Press Releases

The Governor’s Advisory Council on Film, Television and Digital Streaming will meet via conference call Tuesday, June 9 at 10 a.m. The meeting is open to the public. The meeting agenda includes an update from the North Carolina Film Office and discussion of recommendations regarding the N.C. film industry that the council will make in a report to Governor Cooper. Recommendations will be in the priority areas of film industry messaging and marketing; grants, rebates, policies and statutes; access and diversity; and industry expansion.

The 2020 Mountain Gateway Museum Farmers’ Market will open Thursday, June 4, at 24 Water Street in Old Fort. Please note that the Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center remains closed to the public.  Vendors and visitors to the market will be asked to abide by state health and safety guidelines and observe the “3 Ws”: Wear face coverings, Wash or sanitize your hands often, and Wait/walk/stand six feet apart in line. Hand sanitizer will be provided. No public restrooms will be available, and picnic tables on the museum’s grounds will not be available for use. 

Governor Roy Cooper has proclaimed June 1-7, 2020, as "Museum Week" in North Carolina to highlight the meaningful impact museums have on North Carolina residents, tourism and the economy, and their communities. North Carolina Museum Week is a celebration of North Carolina museums. Activities during the week will raise awareness of North Carolina museums as centers of education, community anchors, economic engines, stewards of culture and history, and more.

The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is pleased to announce that one district boundary increase, two districts, and four individual properties across the state have been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The following properties were reviewed by the North Carolina National Register Advisory Committee and were subsequently nominated by the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Officer and forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register for consideration for listing in the National Register.

A recent grant from the National Park Service (NPS) will make available up to $9.25 million in funding to provide recovery assistance to historic properties (including archaeological sites) damaged by hurricanes Florence and/or Michael that are listed or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

The North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation accepted the donation of more than 1,000 acres to Morrow Mountain State Park in Stanly County on May 14. The donation, which brings the park’s total area to 5,881 acres, is part of ALCOA Corporation’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicensing agreement that was finalized in 2013. 

Lacey Wilson has been named the new site manager at the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum in Gibsonville, one of 29 state historic sites of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Wilson previously was a historic interpreter at the Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters in Savannah, Ga., where she designed and conducted tours with a focus on the role and lives of the enslaved inhabitants of the house. 

The North Carolina Historical Commission will meet via conference call Friday, May 29 at 9 a.m.

In the 40-year history of National History Day (NHD) competition in North Carolina, never has there been a season like this one. Only two of the seven regional competitions to select participants in the state competition had taken place when the pandemic struck. Many students had spent the year preparing for the contest, held annually at the Museum of History in Raleigh. With stay-at-home orders, most academic contests and extracurricular activities were canceled. All those performances, exhibits, documentaries, papers and websites might have been created for naught. 

Following guidance from the Governor’s office and the Department of Health and Human Services, North Carolina’s state parks will increase recreational access and services beginning May 9. The Division of Parks and Recreation is working with state and local public health authorities to closely monitor the COVID-19 pandemic and use a phased, collaborative approach to increase access to North Carolina State Parks in a systematic manner.