North Carolina history in 59 dated events, from 13,000-8000 B.C. (American Indians have lived continuously in the region that became North Carolina since th) to 2026. Every row links the National Park Service, state archive, agency or encyclopedia page it was read from.
Header photo: The Englishmen’s arrival at Roanoke Island, engraved by Theodor de Bry after John White, 1590. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, cph.3b01308.
- 59dated events
- 10eras
- 13,000-8000 B.C.earliest date on the list
- 48source pages cited
- First peoples
- Colonial era
- Revolution
- Early statehood
- Civil War
- Reconstruction
- New South and industry
- 20th century
- Civil rights
- Today
Download this data: CSV · JSON · 59 events · free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link to It’s North Carolina. All open data: catalog.json.
First Peoples
| When | What happened | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13,000-8000 B.C. | American Indians have lived continuously in the region that became North Carolina since the Paleo-Indian period. | Statewide | NCpedia: American Indian People in North Carolina – Introduction |
| About the 11th century A.D. | A Pee Dee (South Appalachian Mississippian) culture emerged in the Pee Dee River Valley and built a ceremonial center with an earthen mound at Town Creek. | Mount Gilead (Montgomery) | NC Historic Sites: Town Creek Indian Mound – American Indian Legacy |
Colonial Era
| When | What happened | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1524 | Giovanni da Verrazano, sailing for the king of France, explored the southern and central coast of what became North Carolina. | Cape Fear to Cape Hatteras coast | NCpedia: Verrazano Expedition |
| 1540 | Hernando De Soto’s Spanish expedition visited Native towns in the interior Southeast, including a town later visited by Juan Pardo. | Western North Carolina region | NCpedia: Pardo Expeditions |
| 1566-1567 | Juan Pardo’s Spanish soldiers built Fort San Juan at the Native town of Joara, believed to be in present-day Burke County. | Joara (near Morganton) (Burke) | NCpedia: Pardo Expeditions |
| 1584-1590 | English colonization attempts sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh were made on Roanoke Island, ending with the disappearance of the ‘Lost Colony.’ | Roanoke Island (Manteo) (Dare) | NPS: Fort Raleigh NHS – History & Culture |
| 1587 | John White led 117 men, women and children to the New World; when he returned three years later the colony had disappeared. | Roanoke Island (Manteo) (Dare) | NPS: Fort Raleigh NHS – The Lost Colony |
| 1705 | Bath, North Carolina’s first town, was founded near the Pamlico River. | Bath (Beaufort) | NC Historic Sites: Historic Bath – History |
| 1711 | Cary’s Rebellion, a yellow fever epidemic and drought struck the colony, followed immediately by the Tuscarora War between settlers and the Tuscarora. | Bath and Pamlico region (Beaufort) | NC Historic Sites: Historic Bath – History |
| 1718 | An expedition of the British Navy killed the pirate Edward Teach (‘Blackbeard’) in a naval battle near Ocracoke. | Ocracoke (Hyde) | NC Historic Sites: Historic Bath – History |
| 1722 | Edenton was incorporated, and the Assembly selected it as the capital. | Edenton (Chowan) | NC Historic Sites: Historic Edenton; NC State Capitol – History |
| 1734 | Construction began on St. Thomas Church in Bath, the state’s oldest existing church today. | Bath (Beaufort) | NC Historic Sites: Historic Bath – History |
| November 1753 | The first Moravian settlers arrived at Bethabara, the community that gave rise to Bethania, Salem, Friedberg and Friedland. | Bethabara (Winston-Salem) (Forsyth) | NCpedia: Moravians |
| February 27, 1760 | During the French and Indian War, a Cherokee attack on Fort Dobbs, the colony’s only permanent frontier provincial fort, was repelled. | Statesville (Iredell) | NC Historic Sites: Fort Dobbs – History |
| 1767-1771 | Governor William Tryon’s Palace was built in New Bern as the governor’s residence and office. | New Bern (Craven) | NC Historic Sites: NC State Capitol – History |
Revolution
| When | What happened | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 1771 | Royal governor William Tryon’s militia defeated about 2,000 backcountry Regulators at the Battle of Alamance. | Burlington (Alamance) | NC Historic Sites: Alamance Battleground – History |
| October 25, 1774 | Fifty-one women in Edenton resolved to stop buying English imports, among the first public political acts by women in America. | Edenton (Chowan) | NCpedia: Edenton Tea Party |
