Press Releases

A pair of beach resorts for Black families organized in North Carolina before desegregation will be recognized with a North Carolina Highway Historical Marker.Seabreeze and Freeman Beach were two pioneering beach resorts established in New Hanover County in 1922 and 1951, respectively. Closely related to each other geographically, and consequently considered by some to be the same, they provided summertime leisure for thousands of Black visitors from North Carolina and other parts of the country during the Jim Crow era, when beach resorts were racially segregated.

An American Indian tribe linked to settlements along the Eno River in central North Carolina soon will be recognized with a North Carolina Highway Historical Marker.

The North Carolina Zoo is excited to celebrate National Trails Day at Ridge’s Mountain on June 1.The North Carolina Zoo invites visitors to celebrate National Trails Day by hiking Ridge’s Mountain, located at 504 Summit Court, Asheboro, N.C. On June 1, Zoo staff will be available at the trailhead from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. to greet hikers and talk about the history of the dramatic landscape.

The North Carolina Museum of History is excited to announce a calendar full of free events as we get ready to start the summer!At the beginning of May, the museum announced the upcoming redesign of the museum and exhibits. To prepare for the renovation, the third-floor exhibits will close on June 3, 2024. The first-floor exhibits and the physical museum building will close on October 7, 2024.

Flowers are blooming, and birds are building nests, which means it’s time for the Mountain Gateway Museum’s “Birds & Blooms Bonanza.”

The Museum of the Albemarle will open the exhibit Who Can Vote: Brief History of Voting Rights in the United States on June 4, 2024. This traveling exhibit from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History “examines voting rights with an emphasis on the role of the US Constitution and the interplay between the states and federal government in determining who is allowed to vote. Beginning with the founding era and going up to the election of 2000, this exhibition explores the complex history of the right to vote that forms the core of our nation’s democracy.

 Alamance Battleground State Historic Site will host a reenactment of the 1771 Battle of Alamance, Saturday, May 18, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.Visitors will experience the smoke and power of six cannons similar to those used against protesting farmers at the volatile conclusion to the Regulator movement. The program will feature a battle reenactment, military drills, artillery and musket drills, and demonstrations of colonial life. Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for children and seniors.

Dr. Jay Martin has been appointed as the new executive director of the Battleship North Carolina effective May 31, the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources announced today. Martin takes over the role from Captain Terry Bragg, who will retire June 1.

The Museum of the Albemarle will open its newest exhibit, Opening Doors: Contemporary African American Academic Surgeons, on June 3, 2024. “The National Library of Medicine produced Opening Doors: Contemporary African American Academic Surgeons. The exhibit was guest curated by Jill L. Newmark (NLM Exhibition Program) and Margaret A. Hutto (Reginald F. Lewis Museum). This special collaboration with the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, featured a companion exhibition at the museum.

Morrow Mountain State Park will host a reopening event Sunday, May 19, 2-4 p.m., to celebrate the completion of a major construction project that upgraded the park’s vacation cabins, pool house, concession stand, and hiking and bridle trails as well as added new camper cabins and a splash pad.