North Carolina USA
Destination Travel Guides & Hotel Reservations
NORTH CAROLINA , though the most industrialized of the Southern states, remains
relatively rural and poor, with just six million people spread over an area larger than
England. It suffered heavily during the Civil War , and Reconstruction
brought mixed fortunes: although poverty and hostility were still endemic the Democrats,
once they regained control in 1870, were effective in stamping out the Ku Klux Klan. Since
then there have been parallel traditions of radical black, and white racist, activity. Greensboro
, for example, where Jesse Jackson served his political apprenticeship, was the
site of the 1960 lunch-counter sit-in by black students, and also of the Greensboro
Massacre of 1979, when Klansmen killed five people at a Communist Workers Party
demonstration.
Geographically, North Carolina breaks down into three distinct areas - running from
east to west, the coast, the Piedmont and the mountains - that help make it one of the
more interesting states to tour around. For visitors, the coast is the most
promising area, with good beaches, beautiful landscapes and a fascinating history. The
inner coast consists largely of the less developed Albemarle Peninsula , with
colonial Edenton nearby. The central Piedmont is dominated by manufacturing
cities, and by the academic institutions of the prestigious Research Triangle: Raleigh
, the state capital, is home to North Carolina State University. Duke University is at Durham
, and the University of North Carolina at trendy Chapel Hill. Winston-Salem
combines tobacco culture and Moravian heritage, while Charlotte bills itself as the
next boom city of the South, though for the moment it's distinguished by little but its
downtown skyscrapers. In the mountains , one of the most stunning stretches of
Appalachia, the only towns of any size, Boone and Asheville , are linked by
the spectacular Blue Ridge Parkway , while Great Smoky Mountains National Park
overlaps the border with Tennessee.
Reserve a Hotel Room in North Carolina USA
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