On January 22, 1919, a fire consumed a majority of the buildings on the campus of Littleton College in Halifax County. No lives were lost, but the devastation was so complete–damages exceeding $50,000–that the owner could not raise the money to rebuild and the school closed.
Topics Related to This Day in North Carolina History
On January 16, 1831, Peter Francisco, the “Virginia Giant,” died in Richmond, Va.Francisco was noted for his many feats of bravery during the American Revolution, especially during the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in what’s now Greensboro in March 1781.
Ronnie Milsap, born January 16, 1944, in Robbinsville. Image from Herald-Mail Media.
Thomas Wolfe and his mother Julia pose on the front part of the “Old Kentucky Home.” Image from N.C. Historic Sites.
The statue’s recreation as it is today in the rotunda of the State Capitol
On January 15, 1771, the legislature passed an act to establish Queen’s College in Charlotte. The act stressed the urgent need for educational opportunities in what was at the time the “backcountry.”However, the school, which was to be established under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church, was in conflict with royal authority and the Church of England.
On January 21, 1891, Gov. Daniel Fowle declared “war” on northern fishermen poaching North Carolina’s deep-water oyster beds. The oyster “pirates” had already depleted the Chesapeake Bay’s rich oyster beds during the 1880s. In an effort to meet seafood canneries’ growing demands, they had moved their dredging operations into North Carolina.
On January 21, 1959, Lamar Stringfield, the first conductor of the North Carolina Symphony, died in Asheville.Raised in Raleigh, Stringfield was the sixth of seven children. His father, O. L. Stringfield, helped establish Meredith College. After attending college at Mars Hill and Wake Forest, Stringfield left school in 1916 to join the army. Returning home from tours of duty in Mexico and France, he began serious training in music, both in North Carolina and in New York.
On January 15, 1865, Fort Fisher, nicknamed “Gibraltar of the South,” fell to Union troops.Built on a peninsula known as Federal Point at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, 18 miles south of Wilmington, Fort Fisher was the largest earthen fortification in the Confederacy. It guarded the port of Wilmington, and, in that capacity, was the most powerful seacoast fort in the South.
On January 15, 1974, congressman and agricultural advocate Harold Cooley died from the effects of emphysema.As the longtime chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture Committee, Cooley, a native of Nash County, was a powerful spokesman for farmers from the New Deal to the Great Society.