No one knows where the name originated, but if you have ever visited the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, you have been on Purgatory Mountain. In 1971, a land grant of nearly 1,400 acres from Purgatory Mountain was issued to designate and build the state’s Zoo and Botanical Gardens. Some believe the name originated from…
Land of Oz: No Place Like Home
Land of Oz in Beech Mountain, North Carolina, was/is a theme park based on L Frank Baum’s Land of Oz books. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz series comprises 14 books in total by Baum. Baum’s description of Kansas in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was based on his experiences in drought-ridden South Dakota in 1888….
1999 Hurricane Floyd
It is hard to believe it has been almost 26 years since Hurricane Floyd, then the worst hurricane in the state’s history, slammed into Eastern North Carolina. The storm crashed ashore on September 16, 1999, resulting in 51 fatalities, record flooding, and billions in damage. The monster hurricane’s storm surge amounted to 9-10 feet along…
2024 Hurricane Helene
Hurricane Helene is the deadliest hurricane to hit the contiguous United States since Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. The storm caused at least 248 deaths, with 175 of those deaths directly related to this massive storm, whether by wind, flood, or other immediate impacts, and racked up almost $80 billion in damages. Helene has officially…
The North Carolina Coal Glen Mine Disaster
The most significant loss of life in a mining accident in the state of North Carolina occurred on May 27, 1925, when 53 miners were killed by explosions in the Coal Glen mine in Farmville, located in Chatham County. When we think of coal mining, West Virginia and Pennsylvania are typically the first states that…
Hurricane Helene (1958)
Hurricane Helene raked the Carolinas coast on September 27, 1958, but did not make landfall. That morning, the massive Category 4 storm with winds up to 150 mph approached Charleston, South Carolina, before abruptly turning to the north and northeast. The storm brought heavy rainfall to Eastern North Carolina, damaging many homes and buildings. Written…
The Titanic Pinged a Distress Call to This Eastern Carolina Weather Station
Many may not know, but the RMS Titanic sent at least two distress calls that pinged the Hatteras Island Weather Station in North Carolina. Station operators Richard Dailey and Horace Gaskins received the message “CQD: Have Struck Iceberg” at 11:25 p.m. It was an urgent message from the Titanic. They immediately forwarded the message to…
The 1940 Guthery Apartments Fire in Charlotte
In the early hours of March 15, 1940, a massive and deadly fire swept through Guthery Apartments, now known as the Tryon House Apartments, on North Tryon Street in Charlotte. The fire was attributed to a suspected boiler explosion in the basement, which turned catastrophic due to ruptured gas lines. Within minutes, the older part…
The Valentine’s Day Murders in North Carolina
On February 12, 1971, a young couple, Patricia Mann and Jesse McBane, disappeared after they left a Valentine’s Day dance at Watts Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, and would never be seen alive again. The pair had planned to return to Mann’s dorm by the 1 am curfew time, but when they failed to show,…
The Tweetsie Railroad Cemetery
Tweetsie Railroad is a popular theme park between Boone and Blowing Rock, North Carolina. The centerpiece of the theme park is a three-mile ride on a train pulled by one of Tweetsie Railroad’s two historic narrow-gauge locomotives, but the park also has another piece of history that greets visitors as they walk through the gates….