From the upper porch of her house, a young Bayard Wootten could watch New Bern wake and stir, come and go, and fade with the light on the nearby Neuse River. This vantage point defined her work as a photographer: The first woman to take aerial photos, Wootten was also skilled at capturing the down-to-earth in her home state. Her portraits from the 1920s and ’30s, of potters and weavers, farmers and soldiers, mothers and children, showcase the dignity of everyday life. Her landscapes — a cotton field, a mountain homestead, a foot-printed dune — are both familiar and mysterious. Toward the end of her life, Wootten returned to the house where she grew up, and when she died there in 1959, she left a trove of some 600,000 photographs.
Little-Known Fun Fact: While living at this house, Wootten designed the first Pepsi-Cola logo for a neighbor, the pharmacist who invented the drink.
Why does this Haywood County town have some of the cleanest water in the state? It’s the result of the community’s efforts to keep the forests in its watershed pristine.
The spectacular views in North Carolina’s High Country aren’t just inspiration for writers, painters, and sculptors. Those landscapes — the rugged gray face of Grandfather Mountain, the vibrant fall leaves, the deep green meadows — are brushstrokes on Earth’s own canvas.
The sprawling vineyards and wide-open skies that stretch for miles across seven North Carolina counties offer relaxing getaways — not to mention some of the state’s finest wines — for Sunday drivers aching to escape the rush of city life.
Nothing lasts forever — and that’s what makes many of our cherished moments so special.
