On February 8, 1898, Warren Coleman and his associates laid the cornerstone for the nation’s first black-owned cotton mill in Concord.
On February 8, 1949, North Carolina’s Merci Train car, filled with gifts of gratitude from French citizens, arrived in Raleigh.
On February 8, 1948, designer Alexander Julian was born in Chapel Hill.
Julian’s father owned a menswear boutique, Julian’s, downtown near the UNC campus. Growing up visiting and later working in the store, young Julian took a natural career path.
On February 7, 1847, New Hanover County native Capt. John Henry King Burgwin died of a wound he received while leading an assault during the Taos Revolt, an insurrection of Mexicans and their Pueblo Indian allies against the American occupation of what is now New Mexico.
On February 7, 1978, the Graham-based fast food chain Biscuitville filed to register a trademark for the first time.
On February 7, 1862, Federal ships bombarded Fort Bartow, part of the Confederate defenses on Roanoke Island. One of three Confederate earthen forts on the west side of the island, Fort Bartow mounted nine guns.
On February 6, 1971, Mike’s Grocery, a mom-and-pop store in Wilmington, was firebombed and burned. It’s unclear who was responsible for the arson, which came after a week of increasing racial tension and violence over the desegregation of the city’s high schools.
On February 6, 1963, the General Assembly met in the Legislative Building on Jones Street for the first time.
On February 6, 2010, Swain County’s six-mile “Road to Nowhere” was officially abandoned by the federal government.
On February 6, 1832, Elizabeth City congressman William Shepard petitioned the House of Representatives for a light station to help guide sailors to safety by the mouth of the Roanoke River.