What Every Tar Heel Should Know About North Carolina

Symbols of North Carolina Bird: Cardinal Flower: Dogwood Tree: Longleaf Pine, Christmas Tree Fraser Fir Rock: Granite Gemstone: Emerald Dog: Plott Hound Drink: Milk Boat: Shad Shell: Scotch Bonnet Fish: Channel Bass- Saltwater, Appalachian Brook Trout-Freshwater Insect: Honey Bee Vegetable: Sweet Potato Mammal: Grey Squirrel Reptile: Eastern Box Turtle

North Carolina’s State Song The Old North State William Gaston Adopted: 1927 Carolina! Carolina! Heaven's blessings attend her, While we live we will cherish, protect and defend her, Tho' the scorner may sneer at and witlings defame her, Still our hearts swell with gladness whenever we name her. Chorus: Hurrah! Hurrah! the Old North State forever, Hurrah! Hurrah! the good Old North State. Tho' she envies not others, their merited glory, Say whose name stands the foremost, in liberty's story Tho' too true to herself e'er to crouch to oppression, Who can yield to just rule a more loyal submission. (Repeat chorus) Then let all those who love us, love the land that we live in, As happy a region as on this side of heaven, Where plenty and peace, love and joy smile before us, Raise aloud, raise together the heart-thrilling chorus.

North Carolina State Toast The State Toast by Leonora Martin and Mary Burke Kerr (1904) Adopted: 1957 Here's to the land of the longleaf 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! Here's to the land of the cotton bloom white, Where the scuppernong perfumes the breeze at night, Where the soft southern moss and jessamine mate, 'Neath the murmuring pines of the Old North State! Here's to the land where the galax grows, Where the rhododendron's rosette glows, Where soars Mount Mitchell's summit great, In the "Land of the Sky," in the Old North State! Here's to the land where maidens are fair, Where friends are true and cold hearts rare, The near land, the dear land whatever fate, The best land, the best land, the Old North State!

NC Flag Dates on Flag: May 20 th, 1775 Mecklenburg Resolves: Citizens of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. First community in American colonies to declare independence from Great Britain. April 12 th, 1776 Halifax Resolves: made NC the first colony to call for independence from Great Britain. “First in Freedom”

Beginnings  Statehood: November 21 st We were the 12 th state to join the Union.  State Capital: Named for Sir Walter Raleigh, “Father of English America” Wake County, established in 1792  Name Origin: “Carolus” Land of Charles in Latin. Named for king Charles I of Great Britain in 1629.

Nickname: Tar Heels During the colonial period ( ) North Carolina was a leading producer of tar and pitch used in building and repairing wooden ships.

State Motto “ Esse Quam Vederi” To Be Rather than to Seem

The Great Seal Lady Liberty Holding the North Carolina Constitution Lady Plenty Mountains to the Sea, Dates of Mecklenburg and Halifax Resolves

North Carolina’s Population

 Largest Cities: Charlotte- Mecklenburg Co. 526,000 Raleigh- Wake Co. 273,000 Greensboro- Guilford Co. 208,000 Winston- Salem- Forsyth Co. 173,000 Durham- Durham Co. 169,000 Fayetteville- Cumberland Co. 128,000 Cary- Wake Co. 92,000 High Point- Guilford Co. 77,000 Wilmington- New Hanover Co. 75,000 Asheville- Buncombe Co. 68,000

Chief Agriculture Products:  Tobacco  Chickens  Turkeys  Sweet Potatoes  Peanuts  Hogs  Soybeans  Corn  Dairy Products  Christmas Trees

Chief Manufacturing Products Tobacco Products Textiles Furniture Biotechnology Chemicals

Mining: Granite Limestone Feldspar Mica Gravel/Sand

Fishing : Shrimp Blue Crab Clams Flounder Trout Oysters Shad

Land: AArea- 28 th in the nation EElevation- Mount Mitchell ((6684 feet) Yancey Co. CCoastline-301miles DDistance-N/S=180mi,E/W 503mi MMajor Rivers-French Broad, Catawba, Yadkin, Cape Fear, Neuse, Tar, Pamlico, Roanoke, Pee Dee NNatural Lakes- Matumuskeet, Phelps, Waccamaw MMajor Mountain Ranges-Great Smokie, Blue Ridge

