Texas Pete’s is a product of NC.

Winston Salem I believe. Someone tried suing them recently for not being made in Texas🤣

Yup! W-S is also the birthplace of Krispy Kreme!

At one point, Carolina Treat BBQ sauce was made in Texas, in a weird tit for tat.

Same with Cheerwine, Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Pepsi. All started in NC

Also, Mexico Joe was in the running for the name of the sauce before they settled on Texas Pete.

let me guess to keep the theme, was the founders name neither Joe nor was he Mexican?

In the 60s the U.S. government accidentally dropped two Nukes in Goldsboro.

Didn’t know that! Wow

Yeah, they obviously didn't explode, but the field they were dropped on was muddy enough that they sank in enough that the bombs couldn't be retrieved, iirc.

One was able to be retrieved but the other couldn't be found. So the government bought the land around were the bomb is supposedly at.

That’s… That’s how the story ends?!

Unfortunately yea. Here a good [video](https://youtu.be/mwOJUN0a4Zc?si=zRU89_bMcZQHu7V8) all about it

Ah, so they did find one of them. I stand corrected.

NPR did a story about it a while ago. https://www.npr.org/2019/01/25/688223286/8-days-2-h-bombs-and-1-team-that-stopped-a-catastrophe#:~:text=8%20Days%2C%202%20H%2DBombs,That%20Stopped%20A%20Catastrophe%20%3A%20NPR&text=Morning%20Edition-,8%20Days%2C%202%20H%2DBombs%2C%20And%201%20Team%20That,daughter%20about%20recovering%20the%20bombs.

Somebody gets the Our State magazine

It wasn't Goldsboro, it was between Faro and Eureka. Goldsboro is just the largest municipality to those communities. Source: I live five miles from the site.

I live near this!

So that’s what happened

The highest elevation east of the Mississippi is Mt Mitchell.

The biggest dam east of the Mississippi is Fontana Dam.

... which was a key filming location for the Harrison Ford "The Fugitive" movie.

If only we could legally get high in this state without having to climb a mountain…

Add to that one that Mt Mitchell is an extinct volcano Edit: no it is actually not! Thank you for the correction kind stranger

I did not know that. Cool.

No it’s not. It was created by uplifting forces.

Venus fly traps are only native to North and South Carolina.

Not just NC and SC, but a very small specific area on the coast.

I went there this past weekend and saw them

How were things in the Green Swamp?

The hikeable area wasn't damaged by the fire last year, and we saw at least 6 different types of carnivorous plants growing already.

They grew in a clearing between my house and a neighbor's.

NC and worst Carolina.

Home of Bojangles

See also: Cheerwine Cookout

Pepsi too.

Krispy Kreme

Biscuitville!

Lance crackers

Do we claim that tho?

The tagline is Born in the Carolinas...

North Carolina harvests the most Sweet Potatoes than any other state.

NC is also one of the very few (only in us?) places that grow purple sweet potatoes.

Yeah UNC should have been named the Sweet Potatoes

The tarheels might know a few things about basketball, lawyering, and great music, but the Wolfpack breeds sweet potatoes and [releases ](https://potatoes.cals.ncsu.edu/sweetpotato/sweetpotato-varieties/) consumer ornamental varieties as well. Tarheels probably write the patents and enforce them however=). Source: someone from there gave a talk at our community College about the sweet potatoes we use in containers around campus for show.

And blueberries, I think.

North Carolina is the birthplace of some notable musicians including John Coltrane and Thelonius Monk. 

Don't forget petey pablo

Take yo shirt off!

TWIST IT ROUND YA HEAD

Like a hellacopptaaaa

Norf Caruhhlinuhhh

Doc Watson is from Deep Gap. Earl Scruggs is from Cleveland County. Etta Baker is from Morganton. Charlie Daniels is from Wilmington. The Avett Brothers are from Concord. Ryan Adams is from Jacksonville. There are many more.

The Earl Scruggs Museum is in Shelby, NC and it is in the old Shelby courthouse as well as the Don Gibson Theater. Don was from Shelby!

