Press Releases

McDowell County has been chosen as the subject of a comprehensive survey of historic buildings and landscapes planned from 2021-24. Funding for this architectural survey comes from the Emergency Supplemental Historic Preservation Fund (ESHPF), administered by the National Park Service, for hurricanes Florence and Michael.

Fort Dobbs State Historic Site will offer a glimpse of the Anglo-Cherokee War on Saturday, Feb. 25. The Cherokee and British had been allies when the French and Indian War started, but tensions quickly spiraled into hostilities. On Feb. 27, 1760, North Carolina soldiers and Cherokee clashed at Fort Dobbs.

The historic 1767 Chowan County Courthouse will provide the setting for an upcoming naturalization ceremony. Approximately 20 people will become citizens Friday, Feb. 17, during a U.S. Naturalization Ceremony at the courthouse conducted by the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of North Carolina. The program starts at 11 a.m. and is open to the public. The Chowan County Courthouse is located at 117 E. King St. in Edenton.

Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site will commemorate the 158th anniversary of the fall of Fort Anderson Saturday, Feb. 18. Free activities from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., will include infantry demonstrations, medical and embalming interpretations, and more. Several presenters during the day will explain and demonstrate what life was like for soldiers and civilians during the American Civil War. From 6-7:30 p.m., visitors can witness a reenactment of the final hours of Fort Anderson during the “Plunging Shot and Screaming Shells” program.

Governor Roy Cooper joined N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Secretary Reid Wilson at the Rockingham Speedway Thursday to unveil North Carolina’s newest cultural trail that will link locations significant to North Carolina’s history of moonshine and motorsports.

The N.C. Division of State Parks and Recreation will hold a Jan. 27 groundbreaking event at Hammocks Beach State Park to celebrate the start of renovations to the park’s Teachers’ Building. Date: Friday, Jan. 27 Time: 1 p.m. Location:  Hammocks Beach State Park, Swansboro, N.C.—Teacher’s Building, Mainland

The North Carolina Parks and Recreation Authority, which oversees the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF), recently approved $13.7 million to fund 11 capital improvement projects for North Carolina state parks, according to the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation. The Authority approved the investments at its first quarterly meeting in 2023, held virtually on Jan. 9.

The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources will launch the state’s new Moonshine and Motorsports Trail at a Feb. 2 event at Rockingham Speedway. Launching in 2023 in conjunction with the North Carolina Year of the Trail, the Moonshine and Motorsports Trail will include locations across the state designed to highlight North Carolina’s unique, intertwined history of distilling and stock car racing.        WHAT:  Launch Event for N.C. Moonshine and Motorsports Trail

The N.C. Division of Historic Sites and Properties, part of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, has received a grant of $468,403.60, which will help pay for programming aimed at closing the digital divide for North Carolina residents. The grant will promote increased availability and accessibility of online content at state historic sites by hiring a part-time digital inclusion coordinator and underwriting broadband subscription costs for visitors at historic sites and properties.

The North Carolina American Indian Heritage Commission will hold its regular meeting Thursday, Jan. 26 at 10 a.m. in Room 308 of the Archives and History/State Library Building, 109 E. Jones St., Raleigh. The meeting is open to the public During the meeting, commission members will hear presentations and project reports from staff of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and will discuss the scheduling of upcoming meetings and events.