Mt. Mitchell Mitchell Falls, Yancey County Where Dr. Mitchell Lost His Life in June of 1857 Dr. Elisha Mitchell and His Mountain Highest Peak East of the Mississippi River 6,684 Feet Above Sea Level

Big Tom Wilson of the Cane River Community in Yancey County Found Dr. Elisha Mitchell’s Body, June, 1857

Mitchell Falls In the Black Mountains of Yancey County near present Mount Mitchell State Park (NC’s First State Park-1915)

Climate: Average Temperatures- July Asheville 79 January Asheville 39 Average Snowfall- Asheville 18 ( 5inches statewide) Average Rainfall- Asheville 46 (40 inches statewide) Coldest Temperature- January 21 st, 1985: Mount Mitchell, 34 Degrees Below Zero 21 st,1987: Fayetteville-110 Degrees Warmest Temperature-August

Education : UNC-Chapel Hill supported opened in 1795 as the nation’s first state supported university 114 School Systems 2,137 k-12 schools, 100+charter schools 16 Public Universities 59 Community Colleges 38 Private Colleges UNC-Chapel Hill Appalachian State University-Boone Duke University-Durham

NC University System Appalachian State University East Carolina University Elizabeth City State University Fayetteville State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University North Carolina Central University North Carolina School of the Arts North Carolina State University University of North Carolina at Asheville University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University of North Carolina at Charlotte University of North Carolina at Greensboro University of North Carolina at Pembroke University of North Carolina at Wilmington Western Carolina University Winston-Salem State University

Government (Executive Branch) Governor’s Mansion (Completed in 1891) Governor Pat McCrory (Republican: Mecklenburg County

Legislative Branch (Makes All Laws for NC) General Assembly 120 Members in the House of Representatives 50 Members in the Senate “Old Capitol” 1840 Legislative Building,1963-Present

Judicial Branch (Interprets Laws Made By General Assembly) District Court- misdemeanors, juvenile, family Superior Court- felonies( trial/Jury) Court of Appeals- - (13 Judges) NC Supreme Court- - (7 Judges) Buncombe County Court House Completed in 1929

Religion Most North Carolinians are Protestant (non Catholic) Christians. Other Groups are Growing. Leading Groups:  Southern Baptist  United Methodist  Presbyterian Church (USA)  Evangelical Presbyterian Church  Presbyterian Church in America  Assemblies of God (Pentecostal)  Christian Church ( Disciples of Christ)  Lutheran  Episcopal  Free Will Baptist  United Church of Christ United Methodist Disciples of Christ Lutheran UCCC Episcopal Southern Baptist PC-USA Evangelical Presbyterian

North Carolina Is My Home Here’s to the land of the Longleaf Pine. Here’s to the state I’ll always call mine. We have open front doors and smiling. faces and throughout the South you won’t find more beautiful places. We bleed Carolina Blue that covers our skies. That’s how we know God is a Tar Heel as He sits up high. The Cherokee roamed free and settled our hills. We’ve always counted on tobacco to pay our bills. Blackbeard fought hard and died on our coast. At Gettysburg 1863 we lost the most. But that is ok for we fought hard and our monument stands tall. And for all time we will be known by all.

Here’s to the land where the sun will always shine. And James Taylor sang Carolina is always on my mind In 1960 at Greensboro lunch counters black students sat brave. And some mountain men never shave. At Guilford Courthouse 1781 for freedom we stood. We always use manners because we know we should.

In old country churches is where we find peace. And the frying of chicken will never cease. We put ice in our tea and we know it’s sweet. Memories of family we will always keep. Kitty Hawk sands watched as the Wright Brothers flew. No Ohio, that wasn’t you! From the top of Mount Mitchell to the sand on our coast, North Carolina’s the state we’ll always boast!