Danbury, county seat of Stokes County, depends on the county government; some industry; agriculture; some bits of history (like the Moratock Iron Furnace); and natural attractions, including Hanging Rock State Park, for its economic base.
Chris Roth of Old Fort sculpts totem poles, animals, and people with a unique instrument - a chainsaw. Taught by his father, Roth fetches an average of $100 a foot for his work. More elaborate pieces are priced higher. At twenty-four, he is the youngest chainsaw carver in the country.
OUR STATE magazine is sixty-five years old. People and places sharing the birth year include author Reynolds Price, blues singer Nina Simone, Croatan National Forest, and the Alleghany County Courthouse in Sparta.
The 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, based at Camp Mackall in Scotland County in 1943, had a champion baseball team. When they played again in 1945, many members had been lost in the Normandy Invasion, Holland, and the Battle of the Bulge.
Asheville's historic Wright Inn, designed by architect George F. Barber in 1899, boasts fifty-one windows and four fireplaces. It is a monument to the Queen Anne and Victorian styles. Today it is a bed and breakfast inn and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Quick action by Nag's Head citizens in 1973 saved Jockey's Ridge from development. Today it is a 414-acre state park and National Natural Landmark. The sand dune, which is ninety feet tall and a mile long, is moving south at a foot a year.
Annawear in Highlands, Mt. Olive Pickle Company in Mt. Olive, Benbow Reproduction in Greensboro, and Carolina Treet Barbecue Sauce in Wilmington are family-owned-and-operated businesses that produce unique products.