Three Important Facts About North Carolina

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Known as the Tarheel State or the Old North State, North Carolina is a southern state located along the Atlantic coast. Boasting more than nine million residents, the state is one of the most populous states in the United States. North Carolina, the 12th state admitted to the Union, is home to agriculture, beaches, lighthouses, and universities. Offering a rich history, the state has plenty of interesting facts.

First in Flight

North Carolina is known as "First in Flight." This attribute is for Wilbur and Orville Wright, siblings who were the first individuals to successfully pilot a manned heavier-than-air machine on Dec. 17, 1903, in Kitty Hawk. The machine designed by the Wright brothers included a motor and propellers and was 40 feet in length while weighing more than 600 pounds. The machine also had a horizontal elevator that controlled going up and down and a lever that managed the flow of gas and recorded airspeed. The first successful flight barely lasted more than 10 seconds and traveled a distance of 120 feet. That day, the brothers took turns piloting the machine. Wilbur managed to record a flight that traveled more than 850 feet in just under a minute. Unfortunately for the Wrights, their day ended with their aircraft getting caught in a strong gust of wind, which damaged the glider beyond repair.

North Carolina is home to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse in the United States. The brick structure, maintained by the National Park Service, is located on Hatteras Island and stands 210 feet tall with nearly 300 steps. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is known for its distinctive black and white markings and red base. The lighthouse guides ships in a treacherous part of the Atlantic Ocean where the Gulf Stream meets the Virginia Drift, often referred to as the "graveyard of the Atlantic." With two 1,000 watt lamps, the lighthouse can be seen more than 20 miles away.

A lighthouse at Cape Hatteras was first commissioned in 1794 and was erected in 1803. The original structure stood 90 feet tall and was lit using whale oil. Too short to effectively warn ships, an additional 90 feet was tacked on to the light station. In the 1860s, Congress commissioned a new lighthouse to be built to replace the structure that was in need of extensive refurbishing. A new lighthouse opened in 1870 and three years later the structure received its well-known black and white colors. With tides causing erosion, the lighthouse was moved in 1950.

North Carolina is known as the Tar Heel State for the state's production of tar. Before the American Revolution, North Carolina was a major producer of tar, pitch, and turpentine, all of which are made from pine trees. The colony of North Carolina once was responsible for sending more than 10,000 barrels of tar a year to England. Making tar requires individuals to get messy and the distillation process brings about a strong odor. The term Tar Heel began to take on a negative connotation around the time of the Civil War. However, soon the state began to embrace the reference of Tar Heels. In the 1890s, the University of North Carolina newspaper dubbed itself the Tar Heel and in the 1910s, The New York Evening Post referred to two North Carolinians who helped Woodrow Wilson's campaign as Tar Heels.