Press Releases

A master plan for the expansion and future management of Hanging Rock State Park has been approved by the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation. The master plan was developed with extensive public input from local businesses, citizens and park staff as well as conservation partners the Friends of Sauratown Mountains and the Piedmont Land Conservancy. The result is a vision for the park that balances cultural history, outdoor recreation and natural resources stewardship.

It’s a medium that’s as old as dirt and lots of fun. “Play in the Clay Day” at Town Creek speaks to the inner child of every age. See how the Pee Dee culture took advantage of the area’s abundant supply of clay Saturday, Aug. 11, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at a free program.

Educational activities, photo opportunities and reenactors bring World War II to life at the N.C. Maritime Museum, Saturday, Aug. 11, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, with family friendly activities from learning what life was like on the home front, to surviving the front lines. 

When students return to Kimberly Park Elementary School in Winston-Salem this school year, they will have visible reminders of a project that brought the farm to the city. Theirs was the first school to participate in the “Instructional Heirloom Apple Orchard for Schools” program established by Horne Creek Living Historical Farm in Pinnacle.

What do Nina Simone, headache powders, Blackbeard, moonshine and Grandfather Mountain have in common? They all had a role to play in the history of North Carolina. And they can all be found in “This Day in North Carolina History,” an illustrated, day-by-day look at our state’s history and culture, to be published Aug. 8 by the North Carolina Office of Archives and History.

The remnants of the Confederate ironclad CSS Neuse sit in a climate-controlled facility in downtown Kinston, a far cry from the bottom of the Neuse River. How it got there is explained in a new exhibit at the CSS Neuse Civil War Interpretive Center designed by East Carolina University graduate student Samantha Bernard. She is enrolled in the maritime studies program through the history department at ECU, and the exhibit explains the process and purpose of underwater archaeology.

The North Carolina African American Heritage Commission has received a $33,558 federal grant from the national Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for its project "A Tale of Two Ships: Developing a Research & Interpretation Plan for Revealing Hidden Histories of One Ship with Two Identities.” The project will develop a collections research and interpretation plan focused on uncovering the still-hidden histories of the North Carolina shipwreck (31CR314) of an early 18th century slave trading vessel.

Who needs TVs or tablets? Unplug at Duke Homestead’s “Family Day: Historic Games.” This free event takes place Saturday, July 28, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and is perfect for kids aged two to 10.  Costumed staff and junior interpreters will lead visiting kids in games typical of the 19th century, from parlor games to town ball. Kids will be encouraged to run, throw, make, think, touch and learn through hands-on activities. These activities include several options of toys to make and take home! Be sure to join in this fun family outing.

Morrow Mountain State Park added 45 acres of land south of Mountain Creek to its holdings this summer. The new property includes more than 3,000 linear feet of frontage on Mountain Creek, a pristine stream home to rare mussels.

Pilot Mountain State Park in Surry and Yadkin counties will celebrate its 50th anniversary this month with a day full of events at the park. The area near the big and little pinnacles in the Sauratown Mountains became a state park in 1968. The park now consists of more than 3,800 acres and includes a section along the Yadkin River.