compiled and written by the Federal Writers' Project of the Federal Works Agency, Work Projects Administration for the state of North Carolina. Sponsored by North Carolina Department of Conservation and Development.

On a cold day in early January 1864, Robert E. Lee wrote to Confederate president Jefferson Davis "The time is at hand when, if an attempt can be made to capture the enemy's forces at New Berne, it should be done." Over the next few months, Lee's dispatch would precipitate a momentous series of events as the Confederates, threatened by a supply crisis and an emerging peace movement, sought to seize Federal bases in eastern North Carolina. This book tells the story of these operations—the late war Confederate resurgence in the Old North State. Using rail lines to rapidly consolidate their forces, the Confederates would attack the main Federal position at New Bern in February, raid the northeastern counties in March, hit the Union garrisons at Plymouth and Washington in late April, and conclude with another attempt at New Bern in early May. The expeditions would involve joint-service operations, as the Confederates looked to support their attacks with powerful, homegrown ironclad gunboats. These offensives in early 1864 would witness the failures and successes of southern commanders including George Pickett, James Cooke, and a young, aggressive North Carolinian named Robert Hoke. Likewise they would challenge the leadership of Union army and naval officers such as Benjamin Butler, John Peck, and Charles Flusser. Newsome does not neglect the broader context, revealing how these military events related to a contested gubernatorial election; the social transformations in the state brought on by the war; the execution of Union prisoners at Kinston; and the activities of North Carolina Unionists. Lee's January proposal triggered one of the last successful Confederate offensives. The Fight for the Old North State captures the full scope, as well as the dramatic details of this struggle for North Carolina.

"All of us, at one time or another, have had a strong desire to be able to get in a time machine and be transported magically to an earlier place and time. Science has not yet produced for us such a time machine, but the Federal Writers' Project (FWP), a division of the Works Projects Administration, did produce for posterity guides to all of the old 48 states. Using talented local researchers and writers the FWP created an image of America fifty years ago. North Carolina: the WPA Guide to the Old North State is a reprint of the original WPA guide. It contains a calendar of events and sections on the natural setting, Indians, history, Negroes, agriculture, modes of travel, industry and labor, education, religion, sports and recreation, folkways and folklore. A section on the principal cities and towns, their history and interesting facts about the present-day communities, and points of interest are included. A new introduction by William S. Powell, professor of history emeitus at the University of North Carolina, is included."--

North Carolina is a traveler’s dream, from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks’ historic lighthouses, wild horses, and charming fishing villages; from battlegrounds of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars to the “heart of motorsports”; from rolling wine country and golf courses to stately plantations and rustic settlements. Whether you travel North Carolina for its historic treasures or natural beauty, this handy guide will help you find the Old North State’s most spectacular sites and secret treasures. The book charts weekend adventures and day trips along back roads and scenic routes, into the state’s many mist-shrouded mountains--the Black, the Blue Ridge, and the Great Smokies--and down to its ever-changing shores. Sumptuously illustrated, with maps and all manner of interesting detail, Backroads of North Carolina is a page-by-page pleasure, as well as a passport to the more off-beat delights of the Tar Heel State.

Bonded Leather binding

North Carolina Gazetteer, 2nd Ed: A Dictionary of Tar Heel Places and Their History

This volume looks at the natural and human history of North Carolina's Mount Mitchell, part of the Black Mountain range and the highest peak in the United States. It chronicles the geological forces that created this landscape, traces its environmental change and human intervention.