Regularly scheduled and special activities abound along the coast during Fourth of July holiday week at parks, aquariums, museums and more, including fireworks shows.
culture and history
The Quaker Map: From Harlowe to Mill Creek
North Carolina historian David Cecelski uses a map he found recently and other sources to explore the history of a largely forgotten group of Quaker settlements that flourished on the North Carolina coast more than 200 years ago.
The Wreck of the Nomis
Historian David Cecelski writes about the motor schooner Nomis that went aground the summer of 1935 on Ocracoke Island’s outer shoals and the successful rescue of the six crewmen by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Songs on a Nags Head Porch
Author and historian David Cecelski visits with Gerret Warner and Mimi Gredy, who are making a documentary on Frank and Anne Warner and the coastal North Carolina folksingers and musicians who shared their songs and stories with the two American folk music collectors.
Blackbeard’s Death: Part Of A Failed Coup?
With the approach of the 300th anniversary of Blackbeard’s death, theories abound about the mysterious pirate, but an N.C. author posits that the killing was part of a failed coup attempt.
Our Coast’s History: NC’s Oyster War
Back in the 1880s, as the Chesapeake Bay oyster fishery declined from overharvest, out-of-state shellfishermen moved into North Carolina waters, prompting swift response from Tar Heel legislators.
Marines: Last Days of a New River Village
State historian David Cecelski writes about the visit of Greensboro photographer Charles A. Farrell to Marines in 1941, soon before the Onslow County village was displaced to make way for Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.
‘Rising’ Exhibit Documents Coastal Change
“Rising: Perspectives of Coastal Change,” a collaborative multimedia exhibition featuring photography and oral histories, is on display at the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center on Harkers Island.
‘Secret Token’ Casts New Light on Lost Colony
Our Kip Tabb interviews journalist and science writer Andrew Lawler and reviews his new book “The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke.”
Pitch Pines and Tar Burners: A 1792 Account
North Carolina historian David Cecelski shares an historical account of what he thinks might be the best description of tar making in the state he has ever read, written by an English merchant from a 1792 visit to coastal North Carolina.
Our Coast’s History: Crew of the Bedfordshire
A solemn observance held Friday at Ocracoke’s British Cemetery honored the men of the H.M.T. Bedfordshire who died on May 11, 1942, in a World War II battle off the N.C. coast, but a few islanders got to know some of the crew before their deaths.
Newspaper Archives: The Turpentine State
North Carolina historian David Cecelski discusses how the British press covered North Carolina in the 18th and 19th centuries, and their focus on the vital products of its vast pine forests.
The Birth of NC’s Coastal Wildlife Refuges
Historian David Cecelski came across in the Denver Public Library a collection of letters and maps from the 1930s that provide insight into the origins of some of the state’s coastal wildlife refuges.
Documentary to Focus on The Hammocks
The nonprofit Friends of The Hammocks and Bear Island and UNC-TV are teaming up to produce a documentary on the history of the area near Swansboro and seeking help from those who remember.
Progress Marked in Restoration of Sylvia II
The new owner of the Sylvia II, a round-stern, wooden work boat that may be the oldest charter vessel in North Carolina, recently celebrated a milestone in its overhaul.
Of Lifesaving, Life Taking and Ghosts
The Kitty Hawk Lifesaving Station now serves tourists as a dining hot spot on the Outer Banks. No one much remembers its past except for maybe the ghost that roams its rooms.
