Occoneechee Speedway sits just outside Hillsborough, North Carolina, and holds a special place in NASCAR history. It’s the only dirt track from NASCAR’s very first season in 1949 that’s still around today. The track actually started out as a horse racing venue built by Julian S. Carr on land with a rich Native American heritage….
Babe Ruth’s North Carolina Connection
Many may not be aware, but the city of Fayetteville, North Carolina, played a pivotal role in the beginning of George Herman “Babe” Ruth Jr. It was here that Ruth hammered his first home run as a professional against the then-minor league Baltimore Orioles on March 7, 1914. The blast traveled 350 to 400 feet…
Was Asheville Planning to Build a Subway System in the Early 1900s
One rumor that has gained attention over the years concerns the secret tunnels and passageways under Asheville, North Carolina. Some believe that Asheville was planning to build a subway sometime during the 1910s or early 1920s. It seems like a far-fetched idea even in 2025, given the mountain city’s population and terrain, but that hasn’t…
The Great Flood of 1940 in Western, North Carolina
One flood that receives minimal mention compared to Hurricane Helene in 2024 and the Great Flood of 1916 is the devastating 1940 flood. Just 24 years after the flood of 1916, western North Carolina was hit again by a slow-moving system, a Category 2 hurricane that made landfall along the South Carolina coastline. The storm…
A Winter’s Night Tragedy
The tragic story of Lue Cree Overcash Westmoreland is woven into the fabric of the Amity Hill Community as much as any cornfield, church hymn, or long-abandoned cotton gin. If you grew up in this community in the last half-century around these parts, you had heard about Lue Cree. On Nov. 28, 1936, Lue Cree…
The Infamous 1933 Charlotte Heist
Decades before the $17 million Loomis Fargo Heist in 1997, Charlotte was the scene of another infamous heist, when a group of gangsters invaded the Queen City to “raise” money for legal fees. On November 15, 1933, four men in a brand-new vehicle cut off and robbed a mail truck on 3rd Street. One of…
The 1988 Old Salisbury Road Mass Murders
The Old Salisbury Road Shootings are one of the worst tragedies in North Carolina’s history. On a dimly lit section of road in Forsyth County, North Carolina, on July 17, 1988 (some sources say the 18th), a man with a rifle started firing on passing vehicles. It seemed like a bad nightmare when the gunman,…
The 1993 Luigi’s Italian Restaurant Shooting Revisited
On August 6, 1993, an armed Fort Bragg soldier, Sgt. Kenneth Junior French, aged 22, walked into Luigi’s restaurant, 528 McPherson Church Road, around 10 p.m. in Fayetteville, North Carolina, with two shotguns and a rifle. French began to yell about politics, Bill Clinton, and homosexuality when he opened fire during the drunken killing spree….
The Worst Tornado Outbreak in North Carolina’s History
The worst tornado outbreak in North Carolina history occurred on March 28, 1984, resulting in 57 deaths and 1,248 injuries. On that day, 14 tornadoes were confirmed in the state, affecting mainly Eastern North Carolina, including two that measured over a mile wide. The outbreak also produced the state’s deadliest tornado, an F4 in Greene…
Blackbeard and The Golden Age of Piracy November 22, 1718
On November 22, 1718, Edward Teach met his fate in Ocracoke, North Carolina, during a bloody battle with Lieutenant Robert Maynard, 307 years ago, today. Some of you may know him better by his infamous nickname, Blackbeard. Teach had a long relationship with the Outer Banks, as it served as a base for his operations….