| May 31, 1775 | A committee in Charlotte adopted the Mecklenburg Resolves, a set of anti-British resolutions. | Charlotte (Mecklenburg) | NCpedia: Mecklenburg Resolves |
| February 27, 1776 | Patriots defeated a Loyalist charge at Moores Creek Bridge – the last broadsword charge by Scottish Highlanders and the first significant Patriot victory of the Revolution. | Currie (Pender) | NPS: Moores Creek National Battlefield |
| April 12, 1776 | The Fourth Provincial Congress at Halifax unanimously adopted the Halifax Resolves, the first official action by an entire colony recommending independence. | Halifax | NC Historic Sites: Historic Halifax – History |
| 1776 | British troops razed the port of Brunswick on the Cape Fear River; it was never rebuilt. | Winnabow (Brunswick) | NC Historic Sites: Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson |
| Fall 1776 | The Fifth Provincial Congress at Halifax drafted and approved North Carolina’s first state constitution and appointed Richard Caswell the first governor. | Halifax | NC Historic Sites: Historic Halifax – History |
| March 15, 1781 | Gen. Nathanael Greene’s army fought Lord Cornwallis at Guilford Courthouse, a battle that changed the course of the Southern Campaign. | Greensboro (Guilford) | NPS: Guilford Courthouse NMP |
| September 1781 | Loyalist colonel David Fanning raided the temporary capital of Hillsborough and captured Governor Thomas Burke. | Hillsborough (Orange) | NPS: Guilford Courthouse NMP – History & Culture |
Early Statehood
| When | What happened | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 21, 1789 | Meeting in Fayetteville, a state convention voted to ratify the U.S. Constitution, making North Carolina the twelfth state. | Fayetteville (Cumberland) | NCpedia: Convention of 1789 |
| 1792 | Construction of a State House began on the central square of the newly planned capital, Raleigh. | Raleigh (Wake) | NC Historic Sites: NC State Capitol – History |
| 1795 | The University of North Carolina opened its doors, the first state institution of higher learning in the nation. | Chapel Hill (Orange) | NCpedia: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| November 2, 1795 | James K. Polk, later the 11th U.S. president, was born on his parents’ farm in Mecklenburg County. | Pineville (Mecklenburg) | NC Historic Sites: President James K. Polk – History |
| 1799 | Conrad Reed found a 17-pound gold nugget in Little Meadow Creek – the first documented gold find in the United States. | Midland (Cabarrus) | NC Historic Sites: Reed Gold Mine – History |
| 1831 | The State House in Raleigh burned, destroying Canova’s statue of George Washington. | Raleigh (Wake) | NC Historic Sites: NC State Capitol – History |
| May 1838 | U.S. troops and militia began forcibly removing Cherokee people from their homelands, including North Carolina – the Trail of Tears. | Western North Carolina | NPS: Trail of Tears NHT – History & Culture |
| June 1840 | The North Carolina State Capitol opened and has been the seat of state government since. | Raleigh (Wake) | NC Historic Sites: NC State Capitol |
Civil War
| When | What happened | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 1861 | A convention in Raleigh unanimously passed North Carolina’s ordinance of secession. | Raleigh (Wake) | NCpedia: Secession Movement |
| 1862 | After the Battle of Roanoke Island, a Freedmen’s Colony was established on the island for formerly enslaved people. | Roanoke Island (Manteo) (Dare) | NPS: Fort Raleigh NHS |
| January 15, 1865 | Fort Fisher fell to a massive U.S. amphibious assault, closing the last supply line to Lee’s army through Wilmington. | Kure Beach (New Hanover) | NC Historic Sites: Fort Fisher |
| March 19-21, 1865 | The Battle of Bentonville, the largest battle fought in North Carolina, failed to stop Sherman’s army. | Four Oaks (Johnston) | NC Historic Sites: Bentonville Battlefield |
| April 26, 1865 | Johnston surrendered to Sherman at the Bennitt (Bennett) farm – the largest troop surrender of the Civil War. | Durham | NC Historic Sites: Bennett Place – History |
Reconstruction
| When | What happened | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1866 | A state act allowed formerly enslaved couples to legitimize their marriages through cohabitation bonds filed with county registers of deeds. | Statewide | State Archives of NC: North Carolina Digital Collections (Cohabitation Bonds) |
| December 16, 1870 | The new Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was lit for the first time. | Buxton (Dare) | NPS: Cape Hatteras Light Station |
New South and Industry
