Civil War
The Fall of Fort Fisher, 1865: Closing the Confederacy’s Last Major Port
A powder ship that fizzled, a general who turned back, and a brutal night fight: how the Union took the sandy fortress guarding Wilmington, North Carolina.
admin
20th Century
The Battle of Hayes Pond, 1958: How the Lumbee Broke Up a Klan Rally
In January 1958, a Klan leader promised a rally against the Lumbee of Robeson County. Hundreds of Lumbee showed up first, and the night ended in a rout.
20th Century
Black Mountain College: The Experimental School That Changed American Art
In a small North Carolina valley, a tiny college put the arts at the center of education and drew artists who reshaped American culture.
20th Century
The Loray Mill Strike of 1929 and the Death of Ella May Wiggins
A strike at the South's largest textile mill ended in a police chief's death, a mistrial, and the roadside killing of a young balladeer and mother.
Economy & Industry
Brad’s Drink Becomes Pepsi-Cola: Caleb Bradham and New Bern’s Soda Fountain
In 1898 a New Bern pharmacist renamed his fountain drink Pepsi-Cola. It grew into a national franchise business, then collapsed in bankruptcy 25 years later.
Economy & Industry
A 17-Pound Rock: The Reed Gold Mine and America’s First Gold Rush
A boy found a yellow rock in a North Carolina creek, and his family used it as a doorstop for years. It was gold, and it started the country's first gold rush.
Civil War
The Wreck of the USS Monitor Off Cape Hatteras, December 31, 1862
Nine months after it stopped the CSS Virginia, the USS Monitor went down in a gale off Cape Hatteras. Its wreck was found in 1973, and its turret was raised in 2002.
Native American History
Tsali and the Cherokees Who Stayed: Removal in the North Carolina Mountains, 1838
In 1838 soldiers drove Cherokee families west. In the Smokies, Tsali's fate and a hard bargain helped one community stay in its homeland.
North Carolina
Seven Years in a Crawlspace: Harriet Jacobs’s Escape from Edenton
To stay near her children and flee the man who claimed to own her, Harriet Jacobs hid in a space too low to stand in. She stayed nearly seven years.
American Revolution
The Overmountain Men and the Victory at Kings Mountain, 1780
In the autumn of 1780, a thousand frontier riflemen crossed the Blue Ridge and destroyed a Loyalist army in about an hour, upending British plans in the South.