‘7 he VoCunteer NewsCetter of the North Carolina State CapitoC
The Signal
Volume 6, Issue I
January 201 I
№
SI
Lecture Recounts Stories Behind NC Places
By Terra Schramm, ‘Education e£ Outreach
On Monday, January
31, the Capitol will host
a lecture by Mike Hill, a
co-author of the 2nd
edition of the North
Carolina Gazetteer.
The talk begins at noon
in the House Chamber.
The Gazetteer first
appeared to wide ac¬
claim in 1968 and has
remained an essential
reference for anyone
with a serious interest
in the Tar Heel State,
from historians to jour¬
nalists, from creative
writers to urban plan¬
ners, from backpackers
to armchair travelers.
The revised and ex¬
panded edition
(published June 2010)
adds approximately
1,200 new entries, bring¬
ing to nearly 21,000 the
number of North Caro¬
lina cities, towns, cross¬
roads, waterways, moun¬
tains, and other places
identified here. The sto¬
ries attached to place
names are at the core of
the book and the reason
why it has stood the test
of time. Some recall fara¬
way places: Bombay,
Shanghai, Moscow, Ber¬
lin. Others paint the lo¬
cality as a little piece of
heaven on earth: Bliss,
Splendor, Sweet Home.
In many cases the name
derivations are unusual,
sometimes wildly so: Cat
Square, Huggins Hell,
Tater Hill, Why not.
Hill will discuss his role
in updating this essen¬
tial guide and how the
Gazetteer tells us much
about our own history.
We hope you’ll join us for
this engaging, authorita¬
tive look at the stories
behind the places that
make our state great.
Docent Meeting: The Civil War and Capitol Tours
(Following the lec¬
ture on January 31,
the Capitol staff will
hold a short docent
meeting at 1 p.m.
Because 2011 marks
the first year of the state's Civil War
150th Anniversary commemoration, the
goal is to incorporate more Civil War
information into our tours. As we dis¬
cussed at the docent meeting in Septem¬
ber, staff will provide handouts with
information appropriate for inclusion in
4th and 8th grade tours at the January
meeting. Please come with your input,
questions, suggestions, and concerns.
We want to make this an enlightening
and enjoyable process for all!