| When | What happened | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 10, 1885 | North Carolina legally recognized the ‘Indians of Robeson County,’ a milestone for the tribe now known as the Lumbee. | Robeson County | NCpedia: Lumbee |
| Christmas Eve 1895 | George W. Vanderbilt officially opened Biltmore House after five years of construction. | Asheville (Buncombe) | NCpedia: Biltmore House |
| November 10, 1898 | A white mob led by Red Shirts violently overthrew Wilmington’s legitimately elected biracial government, burned the Black-owned Daily Record and killed Black citizens – the Wilmington Massacre and Coup d’etat. | Wilmington (New Hanover) | NC Historic Sites: Governor Charles B. Aycock Birthplace – History |
| 1899-1900 | The General Assembly passed a ‘suffrage amendment’ adding a literacy test and poll tax designed to eliminate African American voting. | Statewide | NC Historic Sites: Governor Charles B. Aycock Birthplace – History |
20th Century
| When | What happened | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1902 | Charlotte Hawkins Brown founded Palmer Memorial Institute, an African American boarding school in Sedalia. | Sedalia (Gibsonville) (Guilford) | NC Historic Sites: Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum – History |
| December 17, 1903 | Wilbur and Orville Wright made the world’s first heavier-than-air, powered, controlled flight at Kitty Hawk. | Kill Devil Hills (Dare) | NPS: Wright Brothers NM – Stories |
| 1929 | The Gastonia (Loray Mill) Strike, the most notorious textile labor struggle in North Carolina history, ran from spring to early fall. | Gastonia | NCpedia: Gastonia Strike |
| 1935 | Construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway began as a New Deal Public Works Administration project; it was completed 52 years later with the Linn Cove Viaduct in 1987. | Blue Ridge (multiple counties) | NCpedia: Blue Ridge Parkway |
| 1937 | The outdoor drama The Lost Colony began at the Waterside Theater on Roanoke Island. | Manteo (Dare) | NPS: Fort Raleigh NHS |
| September 2, 1940 | President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated Great Smoky Mountains National Park at Newfound Gap. | Newfound Gap (Swain) | NCpedia: Great Smoky Mountains National Park |
| 1959 | Research Triangle Park, the largest planned research center in the United States, was created. | Research Triangle Park | NCpedia: Research Triangle Park |
Civil Rights
| When | What happened | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 1, 1960 | Four N.C. A&T students sat at the whites-only Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, launching sit-ins across the South. | Greensboro (Guilford) | NCpedia: Greensboro Sit-Ins |
| 1960 | At Shaw University in Raleigh, Ella Baker was credited with creating the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a principal outcome of the sit-ins. | Raleigh (Wake) | U.S. Civil Rights Trail: Estey Hall, Shaw University |
| November 1987 | The Charlotte Hawkins Brown Memorial opened as North Carolina’s first state historic site honoring African American heritage. | Gibsonville (Guilford) | NC Historic Sites: Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum – History |
Today
| When | What happened | Where | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was moved 2,900 feet in 23 days to protect it from erosion. | Buxton (Dare) | NPS: Cape Hatteras Light Station |
| February 2024 | Thomas Day’s workshop in Milton was designated a State Historic Site, honoring the free Black master furniture maker. | Milton (Caswell) | NC Historic Sites: Thomas Day State Historic Site |
| April 12, 2024 | North Carolina began its multi-year America 250 commemoration of the Revolution, focused on 2026 and running through 2033. | Statewide | America 250 NC: What is America 250 NC |
| October 2024 | The North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh closed for a renovation; it is scheduled to reopen in 2028. | Raleigh (Wake) | NC Museum of History: FAQ |
| December 18, 2025 | The Lumbee Fairness Act, granting full federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, was signed into law. | Pembroke (Robeson) | U.S. Senator Thom Tillis press release |
| 2026 | North Carolina marks the 250th anniversary of the Halifax Resolves and U.S. independence with statewide America 250 NC events. | Halifax and statewide | America 250 NC: Halifax 250 |
What We Could Not Verify
- Two National Park Service pages differ on the Lost Colony: one says the colony ended with the disappearance of 116 men, women and children, another says John White brought 117. The NPS does not explain the gap.