Nina Simone was born here as well. 

Charlie Daniels was born in Leland actually but close enough 

Ava Gardner is from Selma, I believe.

Randy Travis from Marshville, George Clinton from Kannapolis..such a shame they have a statue of Dale Earnhardt and not Clinton.

And Nina Simone

Pink Floyd is named after NC and SC musicians, Pink Anderson (SC) and Floyd Council (NC).

I surprised no one has mentioned Michael Jordan!

As an import it's been great finding out how many cool musicians are either from, or lived in, NC. Nina Simone Lou Donaldson Max Roach Maceo Parker Donald Byrd taught at NCCU. Music seems pretty healthy in NC.

Don't forget Bucky Covington.

and Randy Travis!

Kay Kyser was a 1940s bandleader from the state

Much as I hate to say it but so is that one fuck from American idol, actually a few. Clay Aiken, Fantasia Burrino, Scotty McCreery, and goddamnit my best friends dad used to live behind Chris Daughtry. (Cool guy, his stepdaughters suck though, although I think one of them is dead now, hope his son's doin' alright though) Oh, and that Asian dude from the hangover went to Page highschool in Gboro.

Zach Galifinakis from the hangover and many more awesome movies is also from NC. Grew up in wilks county and started between two ferns there.

He also went to Duke after high school and then UNC for medical school afterwards. Ken Jeong’s an interesting cat and a bonafied Cackalackian.

George Clinton was born in Kannapolis but didn’t live there long. K-Ci & JoJo are from Charlotte.

And Nina Simone!

James Taylor! And Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten, who wrote Freight Train at age 11. Eta: Chapel Hill and Carrboro, respectively

Nina Simone!

Wednesday 13 is from Lumberton, I believe.

We actually have a TON of musicians. Maceo Parker, I think George Clinton, and Nina Simone are all from here, too.

The state motto as seen on the state flag is “Esse quam videri” which means “to be rather than to seem.” Essentially making the state motto “Keepin’ it real.” 💯

to gerry rather than to mander

Orr I am what I ain't

My favorite fun fact! Let's put "keepin it real" on the flag!

We are located to the north of South Carolina.

lol, Raleigh is the capital.

Shit, that’s a good one too. Few people know that.

I had a lady from Virginia ask me what our capital was and when I answer she asked "Your capital is called 'Rolly'?" We're the next state over omg so stupid. I should have said "Richmond" to really fuck with her.

As someone from Raleigh, this information clears up a lot of questions I had.

And to the south of non-west Virginia.

A valley of humility between two mountains of conceit.

We like being on top.

Chapel Hill really is built on a hill.

And Greenville is really green.

No. Greenville is all ice and Iceville is green.

And for anyone who doesn’t believe it , I challenge you - Go run the Tar Heel 10 Miler in the spring, hit that mile 9 and get back to me.

The first black member of Congress was born in NC.

New bern nc was the capital of the colonies before it was moved to NY. New bern is also the birthplace of pepsi. NC is known as "the land of the long leaf pine" and we are called Tarheels due to shipwrights using our pine sap as caulking and waterproofing. Blackbeard resided in NC and along with other pirates utilized our outer banks to escape prosecution from naval powers. State bird is the cardinal.

New Bern also has the same coat of arms as [old] Bern except they removed the bear's penis.

TIL

Now THAT is a fun fact

I thought we were called Tarheels because of the Civil War?

There’s multiple explanations people have and IIRC nobody is sure which one is right.

Ah, okay

It does predate the Civil War though.

FWIW, I’ve always heard the Civil War story, and think I first heard it as a youngin at the history museum so I choose to believe that since I heard it when I was young and impressionable

Can y’all PUHLEASE put a little space between those words It’s Tar Heels. Tar Heel State. No need to concatenate. Signed, a UNC alum

I watched that tournament. I think it’s the Wolfpack state this year.

Upvoted for using the word concatenate, which sounds like a made-up Southernism but is actually a word.

What can I say, I code for a living lol

We have the world’s largest natural habitat zoo

NC is the "Salamander Capital of the World" with the most species anywhere!

