November 2010

The Mounds are considered one of the four most important prehistoric Indian sites east of the Rocky Mountains. A remarkable assemblage of artifacts from the mounds shows that prehistoric Spiro people created a sophisticated culture which influenced the entire Southeast.

The museum's mission is to engage a broad-based audience in the exploration and appreciation of the diverse history of the South since the Civil War, with a focus on Charlotte and the surrounding Carolina Piedmont. Through the Museum we collect, preserve, and interpret the materials, sights, sounds, and ideas that illumine and enliven this history. The Museum presents opportunities for life-long learning about this history for the benefit, enjoyment and education of children and adults, and provides historical context for contemporary issues and a community forum for thoughtful discussion.

The Zacharys were among the first white settlers of Cashiers Valley, arriving in 1832 to carve a new homestead out of a mountain wilderness, previously a part of the vast Cherokee Nation of Western North Carolina. Mordecai Zachary was nine years old when his family settled in Cashiers. Among the many skills he learned from his father and older brothers was carpentry. In 1842, at the age of 19, he began clearing a tract of land bordering the Chattooga River, turning the felled trees into lumber at the family saw mill. In 1852, when the house was complete, Mordecai presented it as a wedding gift to his new bride, Elvira Keener.

Over the years, the Zachary house also became an inn for boarders as well as a summer retreat for several prominent families, including that of Confederate General Wade Hampton, III. The Zacharys sold the estate to Speaker of the House, Armistead Burt of Abbeville, S.C. Later, it was owned by two Parker family brothers and finally by the Tolberts of Abbeville and Charleston who occupied the house for most of the 20^th century.

Follow the activities of Native Americans, frontier soldiers, cowboys, and homesteaders. Revist economic development, from assurances that "rain will follow the plow," to "Dust, Drought, Depression," and beyond.

On the museum grounds stands the Carnegie Library, where the first state governor was sworn in. This building, as well as the museum, serves as a visible link between Oklahoma's turbulent Territorial Period and the present.

All of the museum's programs and exhibits, both general and specialized, interpret the state's cultural maritime history and offer a larger national perspective on coastal environment.

The North Carolina Maritime Museum documents, collects, preserves, and researches the maritime history—and its corollary natural history—of coastal North Carolina for the purpose of interpreting this history through educational services and exhibits for our contemporary society, and passing intact its material culture to future generations.

Displaying centuries of North Carolina history, the maritime museum offers artifacts from the colonial period to the present. In June 2011, the museum will debut Queen Anne's Revenge, the flagship of the notorious pirate Blackbeard. It sunk off the coast of Beaufort in 1718, and was discovered by divers in 1996. 

The Beaufort Historic Association is a private, non-profit, membership and volunteer-based organization founded in 1960 by a group of Carteret County citizens without the aid of grants and public funds. The organization owns and operates the Beaufort Historic Site, which depicts 18th and 19th century life in Beaufort and includes six authentically restored historic buildings open for tours year round. The site is open to the public and staffed six days a week, year round, and seven days a week June - August. The Robert W. and Elva Faison Safrit Historical Center provides information on area events and services every day.

The Beaufort Historic Site features exhibits on Beaufort’s history and houses the Old Beaufort Shop, the museum gift shop of the Beaufort Historic Site.

Frank Greer came to Guthrie, Indian Territory, in April of 1889, and built a business that grew to include one of the largest printing operations in the southwest and the three most widely circulated newspapers in Oklahoma.

Inside the museum is a large collection of original furnishings and printing equipment from 1889-1916. Museum exhibits include the history of the State Capital Company, printing technology and other aspects of life from the territorial and early statehood era.

European settlement near the Pamlico River in the 1690s led to the creation of Bath, North Carolina's first town, in 1705. The town's location seemed ideal with easy access to the river and the Atlantic Ocean 50 miles away at Ocracoke Inlet. By the turn of the century, Bath had improved land transportation. Waterborne activities also increased as several large sawmills were operated nearby.

Bath still remains a small village. Restoration efforts in Bath have saved the St. Thomas Church, the Palmer-Marsh House, Van Der Veer House (ca. 1790), and the Bonner House (ca. 1830). The original town limits are the boundaries for a National Register historic district.