On September 11, 1987, the Linn Cove Viaduct—part of the Blue Ridge Parkway—was completed in Avery County. Internationally recognized as an engineering marvel, the curved bridge spans 1,243 feet and hugs an environmentally sensitive area of Grandfather Mountain.
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On September 11, 1961, North Carolina’s first ski resort, Cataloochee Ski Slopes, was incorporated. The Haywood County recreation area opened to skiers on December 22.
Tom Alexander, the resort’s owner, was a true pioneer, as Cataloochee was not only the first ski resort in the state, but the first south of Virginia. He and wife Judith operated Cataloochee Ranch on top of Fie Top Mountain, which offered horseback riding, fishing, hiking and lodge and cabin accommodations during the summer months.
On September 10, 1776, during the American Revolution, North Carolina General Griffith Rutherford attacked and burned the Cherokee town of Nikwasi as part of what became known as the “Rutherford Trace.”
On September 10, 1934, celebrated CBS journalist, television news anchor and bestselling author Charles Kuralt was born in Wilmington.
The winner of 12 Emmys and two Peabody Awards, Kuralt showed early promise as a writer. Voted “Most Likely to Succeed” by Charlotte’s Central High School class of 1951, the budding writer attended UNC, where he was editor of The Daily Tar Heel.
On September 10, 1976, the facilities now known as the North Carolina Aquariums opened to the public for the first time.
On September 9, 2009, Bennie Lydell Glover of Shelby was indicted in Alexandria, Virginia, for felony conspiracy to commit copyright infringement.
Two years earlier Glover left work to encounter Cleveland County deputies alongside his truck. As they arrested him, the FBI was simultaneously raiding his house.
On September 9, 1961, Maria Beale Fletcher of Asheville became the first Miss North Carolina to be crowned Miss America.
On September 9, 1820, Martha McFarlane McGee Bell, heroine of the American Revolution, died at her home in Randolph County. The wife of a Deep River gristmill owner, Bell and her husband were ardent supporters of American independence, and their mill became a gathering place for local patriots during the war. There is also evidence that the Continental Army used the mill to store supplies.
On September 8, 1896, B. Everett Jordan was born in Ramseur. Before being appointed to fill the vacant seat of Senator Kerr Scott in 1958, he was a successful textile executive who had worked his way up the ladder in one company since the 1920s.
Although several newspapers at the time considered him to have been placed in the Senate as a “seat warmer” for Luther Hodges who was then governor and popular politically, Jordan was reelected in 1960 and 1966.