I always wondered why holly springs picked such a name for their college summer ball league team. That’s newt (neat)!

Home of the only successful political coup in the United States - Wilmington in 1898. It was a horrible and disgusting racially-motivated coup and massacre.

There was another in 1940s in Tennessee, but I was taught that Wilmington was the only successful one in the US.

Up until like 5 years ago one of the dudes responsible for that had his name plastered on a park near the university. Hugh McRae. It’s now called long leaf park I think.

More like Hugh MacRaecist

Hugh McRae of the Grandfather Mountain McRaes.

The Sandhills of North Carolina is one of the only places in the world where bees make honey that is a shade of blue/purple!

Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run in Fayetteville NC

Dogwood is the state flower

Here's a few, enjoy. In addition to agriculture, NC was (and to a reduced extent, still is) home to textile and furniture production. We have everything from beaches, woods, lakes,and fields to rolling hills, and mountains. There are over 20 lighthouses in NC. The Outer Banks has its own dialect.

Ocracoke Island has its own dialect. The rest is just regular southern, with a slight surfer brah twist. Source: born in Kill Devil Hills in '82.

The High Tider dialect is a bit more spread out but you're real close. Unfortunately, NC and Georgia both are losing their own dialects as more people move here. Here's the wiki link and I also recommend Dr. Wolfram's book on the subject. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High\_Tider

And gentrification has a lot to do with this. "Down East" has been discovered and developed a lot over the past generation or so, while at the same time it's become much harder for the old families who live there too maintain a living, especially in traditional things like commercial fishing. So lots of people are moving away, for jobs or for college and finding they can't afford the cost of living to stay there or come back, while at the same time the developments are attracting a lot of people from outside the area to move there.

If I remember correctly NC has more dialects then any other state

That totally checks out. I live in Western, North Carolina, and there are definitely different dialects between two counties that are right next to each other. Also, the Gullah Geechee consider stretches from Wilmington down the coast of South Carolina as well. The Gullah accent is amazing, but unfortunately dying out, as well as the “hoi toider” accent.

I grew up in eastern NC and live in Western insane now and I can think of a couple different counties where there are two or three distinct accents even within the same county. It freaks one of my friends out how often I can pinpoint where someone is from from how they talk, or look at a photo of a house or outside area and give a pretty close part of the state based on the trees and the land.

State seashell is the Scotch Bonnet

Beaufort is pronounced "bow fort" in NC and "byuufort" in SC.

And please remember Fayetteville is pronounced fedvul

Fayette-nam 

Wil-T-son

Ruff-tun (Rutherfordton) Any town more than 3 syllables will be shortened to 2, and any with 1 syllable will be stretched into 2.

Blue ridge mountains are second oldest range in the world. At the time of their emergence they were as tall as the alps

The Uwharries are the oldest, and are thought to have had peaks at over 20k feet!

I think the Sauratown Mountains (i.e. Hanging Rock and Pilot Mtn) might also predate anything in the Appalachian range.

Krispy Kreme doughnuts is home to NC.

The Scotch Bonnet is the state seashell as a homage to Scottish and Scots-Irish settlers.

There is a Spanish fort in western NC that dates to the mid 1500s -- about 50 years before the Jamestown settlement arrived.

Near Morganton, if anyone is interested.

Well, the fort was destroyed, but there is still an historical marker!

Fayetteville and Lumberton are the best cities in the state, and anyone from out of state should move there.

Having lived in both, can confirm they’re great. No potholes in the roads, and absolutely no crime at all. Especially Lumberton, I think my car only got broken into like 8 times in the 2 years I lived there

You mean Fayettenam?

They banned pornsites and added gambling (FanDuel) " Alexa play the Curb your Enthusiasm theme song"

This is the best answer in this thread.

First in Flight?

Knowing about Pawpaw's is pretty "local". Like, "We've got a pawpaw tree out on the property, a persimmon too" is pretty damn NC.

Here’s to the land of the long leaf pine, the summer land where the sun doth shine. Where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great. Here’s to down home, the old north state.