- After the 1999 move, the NPS says the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse stands 1,500 feet from the seashore; NCpedia says 1,600 feet.
We re-check these when the source pages change. Spot something we missed? Use the corrections page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What were the Halifax Resolves?
On April 12, 1776, the Fourth Provincial Congress meeting at Halifax unanimously adopted the Halifax Resolves, the first official action by an entire colony recommending independence. That fall, a congress at Halifax also drafted the first state constitution (source: NC Historic Sites: Historic Halifax – History).
What was the largest Civil War battle in North Carolina?
The Battle of Bentonville, fought March 19-21, 1865, near Four Oaks in Johnston County, was the largest battle fought in North Carolina. It failed to stop Sherman’s army; Johnston surrendered to Sherman at Bennett Place in Durham on April 26, 1865 (source: NC Historic Sites: Bentonville Battlefield).
What happened in Wilmington in 1898?
On November 10, 1898, a white mob led by Red Shirts violently overthrew Wilmington’s legitimately elected biracial government, burned the Black-owned Daily Record and killed Black citizens. The state calls it the Wilmington Massacre and Coup d’etat (source: NC Historic Sites: Governor Charles B. Aycock Birthplace – History).
Last checked October 20, 2026 by the It’s North Carolina editors against each operator’s, agency’s or organizer’s own page.
Sources
- NCpedia: American Indian People in North Carolina – Introduction
- NC Historic Sites: Town Creek Indian Mound – American Indian Legacy
- NCpedia: Verrazano Expedition
- NCpedia: Pardo Expeditions
- NPS: Fort Raleigh NHS – History & Culture
- NPS: Fort Raleigh NHS – The Lost Colony
- NC Historic Sites: Historic Bath – History
- NC Historic Sites: Historic Edenton; NC State Capitol – History
- NCpedia: Moravians
- NC Historic Sites: Fort Dobbs – History
- NC Historic Sites: NC State Capitol – History
- NC Historic Sites: Alamance Battleground – History
- NCpedia: Edenton Tea Party
- NCpedia: Mecklenburg Resolves
- NPS: Moores Creek National Battlefield
- NC Historic Sites: Historic Halifax – History
- NC Historic Sites: Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson
- NPS: Guilford Courthouse NMP
- NPS: Guilford Courthouse NMP – History & Culture
- NCpedia: Convention of 1789
- NCpedia: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- NC Historic Sites: President James K. Polk – History
- NC Historic Sites: Reed Gold Mine – History
- NPS: Trail of Tears NHT – History & Culture
- NC Historic Sites: NC State Capitol
- NCpedia: Secession Movement
- NPS: Fort Raleigh NHS
- NC Historic Sites: Fort Fisher
- NC Historic Sites: Bentonville Battlefield
- NC Historic Sites: Bennett Place – History
- State Archives of NC: North Carolina Digital Collections (Cohabitation Bonds)
- NPS: Cape Hatteras Light Station
- NCpedia: Lumbee
- NCpedia: Biltmore House
- NC Historic Sites: Governor Charles B. Aycock Birthplace – History
- NC Historic Sites: Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum – History
- NPS: Wright Brothers NM – Stories
- NCpedia: Gastonia Strike
- NCpedia: Blue Ridge Parkway
- NCpedia: Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- NCpedia: Research Triangle Park
- NCpedia: Greensboro Sit-Ins
- U.S. Civil Rights Trail: Estey Hall, Shaw University
- NC Historic Sites: Thomas Day State Historic Site
- America 250 NC: What is America 250 NC
- NC Museum of History: FAQ
- U.S. Senator Thom Tillis press release
- America 250 NC: Halifax 250
Cite this page: It's North Carolina, “North Carolina History Timeline: 59 Dated Events With Sources”, itsnorthcarolina.com/history/timeline/ (updated ). By the It's North Carolina editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.