At more than a billion years old, this ancient outcrop captured human imagination, inspired a legend, and became one of the state’s earliest travel attraction. Our fascination with The Blowing Rock endures — and keeps drawing us west.
Our Mysterious State Wildflower, The Carolina Lily
Carolina lilies are breathtakingly beautiful — when you can find them.
The Mythic School of the Mountain: Black Mountain College
Brilliant artists, poets, and intellectuals established Black Mountain College’s reputation as a bastion of innovative thinkers. The college’s brief, obscure existence — and its avant-garde “Happening” — sealed its legend.
They Are Everywhere
North Carolina has one of the largest populations of veterans in America. Here, combat veterans are chronicling their experiences to create what may be a new genre of 21st-century literature. Our poet laureate shares how he teaches veterans to tell their stories, and what he is learning about combat in the process.
Mountain Glory
Former North Carolina Poet Laureate Joseph Bathanti reflects on his Watauga County home.