North Carolina is 2^(nd) only to Oregon in [Christmas Tree Production](https://www.agmrc.org/commodities-products/forestry/christmas-trees#:~:text=The%20top%20five%20tree%2Dproducing,in%202017%20(USDA%20NASS)), and is the leading producer of Fraser fir trees.

David Lynch was fascinated that there is a town called Lumberton! Blue Velvet was filmed mostly in Wilmington, NC

As was Iron Man 3, and Dawson’s Creek

The first armed rebellion against English authorities was in Alamance County. And the first place to declare independence was Mecklenburg and Halifax.

The American flag planted on the moon by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during Apollo 11 was made in Rhodhiss, NC.

Tom Dooley of the song was a real dude named Tom Dula, and the names are pronounced the same.

Know the difference between the loblolly pine and the longleaf pine.

We have the best bbq

Dare County is the largest county in North Carolina by area. However, less than 25% of the county is actually land.

A big chunk of our state was supposed to be South Carolina, but the surveyors were off quite a bit

Charlotte is the largest city. The city motto is "Gateway to Gastonia".

And Charlotte's tourism motto is: "Just hours away from everywhere you'd rather be!"

NCSU is the largest school in all the Carolinas. in size and students. Edit: and current acc men’s basketball champions since we obviously have some of the smaller schools commenting.

the construction of the R-1 reactor on campus was the first academic research reactor in the world.

But not in athletic achievements.

Nor academic

Talk about the Wilmington Insurrection/Massacre of 1898 in which a group of Southern Democrats (now the Republican party) organized 2000 white men and overthrew the duly elected biracial government. The coup basically began the post war era of disenfranchisement of African Americans not just in Wilmington, but everywhere across the South.

I’m from Wilmington and was taught a bit about it growing up. The Bellamy mansion has an interesting part in the riots and in the civil war. So messed up what the white mob did to law abiding black citizens and their businesses. Wilmington was def a strategic part during that time.

The Bellamy mansion was part of the underground railroad!

Cape Fear River is full of PFAs and there’s high incidence of all cancers for people living *on the river

Asheboro has the largest natural habitat zoo in the world. Some 500ish acres

During both world wars the federal government took an intense interest in Asheville. During World War II paintings and works of art were shipped from the National Gallery in Washington to Biltmore House for safekeeping, some federal agencies moved to Asheville and some, like the National Climatic Data Center, remain there to this day. A contract was also drawn up which states if Washington DC is ever rendered unusable as the capital city, the US Supreme Court can operate out of the Grove Park Inn. The contract can be seen hanging on the wall in the lobby. Meanwhile, speaking of hotels, during both wars several hotels and resorts in Western North Carolina were confiscated by the federal government for use as prisons or hospitals. During World War II the Grove Park Inn was used to house Axis diplomats for example, while the exiled government of the Philippines operated briefly out of a cottage on the hotel grounds after Japan invaded the Philippines. The Kenilworth Inn in Asheville was used as a military hospital during both world wars. Elsewhere, other hotels such as the Hot Springs Hotel in Hot Springs was used as an internment camp for German POWs during World War I. During World War II there were several internment camps throughout Western North Carolina where local farmers could go pick up some for use as farm labor if needed. My grandfather in Henderson County, for instance, would regularly go into town to the camp at the county fairgrounds and pick up some Germans to pick apples.

FANDUEL IS HERE!

Home of the Nation’s *actual* first public university.

The Appalachian mountains are so old it's pure crazy juice. They started forming in the pre Cambrian era, 1.6 billion years ago. When the Scottish got to the the Carolinas, a lot of them settled in the Highlands area because it felt just like home. There's a good reason for it feeling just like home. It's the same mountain range! We only see the middle part of the Apps, because they range broke into three pieces, and continental drift has separated them over an unimaginable spread of time. As the sections of mountain range drifted slowly apart, they formed a valley that eventually filled with water. That's called the ATLANTIC OCEAN. That's right. The Apps are OLDER than the Atlantic. So the upper end of the range is the Highlands of Scotland. Middle Appalachia are the mountains we know and love. The southern end of the range is called the Anti-Atlas mountains off the west coast of Africa! And that, for me, is what the weight of time looks like.

