Did You Know? North Carolina Discover the history, geography, and government of North Carolina. The Land and Its People The state is divided into three distinct topographical regions: the Coastal Plain, the Piedmont Plateau, and the Appalachian Mountains. The Coastal Plain affords opportunities for farming, fishing, recreation, and manufacturing. The leading crops of this area are bright-leaf tobacco, peanuts, soybeans, and sweet potatoes. Large forested areas, mostly pine, support pulp manufacturing and other forest-related industries. Commercial and sport fishing are done extensively on the coast, and thousands of tourists visit the state’s many beaches. The mainland coast is protected by a slender chain of islands known as the Outer Banks. The Appalachian Mountains—including Mount Mitchell, the highest peak in eastern America (6,684 feet)—add to the variety that is apparent in the state’s topography. More than 200 mountains rise 5,000 feet or more. In this area, widely acclaimed for its beauty, tourism is an outstanding business. The valleys and some of the hillsides serve as small farms and apple orchards; and here and there are business enterprises, ranging from small craft shops to large paper and textile manufacturing plants. The Piedmont Plateau, though dotted with many small rolling farms, is primarily a manufacturing area in which the chief industries are furniture, tobacco, and textiles. Here are located North Carolina’s five largest cities. In the southeastern section of the Piedmont—known as the Sandhills, where peaches grow in abundance—is a winter resort area known also for its nationally famous golf courses and stables. From the seashore to the mountains, North Carolina offers outstanding recreational variety. Its four national parks, eight national recreational areas, and 35 state parks attract 1 ©2009 North Carolina Museum of History Research Branch, Office of Archives and History N.C. Department of Cultural Resources thousands of tourists annually. The state’s toll-free highway system makes accessible all sections and all attractions of the state—its historic sites, educational institutions, military installations, hunting and fishing facilities, golf courses, notable example of excellent architecture, well-known gardens, festivals and outdoor dramas, craft and hobby shops, horse shows, water sports on numerous lakes and at the coast, ski resorts, and hundreds of public campsites. State Capitol North Carolina’s State Capitol was completed in 1840 at a total cost (including furnishings) of $532,682.34. This replaced the former State House, which burned June 21, 1831. North Carolina’s first railroad (with horse-drawn cars) hauled stone for the building from nearby quarries. This excellent example of Greek Revival architecture housed the entire state government until the 1880s. As government grew, however, additional buildings were needed. In 1963 the General Assembly moved to the new State Legislative Building. The Capitol is still occupied by the governor and lieutenant governor, and it remains the symbol of strength and permanence to all North Carolinians. Visit http://www.ncstatecapitol.org/ to learn more. State Legislative Building Completed in 1963, the State Legislative Building was the first building in the United States devoted exclusively to the legislative branch of state government. The building, classic in character, includes the House and Senate chambers, offices for legislators, committee rooms, a library, a small chapel, and indoor and outdoor fountains and gardens. Visit http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/CitizenGuide/CitizenGuide.html to learn more. See how an idea becomes a law at http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/NCGAInfo/Bill-Law/bill- law.pdf . 2 ©2009 North Carolina Museum of History Research Branch, Office of Archives and History N.C. Department of Cultural Resources State Flag North Carolina’s official flag, adopted in 1885, contains two broad stripes—red over white—and a blue field containing the initials “N C” separated by a star. Two dates appear on the flag: April 12, 1776, representing the date of the adoption of the Halifax Resolves, the first formal action of a colony authorizing the delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence; and May 20, 1775, representing the disputed Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. State Song By an act of the General Assembly of 1927, the song known as “The Old North State” was legally adopted as the official song of the State of North Carolina. Visit http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/nc/symbols/SYMBOLS.HTM#song for additional information. North Carolina’s Great Seal and Motto The Great Seal of the State of North Carolina is kept in the Governor’s Office and is used to make impressions upon official papers. The state’s motto, Esse Quam Videri , may be translated, “To be rather than to seem.” See how the Great Seal of North Carolina has changed over time at http://ncmuseumofhistory.org/fko/booklet/NorthCarolinaSeal.jpg . Visit http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/ncgainfo/educational/StateSeal.html for a printable version of the Great Seal and Motto. 