State Library of North Carolina
N Cpedia: Quakers
Read about the history of the Quakers, also called the Religious Society of Friends, who are the oldest organized Christian church in North Carolina.
State Library of North Carolina
N Cpedia: Stephen R. Claggett: Native American Settlement of North Carolina
The English began exploring and settling into the Carolina Colony in the late 1500-early 1600s. The land was already inhabited by Native American tribes. How did they all get along? Who were the Native Americans on the land?
State Library of North Carolina
N Cpedia: John W. Kinchelo, Iii: American Indians at European Contact
Native Americans inhabited the New World long before European explorers began establishing settlements on the land. This entry addresses the challenges the natives had to face upon Europe's arrival, trials in relationships, and how...
State Library of North Carolina
N Cpedia: Lords Proprietors
King Charles II ordered ownership of the Carolina Colony be divided among eight Englishmen who became known as the Lords Proprietor. Read a brief summary of who these men were.
State Library of North Carolina
N Cpedia: John W. Shirley: Sir Ralph Lane
Lane is best known for being sent to the New World on a mission to establish a settlement on Roanoke Island, by order of Sir Walter Raleigh. Discover how successful his expedition was and other biographical data about the explorer.
State Library of North Carolina
N Cpedia: Outer Banks
The Outer Banks are a chain of barrier islands that skirt the coast of North Carolina from the Virginia border to Cape Lookout through Currituck, Dare, Hyde, and Carteret Counties. More than 175 miles long, they are separated as much as...
State Library of North Carolina
N Cpedia: Population: Change
Census population estimates for 2009 indicate that North Carolina continues to be one of the fastest-growing US states. Between the 2000 Census and July 1, 2009, the state's population grew by 16.5%, compared with the US growth rate of...
State Library of North Carolina
N Cpedia: Transportation Improvements in the 1920s
When World War I ended in 1918 and the troops came home, folks felt optimistic about the future and eager to get on with their lives. This optimism led to an extraordinary decade that brought major changes in the way citizens traveled by...
State Library of North Carolina
N Cpedia: Telegraph
The telegraph was an electronic means for the rapid and reliable transmission of coded information over extended distances. In time it was also perfected to interpret and print the electronic symbols into readable text. By 1848 a...
State Library of North Carolina
N Cpedia: Telephones
Telephones began to appear in North Carolina beginning in 1879, three years after Alexander Graham Bell's new invention had first been introduced at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. On 10 March of that year, a telephone was...
State Library of North Carolina
N Cpedia: German Settlers
German settlers first came to what is now North Carolina as part of the second expedition sent to the Roanoke area by Sir Walter Raleigh in the 1580s. The largest influx of German people to North Carolina, however, occurred in the...
State Library of North Carolina
N Cpedia: Gold Mining in the Uwharries
In the early decades of the 1800s, the southern Piedmont's gold mines attracted prospectors, investors, and miners. Tar Heel gold had first been found in 1799 on John Reed's farm in Cabarrus County, several miles west of the Uwharrie...