Christmas shopping can be challenging, but back in the first half of the 20th century, North Carolinians got a helpful hint from a most unlikely source.
Bunking with Babe
In the early 1930s, legendary slugger Babe Ruth took a hunting trip to Craven County.
Tiny but Mighty
North Carolinian Georgia “Tiny” Broadwich was the first woman in history to parachute from an airplane.
Back in the Day: The Mother of Invention
North Carolinian Beulah Henry was hailed as the female counterpart to Thomas Edison, and has been credited with more than 100 inventions.
Collecting Carolina: A Photo Essay
From UNC Chapel Hill’s Wilson Library — housing what’s believed to be the largest library collection in the country devoted to a single state — to personal troves of duck decoys, pottery pieces, trains, tractors, and more: Meet the passionate collectors who curate the past and present, the serious and curious, the tangible items that tell the story of life in North Carolina.
Back in the Day: A Whale of a Tale
In 1928, a massive carcass of a sperm whale washed ashore in Wrightsville Beach — and that was just the beginning of the trouble.
The Little Hardware Store That Could
When a Wilkes County farmer opened his namesake hardware store a century ago in North Wilkesboro, no one could have predicted that Lowe’s would go from selling snuff and horse collars to becoming one of the largest home improvement chains in the world.
Back in the Day: When the Circus Came to Camp
Legendary circus showman P.T. Barnum’s great-granddaughter founded Rockbrook Camp for Girls in Brevard — and turned a famously tiny chair into a can't-miss attraction among campers.
Back in the Day: An Atomic Honeymoon
How one North Carolina couple spent three nights in the bomb shelter at the Executive Mansion in 1961.
