Landmarks

Dig into a first-hand account of excavations at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site.

A small earthen fort on Roanoke Island, traditionally known as Old Fort Raleigh, was the site of the first English colony in the Americas. Previous archaeological discoveries at the site left many questions unanswered by the 1990s. Where was the main fort and town founded by Raleigh's lieutenant, Ralph Lane, the first governor? Was the small log structure outside the fort really a defensive outwork? And why did the colonists go to the effort of making bricks from the local clay? These are the questions that scholars hoped to answer in an extensive, professional dig funded by National Geographic from 1991 to 1993. This skilled team of excavators-with a little luck-revealed America's first scientific laboratory, where the Elizabethan scientist Thomas Harriot analyzed North American natural resources and Joachim Gans assayed ores for valuable metals.

Famed archaeologist of Colonial America Ivor Noël Hume describes the labor-intensive process of discoveries at Fort Raleigh.

Asheville: an architectural gem of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Known for its architectural diversity and intriguing Art Deco style, Asheville has been fortunate in attracting brilliant architects who have created lasting testaments in brick and stone with imaginative foresight and design expertise. Local architectural enthusiast Richard Hansley recounts the history behind dozens of Asheville's most prominent buildings and historical neighborhoods in Asheville's Historic Architecture. Discover how Douglas Ellington, Richard Sharp Smith, James Vester Miller and Tony Lord influenced this busy metropolis, as landmarks like the Jackson Building, the Grove Park Inn and the Art Deco City Building were constructed along the city's thriving streets. These buildings have stood the test of time and remain as breathtaking in concept and appearance today as when first completed.

Shallow Ford, the natural rock path across the Yadkin River, served as the gateway for pioneers to the western North Carolina frontier and as a stage for history.

The ford was the site of the Battle of Shallow Ford in the Revolutionary War and Stoneman's Raid during the Civil War. The eye of the needle for General Cornwallis in the Race to the Dan, it was also the silent witness to the Great Wagon Road and the trans-Appalachian migration led by local son Daniel Boone. Bypassed for the last hundred years, Shallow Ford faded from view but remains a landmark of another era.

Local historian Marcia D. Phillips recounts the history of a time when safe passage across the river provided the way to reach the American future that lay beyond.