The North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program was created by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1935. Since that time over 1600 black and silver markers have been placed along numbered North Carolina highways throughout the state. [1] Each one has a brief description of a fact relevant to state history, and is located near a place related to that fact. [2]
North Carolina's counties are divided into seventeen districts for the highway marker program; each district is designated by a letter, and covers between four and eight counties. Each marker is assigned an identifier that begins with the letter of the district. [2]
| Name of District | Counties Within the District |
|---|---|
| District A | Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Hertford, Pasquotank, Perquimans |
| District B | Beaufort, Dare, Hyde, Martin, Tyrrell, Washington |
| District C | Carteret, Craven, Jones, Onslow, Pamlico |
| District D | Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Pender |
| District E | Edgecombe, Franklin, Halifax, Nash, Northampton, Warren |
| District F | Greene, Lenoir, Pitt, Wayne, Wilson |
| District G | Alamance, Caswell, Durham, Granville, Orange, Person, Vance |
| District H | Chatham, Hartnett, Johnston, Lee, Wake |
| District I | Bladen, Cumberland, Hoke, Robeson, Sampson, Scotland |
| District J | Forsyth, Guilford, Rockingham, Stokes |
| District K | Anson, Davidson, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, Richmond |
| District L | Cabarrus, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Stanly, Union |
| District M | Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Davie, Iredell, Surry, Wilkes, Yadkin |
| District N | Avery, Burke, Caldwell, McDowell, Mitchell, Watauga, Yancey |
| District O | Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Polk, Rutherford |
| District P | Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, Transylvania |
| District Q | Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Macon, Swain |
North Carolina State University is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university forms one of the corners of the Research Triangle together with Duke University in Durham and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".
Caldwell County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. As of the 2020 census, the population was 80,652. Its county seat is Lenoir. Caldwell County is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Blue Star Memorial Highways are highways in the United States that are marked to pay tribute to the U.S. armed forces. The National Council of State Garden Clubs, now known as National Garden Clubs, Inc., started the program in 1945 after World War II. The blue star was used on service flags to denote a service member fighting in the war. The program has since been expanded to include Memorial Markers and Memorial By-ways. These markers are used in National Cemeteries, parks, veterans facilities, and gardens.
A county highway is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the county highway department. Route numbering can be determined by each county alone, by mutual agreement among counties, or by a statewide pattern.
Interstate 95 (I-95) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs along the East Coast of the United States from Miami, Florida to the United States-Canada border in Houlton, Maine. In the U.S. state of North Carolina, the route runs for 181.71 miles (292.43 km) from the South Carolina border near Rowland, North Carolina to the Virginia border near Pleasant Hill, North Carolina. The highway serves the cities of Lumberton, Fayetteville, Wilson, Rocky Mount and Roanoke Rapids. The route goes through a mostly rural area of the state, avoiding most of the major metro areas of North Carolina. It forms the informal border between the Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions of the state. There are two auxiliary routes for I-95 in the state: I-295, a partially completed bypass of Fayetteville and I-795, a spur route connecting I-95 to the city of Goldsboro.
The North Carolina Highway System consists of a vast network of Interstate, United States, and state highways, managed by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. North Carolina has the second largest state maintained highway network in the United States because all roads in North Carolina are maintained by either municipalities or the state. Since counties do not maintain roads, there is no such thing as a "county road" within the state.
Interstate 40 (I-40) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Barstow, California to Wilmington, North Carolina. In North Carolina, I-40 enters the state along the Pigeon River Gorge, from Tennessee. Crossing the entire state, it connects the cities of Asheville, Statesville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Burlington, Durham and Raleigh before ending along U.S. Highway 117/North Carolina Highway 132 (US 117/NC 132) in Wilmington. The landscapes traversed by I-40 include the Blue Ridge Mountains, foothills of western North Carolina, suburban communities, the urban core of several Piedmont cities, along with eastern North Carolina farmland. At a total of 420.21 miles (676.26 km), it is the longest interstate highway in North Carolina. There are five auxiliary Interstates in the state related to I-40, as well as one business loop which formerly ran through Winston-Salem. The route is labeled east–west for the entire route, however the eastern portion follows a much more north–south alignment.
