Topics Related to North Carolina Historic Sites
June 29, 2024, 10am - 2pm
Come visit Duke Homestead and learn about the creatures typically found on a farm in the late-19th century!
The sound of cannonfire during the Battle of Bentonville, it was said, boomed with a distinct echo.
“The din of battle roared like one continuous peel of heavy thunder,” wrote one eyewitness.
On Saturday, June 22, Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site will recreate some of that noise during its “Heavy Thunder: Summer Artillery and Infantry Program.”
As part of its 100th year anniversary, The Duke Endowment has approved a $2.5 million grant to the Duke Homestead State Historic Site in Durham, the largest private monetary gift ever given to a state historic site from a single donor. This generous grant will be used to transform the Duke Homestead, preserving and protecting this important piece of North Carolina’s past. The announcement was made today at a centennial event honoring the Endowment’s grantees and partners from the region.
Two North Carolina state historic sites — Historic Edenton and Historic Halifax — will enhance education and preservation activities thanks to grants from the Charles A. Cannon Charitable Trust Number One. Established upon Charles A. Cannon’s passing, the Trust provides funding for capital and equipment projects across North Carolina.
Fort Dobbs State Historic Site will hold a special “Highlighted History” event on June 1. Visitors will learn about the June 1761 invasion of the Cherokee’s homeland by a British army commanded by James Grant. Re-enactors will illustrate life on campaign as experienced by British and colonial soldiers.
Featured outdoor activities include scheduled musket firing demonstrations and a presentation about the campaign by Historic Interpreter Jason Melius. Ongoing displays of camp life include cooking, woodworking, and blacksmithing demonstrations.
Dr. Jay Martin has been appointed as the new executive director of the Battleship North Carolina effective May 31, the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources announced today. Martin takes over the role from Captain Terry Bragg, who will retire June 1.
Alamance Battleground State Historic Site will host a reenactment of the 1771 Battle of Alamance, Saturday, May 18, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Visitors will experience the smoke and power of six cannons similar to those used against protesting farmers at the volatile conclusion to the Regulator movement. The program will feature a battle reenactment, military drills, artillery and musket drills, and demonstrations of colonial life. Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for children and seniors.
Following a triumphant first year, the Moonshine and Motorsports Trail in North Carolina is expanding.
The Moonshine and Motorsports Trail, conceived in the 2021 state budget and launched in 2023 by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR), is adding nine new sites that will highlight the state’s unique, intertwined history of distilling and stock car racing.
A new traveling exhibit, “Making Our Voices Heard: North Carolinians Fighting for Civil Rights,” will debut May 7 at Alamance Battleground State Historic Site.
A series of walking tours centered on the history of protest and civil rights in downtown Raleigh will be hosted by the North Carolina State Capitol beginning in May.
The tour, “We've Always Been Out There,” will be a short (0.5-mile) trek around downtown and will cover topics ranging in time from the early 19th century to the 1980s that include the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, women's suffrage, prohibition, the anti-Vietnam War movement, and Raleigh's first pride parade.