Friends of the Archives of NC

10/21/2026

10/21/2026

10/20/2026

Get ready for a spooky night of history and Halloween trivia! 🎃

Join Roanoke Island Festival Park and the Outer Banks History Center at NouVines (aka NouVeins🦇) in downtown Manteo for a special History Happy Hour: Halloween Trivia Edition as part of Halloween Island! 👻

Happening on Tuesday, October 20th from 6:30 to 7:30 pm.

Put your local history knowledge to the test, enjoy some friendly competition, and see how much you know about the spooky stories and fascinating past of the Outer Banks. Grab your friends, come ready to play, and celebrate Halloween Island with a little history mixed into the fun!

10/19/2026

Season 7 of Connecting the Docs continues exploring state symbols. The latest episode looks at our state tree, the Long Leaf Pine. Learn how this tree became a state symbol, how it shaped the early industries of the state, and the start of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. Listen to it hear: https://connectingdocs.podbean.com/e/state-symbols-pitch-pine-and-poetry/

10/16/2026

A parking lot has never looked so ominous… 😟


104_310_4_15_1
Photograph of Comfort School, Jones County, c. 1920-1930.
Department of Public Instruction: School Planning Section, School Photographs File, Box 4

10/16/2026

If you missed our fellow archivists discussing the final season of Outlander, you can now watch the presentation on YouTube. Use the link in our comment section to check it out.

10/15/2026

Aftermath of Hurricane Hazel at Carolina Beach.

On this day in 1954 Hurricane Hazel made landfall at Long Beach. The storm’s arrival in North Carolina occurred on a full moon high tide, maximizing impact of the storm surge on the barrier beaches of Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle, Holden Beach, Long Beach, Carolina Beach, Wrightsville Beach and Topsail Island.

Devastation was widespread but nowhere was the impact more severe than on Long Beach (present-day Oak Island), where a 17-foot storm surge swept away 352 of the 357 structures on the island. The dramatic surge was, and remains, singular in North Carolina’s recorded history.

Hazel was the only Category Four hurricane of the twentieth century to strike North Carolina. Its winds topped 140 miles per hour. After landfall it tracked inland, and battering winds cut a wide swath northward toward Raleigh. High winds toppled trees, ripped roofs, and tore down signs and power lines across the state. Hazel was responsible for 95 deaths in the U.S., including 19 in North Carolina. Hazel remains the standard by which other North Carolina hurricanes are measured.
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N.54.11.34
From the General Negative Collection, State Archives of NC.

10/15/2026

10/14/2026

Test your knowledge of North Carolina and earn bragging rights at our upcoming North Carolina Trivia Night with the Library of North Carolina No registration is required. We hope to see you at the Transfer Company Food Hall in Raleigh on October 14 from 7:00-8:30.

10/14/2026

October is Archives Month and our director, Kelly Policelli, invites you to learn what the archives do and how you can get involved. The link to the blog post is in our comment section. Outer Banks History Center Western Regional Archives