Press Releases

A man whose photographs of the North Carolina mountains played a crucial role in the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park soon will be recognized with a new North Carolina Highway Historical Marker in Asheville.The marker commemorates George Masa, who some have called the Ansel Adams of the Smokies. His photographs captured the unique beauty and majesty of the Smokies' mountains and valleys, persuading many that the Great Smoky Mountains were worth protecting as a national park.

A new Highway Historical Marker soon will commemorate North Carolina’s oldest State Historic Site.

The North Carolina State Capitol will host the traveling exhibit “Down Home: Jewish Life in North Carolina” from April 1 to May 31. Visitors to the Capitol can see this exhibit Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Over 10 panels, this exhibit features a four-century timeline of Jewish history in North Carolina, focusing on topics such as family, being southern, commerce, immigration, community, learning, and more.

 In 2022, the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is celebrating 50 years as a state cabinet-level agency with regional celebrations and online content throughout the year. DNCR is responsible for North Carolina treasures literally from A to Z – from the arts to the zoo – spanning the entire state.

The end of the Civil War brought several firsts for African Americans, .most notably the election to local, state, and federal offices. From the North Carolina state legislature to the United States Congress, African American North Carolinians served their nation in political positions.

The Town of Swansboro and the Swansboro Historic Preservation Commission have been awarded a 2021 federal Historic Preservation Fund grant for Certified Local Governments from the National Park Service, administered through the State Historic Preservation Office (HPO) of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History. The project is to conduct an architectural survey update within the boundaries of both the National Register-listed Swansboro Historic District (NR 1990) and the locally designated Swansboro Historic District.

Tickets are now available for Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site’s illumination event, which will take place on the evening of March 19. The program will commemorate the 157th anniversary of the battle with luminaries for all 4,133 of those killed, wounded, or missing from the battle. Gates will open at 6:30 p.m., with the last admission at 9 p.m.

A free online program hosted by the Western Office of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources will examine the formation of the Ku Klux Klan. Historian Steven Nash will present an in-depth look at the rise of the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction and its terroristic campaign against the biracial Republican political coalition that emerged in the late 1860s.

Montgomery County has been chosen as the subject of a comprehensive survey of historic buildings and landscapes planned from 2022-23. 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.

The CSS Neuse Civil War Interpretive Center is expanding. The Center will unveil its final phase of permanent exhibits to the public March 12. Entitled “The Civil War in Eastern North Carolina,” these exhibits will examine a variety of aspects of the Civil War including causes, military engagements and personalities, and the involvement of African Americans and women.