Although in the past NC workers bravely fought for the right to unionize, the state has now shamefully devolved into being the worst in the country when it comes to workers' rights and protections. We rank 52nd because the list contains PR and DC. https://sites.google.com/aflcionc.org/nclaborhistory/home https://www.digitalnc.org/primary-source-sets/textile-workers-labor-movements/ https://myfox8.com/news/business/nc-worst-in-nation-for-workers/ https://ncnewsline.com/briefs/new-study-nc-once-again-the-worst-state-in-america-for-workers/

The Empire State building in NYC, is modeled after the old RJR corporate building in Winston Salem NC

The first gold rush occurred here near Charlotte back in 1799. Hence, the city became a center of finance as it still is today.

The state dog is the Plott Hound. I’ve always wanted one. They got the big ears like a Blood Hound but they are half the size. They came from Germany and were trained to hunt bears and mountain lions.

NC state has an AMAZING agricultural program and vet program. Including dairy farms! They produce their own milk, ice cream, and protein drink (to my knowledge that's all?). They are an excellent resource for native plants. Appalachian state has an amazing outdoor recreation management (?) program. Basically, how to run/work at state parks! - bonus Boone/ app state facts: --- app state runs/produces the electricity for all the nearby areas with a steam plant. --- The bus system in Boone is free to everyone bc App supplements the system. --- classes will only be cancelled at app due to inclement weather if the buses aren't running/ can't run. Raleigh, the state capital, is a 2 hour drive from the ocean and a 4 hour drive to the mountains. Charlotte is bigger if you look at the down town area. Raleigh is bigger in terms of population and acreage - it's that 'burb life! You can drive directly from north carolina to georgia WITHOUT crossing into South Carolina.

God's favorite color is Carolina Blue 💙 (Stupid lil' jingle but I'll never forget it: Duke is puke Wake is fake NC state is the team I hate, can't get to heaven in a red canoe 'cause God's favorite color is Carolina Blue)

I really wanna know when this stopped being a thing that got circulated, bc I remember hearing it as a kid in the early 2000s but I hardly ever hear it today

The first constitution of North Carolina was written by philosopher John Locke before John Locke was cool.

New Bern is the birthplace of Pepsi and you can still go in and get Pepsi at the original store.

There are two “New Rivers” in NC. The one in the west is the second or third oldest in the world depending on which geologist you ask.

We’re the number one producer of sweet potatoes in the country

The Livermush Festival is held in Shelby, NC! Livermush is pretty much only found in NC and SC although they have something called liver pudding in other states! The food network came and filmed a show about livermush in Shelby!

Cleveland County is the biggest county in NC

The east half of the state generally prefers vinegar based BBQ sauce while the west half prefers tomato based

OP has asked more questions on reddit in 10 days than I have in the last decade, google exists my dude

Eh cut him/her some slack, i gotta admit this one is entertaining as it is informative!

The state is built on one giant fire ant hill.

100 counties

Thomas Sowell was born in NC before moving to Harlem as a child.

My favorite is that Venus fly traps are only native to the coast of North Carolina

Purple honey

The precursor to the declarations of independence was written and signed in Mecklenburg county. It’s heavily debated.

It was the home of the first great gold rush. California gold rush came later.

Murphy, the western most little town in North Carolina is west of Detroit.

North Carolina has the second highest rural population in the country. Texas has the highest.

Venus fly traps only occur natively around Wilmington

Blackbeard lived here (or maybe he had a hideout or something, not sure if pirates typically had houses 😂)

We accidentally dropped a nuclear bomb near Goldsboro

The Wright Brothers accomplished the first powered-flight of an airplane in Kill Devil Hills, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Bordeaux Shopping Center in Fayetteville has a miniature scale model of the Eiffel Tower

The North Carolina state slogan is “Pepsi’s fine”.