Teenagers David and Diane Bartz discovered a dugout canoe on the Neuse River. The Underwater Archaeology Branch with help from the U.S. Army Corp retrieved the vessel on March 8, 1978 and transported it to the branch's headquarters at Fort Fisher. A dugout in this condition is very rare and was, at that point, the only example found on the Neuse River and one of the few in the entire state.

Tobacco constitutes an important crop in the state's history, and one particular family made their fortunes on this plant. Washington Duke began growing tobacco after the Civil War and his grandson, James Buchanan Duke, would create a successful family business called the American Tobacco Company.

Annie Oakley, famous performer in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, retired to North Carolina after 1915. She and her husband Frank worked at the Carolina Hotel in Pinehurst, where she demonstrated and taught her marksmanship skills.