North Carolina

In the territory of the modern state of North Carolina, for thousands of years, the indigenous inhabitants of the North American continent, the Indians, lived. Since about 1000 AD, most of the Indian peoples of the state belonged to the "Mississippian culture", also known as the "mound builders". To this day, the Town Creek mound has survived, around which there was a permanent settlement around 1150 - 1400. Archaeological research, which has been carried out here for more than fifty years, has helped scientists learn a lot about the life of the Indians. Town Creek was designated a National Historic Landmark in the United States in 1966.

By the time the first European explorers appeared in North Carolina, the Pamlico and Roanoke Indian peoples (on the coast) lived; tuscarora, katoba (on the Piedmont Plateau); Cherokee (in mountainous areas) and others.

The first European to see the lands of the state was the Italian Giovanni da Verrazano (Verrazzano). In 1524, he sailed under the French flag from Cape Fear in North Carolina to Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island and produced the first (albeit very inaccurate) description of the coast.

The Spaniards continued to explore the region, in 1539-40 an expedition led by the famous conquistador Hernando de Soto passed through the territory of North Carolina (as well as Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi). In 1567, another Spanish detachment came to North Carolina, led by Juan Pardo. It was he who built, not far from the modern city of Morganton, the first European settlement on the lands of the state - Fort San Juan (although a year later this fortification was captured and burned by the Indians).

After much debate between the Federalists (supporters of a strong national government in the United States) and their opponents, on November 21, 1789, North Carolina ratified the Constitution of the United States of America, thus becoming the twelfth state of the United States.

National Historic Landmarks in North Carolina

 Hardaway is a site of numerous archaeological finds, located near the city of Badin.

 The Palmer Marsh House in Bath is one of the oldest surviving residential buildings in North Carolina. Built in 1744.

 The historic district of the town of Betania, in which buildings from the middle of the 18th century have been preserved.

 Betabara is a historical district in the city of Winston-Salem, where several buildings built by settlers from Moravia in 1753 have been preserved.

 Chowan County Courthouse in Edenton. Built in Georgian style in 1767.

 The Nash-Hooper House in Hillsborough, built in 1772 by General Francis Nash of the Continental Army. In the 1880s, one of the North Carolina delegates to the Continental Congress, William Hooper, lived in it.

 Old East is the oldest building at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Built in 1793.

 Blandwood Mansion in Greensboro, which was built in 1795 in the Federal style as a farmhouse, and in the forties of the XIX century was rebuilt and served as the home of the governor of North Carolina.

 Reed's gold mine near Concord. A gold nugget found on it in 1799 led to the first "gold rush" in the United States.

 The childhood home of prominent abolitionist Hinton Helper. Located near the city of Moxville, built in 1829.

 The North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh. Built in 1833.

 Market House in Fayetteville - a building on the first floor of which the market was located, and on the second - the town hall. Built in 1838.

 Christ Episcopal Church in Raleigh is one of the first neo-Gothic churches in the US South. Built in 1848.

 Playmaker's Theater in Chapel Hill, built in 1850 in neo-Greek style.

 Washington Duke Manor and Tobacco Factory in Durham. Built in the fifties of the XIX century.

 Coolmore is a plantation mansion built in 1859 in the Italian style near the town of Tarborough.

 Fort Fisher, built in 1861 by the Confederacy near the city of Wilmington.

 The shipwreck of the battleship USS Monitor near Cape Hatteras.

 Lighthouse at Cape Hatteras, built in 1870.

 The Blackwell and Company Tobacco Factory in Durham, built in 1873.

 Doi in the city of Asheville, where the famous writer Thomas Wolfe spent his childhood. Built in 1883.

 Biltmore Manor in Buncombe County built 1889–95 for George Washington Vanderbilt II. The homestead mansion is the largest private residence in the United States.

 The home in Durham where civil rights activist Paulie Murray spent her childhood. Built in 1898.

 Wakestone is the mansion of publisher and statesman Josephus Daniels in Raleigh. Built in 1920.

 The old North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company building in Durham, built in 1921.

North Carolina State Symbols

 Tree - pine (Pinus)

 Christmas Tree - Fraser Fir (Abies fraseri)

 Flower (cultivated) - flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)

 Flower (wild) - Michaud lily (Caroline lily, Lilium michauxii)

 Carnivorous plant - Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)

 Beast - Carolina (gray) squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) and virginian opossum (Didelphis virginiana)

 Dog breed - Plott Hound

 Horse breed - Colonial Spanish

 Bird - cardinal (Cardinalidae)

 Fish (freshwater) - American char (char, Salvelinus fontinalis)

 Fish (marine) - red croaker (Sciaenops ocellatus)

 Reptile - Carolina box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina)

 Amphibian - marble ambystoma (Ambystoma opacum)

 Frog - Anderson tree frog (Hyla andersonii)

 Mollusk - scotch bonnet (Semicassis granulata)

 Insect - honey bee (Apis mellifera)

 Butterfly - sailboat glaucus (Papilio glaucus)

 Food product (berry) - blueberries, muscat grapes, garden strawberries (strawberries)

 Food product (vegetable) - yam (sweet potato)

 Drink - milk

 Gemstone - emerald

 Mineral - gold

 Rock - granite

 Fossil - megalodon teeth

 Color - red and blue

 Type of sport - stock car racing

 Dance - clogging

 Song - "The Old North State" (The Old North State, music by E. Randolph, lyrics - William Gaston)

About 9,660,000 people live in the state of North Carolina (the tenth most populous among US states. The average population density in North Carolina is about 77 people per km2 (fifteenth place in the USA).

The largest cities in North Carolina are Charlotte (more than 730,000 inhabitants, the seventeenth place in the list of the largest cities in the United States), the state capital of Raleigh (about 410,000 inhabitants), Greensboro (about 270,000 inhabitants), Winston-Salem (about 230,000 inhabitants) and Durham (about 230,000 inhabitants).

The largest ethnic (national) groups among the population of the state of North Carolina:

 "Americans" - 13.9%

 Germans - 9.5%

 English - 9.5%

 Irish - 7.4%

 Scots-Irish (Ulster Scots) - 3.2%

 Italians - 2.3%

 Scots - 2.2%

North Carolina is one of the ten most economically developed states in the United States, it is characterized by a well-developed financial sector, agriculture, tourism and industry.

North Carolina's largest city, Charlotte is the second largest banking center in the United States of America (after New York). The headquarters of a number of financial companies are located here, including one of the largest US banks Bank of America, the regional (covering the territory of the East Coast of the USA) office of Wells Fargo Bank and many others.

In addition to these banks, several other Fortune 500 companies (the largest companies in the United States) are based in Charlotte, including Lowe's, a retail chain that sells various household goods; one of the leading steel producers in the US, Nucor; energy company Duke Energy; major car dealer Sonic Automotive; aerospace parts and equipment manufacturer Goodrich; SPX Corporation, which produces hydraulic equipment, power supply systems and other industrial products; manufacturer of pulp and paper products Domtar. Other large companies in North Carolina include nuclear equipment manufacturer Babcock & Wilcox, automotive components (primarily radiators) Radiator Specialty Company, cable television operator Time Warner Cable, retail chains Belk, Food Lion and Harris Teeter and many others.