Author: Angelena Castro
Throughout North Carolina there are several opportunities for you and your family to briefly step back in time and experience life before all of today’s tech gadgets and gizmos. From visiting indigenous lands and learning the ways of the people. To touring Duke Homestead the original site of what would become an empire. Check out our list below.
10. HISTORIC BATH
Photo courtesy of portbathbuilders.com
This summer visit Historic Bath located in Bath, NC . Come experience North Carolina’s first town and learn about the political rivalries, Indian wars, the fascinating Blackbeard and his influence in North Carolina.
9. N.C. TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM
Photo courtesy of youtube.com/nctransportationmuseum.com
9. Discover the people and machines that have moved North Carolina. Located on the site of Southern Railway's former steam locomotive repair facility Spencer Shops, this is where locomotives that hauled Southern's passenger trains and freight trains filled with North Carolina furniture, textiles, tobacco, and produce were serviced from 1896 to the late 1970's.
8. DUKE HOMESTEAD
Photo courtesy of 2vegabond.wordpress.com
See the early home, factories, and farm where Washington Duke first grew and processed tobacco. His sons later founded The American Tobacco Company, the world's largest tobacco company. Making North Carolina the heart of an international tobacco empire.
7. REED GOLD MINE
Photo courtesy wbtv.com
This summer spend a day with your family at Reed Gold Mine panning for gold. The first documented gold find in the United States was right here in Midland, NC. The estimated value of gold recovered reached over one million dollars a year. North Carolina led the nation in gold production until 1848, when it was eclipsed by the great rush to California.Experience underground guided tours and exhibits of gold and historical mining equipment.
6. ROANOKE ISLAND FESTIVAL PARK
Photo courtesy shorlineobx.com
Spend a warm summer day at the Roanoke Island Festival Park, this interactive family attraction celebrates the first English settlement in America. Visitors board and explore the park's centerpiece, a representational ship, Elizabeth II. Discover 400 years of Outer Banks history in the interactive Roanoke Adventure Museum. See The Legend of Two-Path, a mini-movie about Native Americans. Always a perk, The gift store offers historically themed gift merchandise and much more.
5. CHARLOTTE HAWKINS BROWN
Photo courtesy of greensborodailyphoto.com
Spend some time at the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum this summer. Founded in 1902 by Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown, the Palmer Memorial Institute transformed the lives of more than 2,000 African American students. Today visitors can explore this unique environment where boys and girls lived and learned during the greater part of the 20th century.
4. USS NORTH CAROLINA
Photo courtesy of carolinaxroads.blogspot.com
Experience an adventure your family will never forget. Located in downtown Wilmington, the Battleship North Carolina beckons visitors to walk her decks and envision daily life as well as fierce combat that her crew faced in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. Young men travelled from all across the United States to serve their country. These are the stories you will encounter through their oral histories, uniforms, and mementos as you explore the ship and its exhibits.
3. HORNE CREEK FARM
Photo courtesy of hangingrock.com
Once the Hauser family farm, Horne Creek enables visitors to experience farm life in North Carolina's northwestern Piedmont circa 1900. The site features the family's original farm house, a tobacco curing barn, a corn crib, adjacent fields under cultivation, and even a heritage apple orchard. Horne Creek Living Historical Farm provides a unique opportunity to learn about our rural past.
2. STATE CAPITOL
Photo courtesy of visitraleigh.com
Plan a visit for you and your family to check out North Carolina’s State Capitol, completed in 1840, is one of the finest and best-preserved examples of a major civic building in the Greek Revival style of architecture. It is a National Historic Landmark. Be sure to plan your visit two weeks prior to your visit.
