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Record #:
8545
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Once great flocks of passenger pigeons, numbering in the millions, filled the skies. Over 16 inches in length with a two-foot wingspan, the bird made its home mainly in the Northern regions of the country, but it did visit North Carolina. Thomas Harriot gave the first English account of their presence in the state when he observed them on Roanoke Island during the winter of 1585-86. Moravians reported them in 1760. Early writings note the great damage caused by the flocks of birds, such as breaking trees limbs and bending others to the ground. In the late 19th-century, the passenger pigeon was the most abundant wildlife species in the world, with numbers reaching five billion. Market hunters practically wiped it out in the last two decades of the 19th-century. The last passenger pigeon in North Carolina was shot in 1894, and the last passenger pigeon in the world died in the Cincinnati Zoo on September 1, 1914.
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Wildlife in North Carolina
(NoCar SK 431 W54x), Vol. 34 Issue 12, Dec 1970,
p4-6, il
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Record #:
10602
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In years past, coastal Carolinians enjoyed traditional sea turtle egg hunts on the full moon in June. The full moon would illuminate tracks left on the beach by female turtles returning to the water after laying their eggs. Egg hunts were primarily social events carried out by groups competing to find the most eggs, which would be used as an ingredient in old-fashioned corn bread. Ocean front development and protective laws have combined to render the once eagerly anticipated event a distant memory.
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Record #:
10624
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The industrial-scale harvesting of off-shore shrimp came to North Carolina by accident in 1915, when scientists at the fisheries research station in Beaufort began catching large shrimp, or prawns, in otter trawls that were used to search for marine specimens in the open sea just off Beaufort bar. Local shrimpers had traditionally harvested with long haul seine nets or small one-man \"push\" nets and limited their operations to the more protected inside waters of sounds, creeks, and estuaries. As news of the big shrimp circulated, local fishermen manufactured trawls modeled on the one used by the research station and soon began catching more shrimp than could be sold locally, thus establishing a new and profitable fishery in North Carolina.
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Record #:
10834
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Every item in the Blockade Runner Museum is arranged to express a single theme: What life was like in the Lower Cape Fear section during the Federal blockade days of the Civil War. Relics, artifacts, maps, models, and dioramas are dramatically arranged to make visitors feel more like participants than observers. John Foard, a retired textile executive, realized a lifelong ambition when he joined with several friends to build the museum.
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Record #:
10852
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Before the advent of the modern drugstore, wild herbs, roots, and barks were harvested and used for medicinal purposes in North Carolina. Poison mandrake, witch hazel, and the bark of the wild cherry were \"must have\" items. Many of the harvested plants and roots have been found by modern pharmaceutical manufacturers to contain compounds that have been scientifically proven to aid in the treatment of disease and illness. In western North Carolina, the crude botanicals industry has created a booming business for traditional plant harvesters, who seek out the various herbs and roots and sell them to pharmaceutical companies at local buying stations.
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Record #:
10871
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When prices for tar and pitch were increased by their suppliers, England turned to their American colonies as a new source around 1700. Southeastern North Carolina became a major supplier of naval stores, which included tar, rosin, turpentine, and pitch. For decades Wilmington was recognized as the largest export point in the world for naval stores.
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Record #:
11251
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The East Coast Sea Water Conversion Plant in Wrightsville, North Carolina is changing the issue on drinking water. In 1952, the cost to desalt 1,000 gallons of sea water was five dollars. In 1965, the cost of production is one dollar. The North Carolina government constructed the plant in 1952 as a means to produce drinking water from the ocean. Future plans for the plant include the use of distillation and introducing atomic power sources.
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Record #:
11282
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In 1934, the state constructed a new mine at Kure Beach. A Bromine mine, it was located on the ocean and the minerals were extracted from the waters for eleven years. The mine was purchased by private business that combined the bromine production technique with a Texas magnesium facility. In 1946, operations at the mine ceased and the company destroyed the facilities in the 1950s.
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Record #:
11299
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Deer tongue, also known as Carolina vanilla, is an obscure wild plant with slender, leathery leaves that somewhat resemble a deer's tongue. The leaves, when dried and crushed, produce the heavy, sweetish odor of pure vanilla extract. Deer tongue is extensively used in tobacco products of various kinds, and each year tobacco buyers purchase hundreds of thousands pounds of it.
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Record #:
11519
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Near Wilmington, on the eastern shore of the Cape Fear River, stands an old, moss-covered cypress tree. It has stood there for over two centuries. For mariners it is a landmark indicating that the end of the voyage is in sight. When the tree was sighted, the captain would order that a dram of grog be issued to the crew, hence the name \"Dram Tree.\"
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Record #:
11529
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The Venus flytrap is one of the strangest plants in the world. It grows only in North Carolina's coastal region. It will swallow all kinds of things, but discards all those which it cannot digest.
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Record #:
11532
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Bald Head Island is one of North Carolina's most isolated and least-frequented coastal areas. Montgomery describes the island, where it rarely snows or gets cold, but instead supports an almost tropical growth of vegetation and flora.
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Record #:
11720
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Initiated by the Department of the Interior to experiment with different methods of desalinating sea water, the East Coast Sea Water Conversion Plant, located in Wrightsville, North Carolina, is the first such test facility of its kind.
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11729
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Completed in 1934 and opened on 1 January 1935, the bromine plant, located in Kure Beach, was the first and only of its kind. Bromine, a natural, non-metallic element known to reduce engine \"knock\" when added to gasoline, was harvested from local waters for eleven years before the plant closed, shifting operations to Texas.
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Record #:
11749
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Montgomery discusses North Carolina's oyster industry, which has a yearly value of $100,000.
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