Interstate 85 (I-85) is an Interstate highway that runs from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, Virginia. In North Carolina, I-85 travels 234.6 miles (377.6 km) from the South Carolina state line near Grover, North Carolina to the Virginia state line near Wise. Despite being signed north–south, I-85 physically travels in a southwest-northeast direction across the state. The Interstate highway connects the three most populous metropolitan areas of North Carolina, Metrolina, Piedmont Triad, and Research Triangle, as well as nine of the twenty largest municipalities in the state. Outside of North Carolina, I-85 connects the state with Richmond, Virginia to the north, and Upstate South Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia to the south. I-85 follows several U.S. Highways including US 29 between South Carolina and Greensboro, US 70 between Greensboro and Durham, and US 15 between Durham and Oxford, and US 1 between Henderson and Virginia.
Elwell Ferry is an inland cable ferry which has operated since 1905 on Elwell Ferry Road between NC Highway 53 and NC Highway 87, crossing the Cape Fear River and connecting the communities of Carvers Creek and Kelly in Bladen County, North Carolina.
John Harvey was a legislative leader in the Province of North Carolina and subsequently a leader in the creation of the revolutionary movement in the province.
Interstate 26 (I-26) in North Carolina runs through the Western part of the state, from the Tennessee border to the South Carolina border, following the Appalachian Mountains. It is part of the larger I-26, a regional interstate that runs from Kingsport, Tennessee to Charleston, South Carolina. I-26 is mostly four lanes through North Carolina with few exceptions. Though signed with east-west cardinal directions, in North Carolina and Tennessee, the route goes nearly north-south, with the northern direction labeled "West" and vice versa.
James Kenan (1740–1810) was an American military officer and politician who served as a brigadier general of the Wilmington District Brigade during the American Revolutionary War and commander of the North Carolina militia after the war. He was active in North Carolina politics and served ten terms as a state senator.
Interstate 87 (I-87) is a partially completed Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina, currently the shortest designated primary Interstate Highway at 12.9 miles (20.8 km). The completed portion is in eastern Wake County, between Raleigh and Wendell; the majority of the completed route is known as the Knightdale Bypass, while the remaining 3 miles (4.8 km) follows the Raleigh Beltline. It is planned to continue northeast through Rocky Mount, Williamston and Elizabeth City, ending in Norfolk, Virginia. It is signed as north-south, in keeping with the sign convention for most odd-numbered interstates, but the route goes primarily east-west, with the eastern direction aligning to the north designation. The entire route is concurrent with US 64, with portions also concurrent with I-440 and US 264.
North Carolina Highway 133 (NC 133) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It traverses 46.6 miles (75.0 km) from Oak Island Drive in Oak Island to NC 210 in Bells Crossroads. The route serves communities such as Southport, Belville, Leland, Wilmington, and Castle Hayne. Additionally, NC 133 serves as an entry point for Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point located to its east. Much of NC 133 runs parallel to the Cape Fear River and Brunswick River between Southport and Belville. West of Wilmington, NC 133 runs concurrently with U.S. Route 17 (US 17), US 74, and US 76. The road follows another concurrency along US 74 and US 421, west of Downtown Wilmington, and crosses into New Hanover County on the Isabel Holmes Bridge. North of Wilmington, NC 133 exits to the north, serving several suburban communities north of Wilmington. NC 133 runs concurrently with US 117 through Castle Hayne, before bearing northwest toward Bells Crossroads.
The Royal Ice Cream sit-in was a nonviolent protest in Durham, North Carolina, that led to a court case on the legality of segregated facilities. The demonstration took place on June 23, 1957 when a group of African American protesters, led by Reverend Douglas E. Moore, entered the Royal Ice Cream Parlor and sat in the section reserved for white patrons. When asked to move, the protesters refused and were arrested for trespassing. The case was appealed unsuccessfully to the County and State Superior Courts.
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