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.
Memories of spuds are firmly rooted in one chef’s mind, just like the Watauga County potatoes she once unearthed.
The poignant voices of gospel music seem to rise from the soil of eastern North Carolina. The genre’s lineage is as rooted to the land as the crops growing in its fields.
In winter, when the weather is just right, water turns ethereally symphonic — if you stop to listen.
Far away from the summer buzz, Corolla quietens into a sleepy, seaside village during the winter. Here, on this strip of sand, visitors find themselves immersed in the northernmost reaches of our state’s coast, where the coldest season is a chance to celebrate solitude.
