North Carolina Facts

North Carolina Facts

"Wow, North Carolina had some really cool stuff happening here!"

Do you love North Carolina and want to learn more about North Carolina history? Looking for some quick North Carolina Facts?

You can share them with your friends or use them for a game of trivia. Either way, you will all learn some pretty interesting things about North Carolina!

Even the savviest of North Carolina's residents don't know some of these details about North Carolina!

The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill is the oldest State University in the United States.
Cape Hatteras lighthouse is the largest lighthouse ever to be moved due to erosion problems.
Babe Ruth hit his first home run in Fayetteville North Carolina on March 7, 1914.
Mount Mitchell in the Blue Ridge Mountains is the highest peak east of the Mississippi. It towers 6,684 feet above sea level.
There are 1,500 North Carolina lakes of 10 acres or more in size and 37,000 miles of fresh water streams.
The first miniature golf course was built in Fayetteville.
High Point is known as the Furniture Capital of the World.
North Carolina is the largest producer of sweet potatoes in the nation. Students at a Wilson County school petitioned the North Carolina General Assembly for the establishment of the sweet potato as the official state vegetable.
Krispy Kreme Doughnut was founded in Winston-Salem North Carolina.
Grandfather Mountain, highest peak in the Blue Ridge, is the only private park in the world designated by the United Nations as an International Biosphere Reserve.
North Carolina leads the nation in furniture, tobacco, brick, and textile production.
North Carolina has the largest state-maintained highway system in the United States. The state's highway system currently has 77,400 miles of roads.
Many people believe that North Carolina was the first state to declare independence from England with the Mecklenburg Declaration of 1775.
Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States, was born in the Waxsaws area on the border of North and South Carolina.
The Outer Banks North Carolina hosts some of the most beautiful beaches in the country.
The town of Wendell town was named for the American writer, Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Arnold Palmer recognized as the player whose aggressive play and winning personality raised golf to national attention, honed his skills on the championship golf team of Wake Forest University.
The first state owned art museum in the country is located in Raleigh.
Pepsi was invented and first served in New Bern in 1898.
The Biltmore Estate in Ashville is America's largest home, and includes a 255-room chateau, an award-winning winery and extensive gardens.
James K. Polk, born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, was the eleventh President of the United States.
The University of North Carolina's mascot, the Tar heels, is a nickname for North Carolinians that supposedly came from the days when NC produced a lot of tar, and someone saw a set of footprints made by someone who had stepped in the tar.
Morehead City is home to the North Carolina Seafood Festival, held the first weekend in October every year.
James K. Polk, born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, was the eleventh President of the United States.
The General Assembly of 1987 adopted milk as the official state beverage.
White Lake near Elizabethtown has a white sandy bottom and crystal clear waters. It has also been labeled as the "Nation's Safest Beach." It is truly a child's paradise in that there are no currents, no tides, no hazardous depressions or real dangers of any kind to swimmers.
In 1903 the Wright Brothers made the first successful powered flight by man at Kill Devil Hill near Kitty Hawk. The Wright Memorial at Kitty Hawks now commemorates their achievement.
The oldest town in the state is Bath, incorporated in 1705.
Whitewater Falls in Transylvania County is the highest waterfall in the eastern United States.
Charles Karault was born and raised in Wilmington.
The World War II battleship 'North Carolina' is permanently berthed on the Cape Fear River at Wilmington. She was saved from the scrap heap in the 1960's by public subscription, including donations of dimes by schoolchildren.
The Mile-High Swinging Bridge near Linville is 5,305 feet above sea level. The bridge actually hangs about 80 feet above the ground.
Hiram Rhoades Revels, born in Fayetteville in 1822, was the first African-American member of the United States Congress.
Winston-Salem was created when the two towns Winston and Salem combined.
Andrew Johnson started his career as a tailor's apprentice in Raleigh, North Carolina and rose to lead in the reuniting of the nation as the seventeenth President of the United States.