Articles in regional publications that pertain to a wide range of North Carolina-related topics.
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38 results
for "Ellis, Marshall"
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4316
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Scheduled to open April 7, 2000, the new North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh will be the largest natural science museum in the Southeast. The seven- story, 200,000-square-foot structure quadruples the old museum's exhibit space. The museum's focus will be serving as an indoor field guide to the natural diversity of the state. A featured attraction is the 112-million-year-old skeleton of a predatory Arcocanthosaurus, which is displayed nowhere else in the world.
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4340
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The Gorges is the state's newest park and the first created west of Asheville. The 6,800-acre park in Transylvania County, established in April 1999, boasts spectacular gorges, breathtaking waterfalls, and deep forests. Over 1,000 plant species, 80 of them rare, flourish in this environment. Ecologists consider the protection of this area as significant as the creation of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in 1926.
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4376
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On January 6, 1766, twelve men set forth from the villages of Bethania and Bethabara in the North Carolina Piedmont and walked ten miles to begin construction of a new settlement called Salem. The new town was founded to serve as the church's administrative and commercial center. Today Old Salem is a National Historic District and stands as one of the best colonial restoration projects in the nation.
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4462
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Rising in Orange County, the Eno River flows thirty miles before merging with the Flat and Little rivers to form the Neuse. Yet this small river has been fought over by developers who wanted to exploit it and environmentalists who wanted to preserve it. In 1965, Margaret Nygard helped organize the Association for the Preservation of the Eno River, a group that defeated every attempt to spoil the river. Today the Eno River State Park stands as a monument to their perseverance.
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4670
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The timber rattlesnake is an important part of the forest ecosystem. Loss of habitat through development reduces its numbers. The snake also has an undeserved reputation as a creature to be feared. People encountering it often kill it, when all the snake wants is to avoid people. Herpetologist John Sealy discusses positive values of the rattlesnake and why it should be protected.
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4674
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In the Black Mountain range in Yancy County stand six of the tallest peaks east of the Rocky Mountains. All exceed 6,500 feet. The tallest is Mt. Mitchell, at 6,684 feet, which is also the tallest in eastern North America. Named for its early explorer, Elisha Mitchell, the peak is a place of great beauty and weather extremes. Currently the mountain's Fraser firs are dying from an imported European pest and acid rain and fog. Development is slowly creeping in upon the mountain, also.
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4686
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Raptors are birds of prey, including eagles, owls, and hawks. These predators sit at the top of the ornithological food chain, and their health is important to the chain's overall health. Each year thousands of these injured birds are rehabilitated and released through raptor centers across the country. The Carolina Raptor Center, one of the nation's finest facilities, is located on the Latta Plantation Nature Center near Charlotte.
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4781
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Four hundred million years ago Pilot Mountain existed as an ocean beach before upheavals created its mountain chain. First surveyed in 1751, the mountain passed through several interesting owners before the state purchased it in 1968. It became North Carolina's fourteenth state park. Each year over 400,000 visitors enjoy its spectacular views and stunning quartz pinnacle that rises 1,400 feet above the valley floor.
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4813
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The Pee Dee Indians vanished from the Sandhills in the 1400s and their culture lay buried beneath cornfields in Montgomery County until 1937, when the state recognized the value of the site and purchased it. Excavated for nearly fifty years by Joffre Coe, the Town Creek Indian Mound is the only North Carolina Historic Site devoted exclusively to Native American history. The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.
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Record #:
4871
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The park rangers of the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation are fewer than 200 in number. Since 1916, they have had care of the park system - rivers, lakes, recreation areas, and almost four dozen state parks. Ellis discusses the history of the park system, a ranger's duties, and why park rangers are so passionate about their jobs.
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4918
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Snow Hill, once a major stop on Contentnea Creek for water travel in the 19th-century, is the county seat of Greene County. It is a town of historic architecture, a place where the Snow Hill Billies baseball team attracted more spectators than the town's population, and where in 1946, Happy Jack Mange Medicine was created. Since the town and county are heavily dependent on tobacco, efforts are being made to find alternate crops like kenaf and to expand the industrial community.
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4919
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Open lands are falling to urban sprawl. Between 1992 and 1997, almost 160,000 acres per year of farms, forests, and rural lands were lost to urban development. Half of the state's natural areas remain unprotected. Standing against these encroachments are the state's almost two dozen land trusts. Mostly voluntary, these groups provide services and assistance, including conservation easements, strategic estate planning, and land transfers to private landowners who seek to protect open spaces.
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4970
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Near Lillington in Harnett County stands Raven Rock. This geological relic, at least 500 million years old, stretches over a mile and rises 150 feet above the Cape Fear River. The rock has survived, while the river has swept everything around it away over time. Today it is the centerpiece of 3,920-acre Raven Rock State Park. Ellis recounts the history of the rock and park.
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Record #:
5123
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Crowders Mountain in Gaston County is unique. Small, standing around 1,625 feet, 500 million years old, and full of minerals, it has been both an economic commodity and natural treasure. In the 1970s it was threatened by strip- mining. Local citizens rallied and convinced the state to accept the peak as a state park. In October 1974 Crowders Mountain State Park became a reality. Over 300,000 people visited the part in 2000.
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5242
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The American alligator is North Carolina's largest reptile. Alligators live mostly in swampy areas of the Coastal Plain, in places like Green Swamp in Columbus County and the Croatan National Forest in Carteret County. Areas like these are preferred living places because they are secluded, have a tolerable climate, and have plenty of food. Ellis describes these creatures and how they live.
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