Six years after the discovery of the largest uncut emerald ever found in the United States in Hiddenite, what would become the largest cut emerald in North America is found on a property in Alexander County. Weighing 64 carats and styled after the emerald once owned by Catherine the Great of Russia, the gem is dubbed the Carolina Emperor. Three more emeralds, one weighing 1,225 carats, would be found on the same property in March 2011. All four Alexander County finds are donated to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh.
North Carolina is known for many things, but nothing more important this week than the qualities of endurance, resilience, and hope.
By day, this adventure park in the Triad is a fall festival to die for. By night, the undead come alive for Halloween tricks. Welcome to one man’s vision of year-round merrymaking.
North Carolina’s border dances across the mountains as it traces four different states. Life here can be more remote, but good neighbors are never far away.
The Blue Ridge Parkway stands out among America’s national parks: Unfurling across six Appalachian mountain chains, it connects dozens of rural communities and binds together generations of families through shared memories.
