The North Carolina Office of State Archaeology will hold a Public Archaeology Day at the Wire Pasture Access of Lumber River State Park on Saturday, April 28, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Wire Pasture is located at 11765 US 74 Highway W, Maxton, N.C.
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Many fans of the “Outlander” book series know that the Battle of Alamance figures prominently in book five, “The Fiery Cross.” Alamance Battleground State Historic Site will celebrate that time period and sensibility with the “Fraser’s Ridge Scottish Music Jam,” April 28, 1 to 4 p.m. Bring a lawn chair and picnic to the free event and enjoy an afternoon of Scottish music.
Prohibition was a unique period in our country’s history, beginning in 1918 with the passage of the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act, a federal amendment and subsequent law that prohibited the production, sale, and consumption of alcohol throughout the United States.
But did you know that North Carolina enacted state-wide prohibition nearly a decade earlier? Learn more at “Inflamed by Spirits: North Carolina’s Role in Temperance and Prohibition,” a new, free exhibit opening Thursday, April 19 at the North Carolina State Capitol.
The Aycock Community Yard Sale scheduled for Saturday, April 14, has been cancelled. The event may be rescheduled for this summer.
Spring is still a great time to visit and see the sheep grazing and Rhode Island Red chickens at Aycock.
Visitors are invited to experience the ongoing conservation of the infamous pirate Blackbeard's flagship, Queen Anne's Revenge, at the fourth annual Queen Anne’s Revenge Conservation Lab Open House, Saturday, April 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free for this fun and educational event, “Blackbeard: The Science of Pirates, 300th Edition.”
The “N.C. Digs!” traveling archaeological exhibit features artifacts from the Berry site in Burke County and other western North Carolina sites. The Western Office of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources will host the exhibit April 16 to May 30.
The exhibit features five different types of archaeological sites found across North Carolina: Native American, battlefield, plantation, trash pit and industrial. “N.C. Digs!” includes interpretive panels explaining each site type, and reviews techniques and methods used to excavate and analyze the materials discovered.
Due to potentially inclement weather, two of the four state historic sites planning Park Day for April 7 have rescheduled. Park Day will go on at Historic Edenton and Fort Fisher April 7 as planned. Park Day at Bennett Place is rescheduled to April 14; Park Day at Bentonville Battlefield is rescheduled to April 28.
Thousands of volunteers across the country participate in the Civil War Trust organized event, and this year will be the largest ever involving more than 155 historic sites in 32 states.
Ahoy, mateys! If ye be sailing for Ocracoke or Bath this year, be prepared to do so under the black flag of the dreaded pirate Blackbeard. The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources has teamed up with the NCDOT’s Ferry Division to fly the flags in observance of the 300th anniversary of Blackbeard’s death in 1718.
The flags will fly on the Hatteras-Ocracoke, Cedar Island-Ocracoke, and Swan Quarter-Ocracoke routes, as well as the Pamlico River route, which runs between Bayview and Aurora. Both areas have historic ties to the 18th-century scallywag.
The meeting of opposing generals inside the humble parlor of James and Nancy Bennett was a small part of making peace and ending the Civil War. Why did the negotiations take days longer than those at Appomattox? How did the ending impact black and white civilians, the free and enslaved? What role did the cavalry play? These are among questions to be explored Saturday and Sunday, April 21-22, at Bennett Place State Historic Site in Durham.