The earliest evidence of human occupation in North Carolina dates back 10,000 years, found at the Hardaway Site. North Carolina was inhabited by Carolina Algonquian, Iroquoian, and Siouan speaking tribes of Native Americans prior to the arrival of Europeans. King Charles II granted eight lord proprietors a colony they named Carolina after the king and which was established in 1670 with the first permanent settlement at Charles Town (Charleston). Because of the difficulty of governing the entire colony from Charles Town, the colony was eventually divided and North Carolina was established as a royal colony in 1729 and was one of the Thirteen Colonies. The Halifax Resolves resolution adopted by North Carolina on April 12, 1776, was the first formal call for independence from Great Britain among the American Colonies during the American Revolution.
On November 21, 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the United States Constitution. In the run-up to the American Civil War, North Carolina declared its secession from the Union on May 20, 1861, becoming the tenth of eleven states to join the Confederate States of America. Following the Civil War, the state was restored to the Union on July 4, 1868. On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully piloted the world's first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft at Kitty Hawk in North Carolina's Outer Banks. North Carolina often uses the slogan "First in Flight" on state license plates to commemorate this achievement, alongside a newer alternative design bearing the slogan "First in Freedom" in reference to the Mecklenburg Declaration and Halifax Resolves. (Full article...)
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U.S. Highway 76 (US 76) is a U.S. Highway running from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. In North Carolina the highway runs for 80.4 miles (129.4 km) in the southeastern region of the state. US 76 enters the state from South Carolina south of Fair Bluff in Columbus County. Travelling in an eastward direction, US 76 meets US 74 in Chadbourn. The two highways run concurrently for 50.4 miles (81.1 km) between Chadbourn and Wilmington. US 76 runs concurrently with US 17 along much of its Wilmington routing, until once again meeting US 74. US 76 and US 74 run concurrently for 1.4 miles (2.3 km) until reaching Wrightsville Beach. US 76 reaches its eastern terminus on the south side of Wrightsville Beach, at an intersection with Water Street.
As early as 1916, portions of modern-day US 76, between Wilmington and Whiteville were added to the North Carolina state highway system. By 1924, North Carolina Highway 202 (NC 202) was assigned to the routing between South Carolina and Chadbourn. The routing between Chadbourn and Wrightsville Beach became part of NC 20, which continued west to Asheville. While US 76 was an original U.S. highway, it initially ran between Chattanooga, Tennessee and Florence, South Carolina. The remainder of the route between Florence and Wilmington was signed as part of US 17. In 1935, US 17 was rerouted similar to its current routing, and US 76 was extended to Wrightsville Beach over the former routing of US 17. While the majority of the routing has remained roughly the same, much of the highway between Chadbourn and Wilmington has been placed on new freeways. The section of US 76 between Chadbourn and Bolton is considered to be a future section of Interstate 74 (I-74). (Full article...)
Image 9Map of North America by Vesconte Maggiolo after an earlier map made on the Verrazzano expedition of 1524. The narrow isthmus of land separating "Tera Florida" from "Francesca" is the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Cape Fear is labeled "C. de la Forest". (from History of North Carolina)
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