the performing arts opens in Winston-Salem.

    1966. Cape Lookout National Seashore established.

    1970. Present constitution adopted; effective 1971.

    1976. Section of New River designated a "scenic river" to prevent construction of a dam.

    1988. Drought disaster declared during worst drought and heat wave since the 1930s.