3 ©2009 North Carolina Museum of History Research Branch, Office of Archives and History N.C. Department of Cultural Resources North Carolina’s Name and Nicknames In 1629 King Charles I of England “erected into a province” all the land from Albemarle Sound on the north to the St. John’s River on the south, which he directed should be called Carolana. The name derives from the word Carolus , the Latin form of Charles. His son, Charles II, changed the name to Carolina when he granted the territory to the Lords Proprietors in 1663. When Carolina was divided in 1712, the southern part was called South Carolina and the northern part, or older settlement, North Carolina. From this came the nickname “the Old North State.” Principal products during the early history of North Carolina were tar, pitch, and turpentine, collectively known as naval stores, of which the colony was the leading producer. Tar was so important to the economy that it eventually gave rise to the nicknames “Tar Heels” and “Tar Heel State,” but it was not until after the Civil War that the terms came into widespread use. Today, the latter nickname is more often used more. State Emblems What Emblem Year Adopted Berries Strawberry and Blueberry 2001 Beverage Milk 1987 Bird Cardinal 1943 Boat Shad 1987 Carnivorous Plant Venus Flytrap 2005 Colors Red and Blue 1945 Community Theater Thalian Association 2007 Dances Clogging and the Shag 2005 Dog Plott Hound 1989 Fish Channel Bass 1971 Flower Dogwood 1941 Freshwater Trout Southern Appalachian 2005 Brook Trout Fruit Scuppernong Grape 2001 Insect Honey Bee 1973 Language English 1987 Mammal Gray Squirrel 1969 Military Academy Oak Ridge Military 1991 Academy Reptile Eastern Box Turtle 1979 4 ©2009 North Carolina Museum of History Research Branch, Office of Archives and History N.C. Department of Cultural Resources What Emblem Year Adopted Rock Granite 1979 Shell Scotch Bonnet 1965 Stone Emerald 1973 Tartan Carolina Tartan 1991 Tree Pine 1963 Vegetable Sweet Potato 1995 Wildflower Carolina Lily 2003 For more information about official state symbols, go to http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/NC/symbols/symbols.htm . The Tar Heel Toast Here’s to the land of the long leaf pine, The summer land where the sun doth shine, Where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great, Here’s to “Down Home,” the Old North State! Extant* Lighthouses Lighthouse Date Location Bald Head 1817/18 Bald Head (Smith) Island Bodie Island 1872 Bodie Island/Oregon Inlet Cape Hatteras 1870 Lower Hatteras Island Cape Lookout 1859 Cape Lookout/Beaufort Inlet Currituck Beach 1875 Corolla Oak Island 1958 Near Caswell Beach Ocracoke 1823 Lower Ocracoke Island * Extant = still in existence; not destroyed or lost North Carolina History in a Nutshell Before the coming of European explorers, Native Americans inhabited the territory that is now North Carolina. The major tribes were the Tuscaroras, the Catawbas, and the Cherokees. Beginning with Verrazzano in 1524, various French, Spanish, and English explorers made contact with this area, and DeSoto and his men marched through the western region in 1540. The first English colonies in the New World were founded on Roanoke Island in 1585 and 1587, sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh; but these ventures were destined to fail. The first permanent 5 ©2009 North Carolina Museum of History Research Branch, Office of Archives and History N.C. Department of Cultural Resources English settlers subsequently entered the Albemarle region from Virginia about the middle of the seventeenth century. In 1663, King Charles II of England granted the region south of Virginia to eight of his friends, the Lords Proprietors of Carolina. The settled area expanded gradually, but a dangerous coast, poor government, and a disastrous war with the Tuscaroras hindered growth. North Carolina was separated from South Carolina in 1712 and became a royal colony in 1729, at which time the Crown purchased seven of the eight proprietary shares. The number of colonists increased rapidly during royal rule. English settlers pushed inland from the coast, Scottish Highlanders settled in the upper Cape Fear Valley, and large numbers of Scots-Irish and Germans entered the Piedmont. When the federal government took the first census in 1790, North Carolina ranked third in population. Although many North Carolinians were reluctant to rebel against the Crown, royal control was overthrown in 1775; an independent state government under a constitution was set up the next year. The decisive Whig victory at Moores Creek Bridge in February of 1776 led to the Halifax Resolves, April 12, 1776, by which North Carolina became the first colony to instruct its delegates in the Continental Congress to vote for independence. A British army led by Lord Cornwallis invaded the state in 1780, but the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781, so weakened the army that its subsequent surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, was a logical consequence.