October 2017

North Carolina: The Old North State

Posted on 10/06/2017 by Nathan Lewis in New Content Releases

Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kitty Hawk

Today, we are very thrilled to announce that over 900,000 aerial photos of North Carolina are now available to search and view online. North Carolina is the 29th largest state with 48,718 square miles of land. There are 1,500 lakes of 10 acres or more and 37,000 miles of freshwater streams. Roughly 8.1 million people live in the Tar Heel State. Tar Heel? You might be asking what is a Tar Heel and how is that the UNC mascot? The origin of this nickname is mysterious, it 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. North Caroline has a very old and rich history, my personal experience with this was a family trip to the Biltmore Estate when I was young. The Biltmore Estate in Ashville is America’s largest home and includes a 255-room chateau, an award-winning winery, and extensive gardens. I did not get to enjoy the wine but I did love the underground indoor bowling alley.

I feel I am not doing The Old North State justice without at least some key points form it’s very significant American history. The first English colony in America was located on Roanoke Island. Walter Raleigh founded it. The colony mysteriously vanished with no trace except for the word “Croatoan” scrawled on a nearby tree. Many people believe that North Carolina was the first state to declare independence from England with the Mecklenburg Declaration of 1775. North Carolina is the 12th state to ratify the United States Constitution on, Nov. 21st, 1789. 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. This is also how the state claimed its slogan “First in Flight”. Finally, Babe Ruth hit his first home run in Fayetteville on March 7, 1914.

North Carolina is one of the most diversified agriculture states in the nation. The state’s 50,200 farmers grow over 80 different commodities, utilizing 8.4 million of the state’s 31 million acres. The average farm size is 168 acres and North Carolina leads the nation in furniture, tobacco, sweet potato, brick, and textile production. The state ranks seventh nationally in farm profits with a net farm income of over $2.8 billion. With over 900,000 photos of these rural farms, we hope to preserve and share this history with you. Hopefully, you will find a piece of your history here too.