Welcome to North Carolina's Historic Sites! Below you are able to search the sites via category, admission cost or type of rental opportunities available. All of our sites have rental opportunities available. Please contact the sites directly for more details!
In 1771, an armed rebellion of backcountry farmers called Regulators battled with royal governor William Tryon's militia on land now preserved at Alamance Battleground State Historic Sites. Admission is free, but donations are welcome.
In April 1865, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and Union Gen. William T. Sherman met at Bennett Place, where they signed surrender papers for Southern armies in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Admission is free, but donations are welcome.
The Battle of Bentonville, fought March 19-21, 1865, was the last full-scale action of the Civil War in which a Confederate army was able to mount a tactical offensive. This was the largest ever battle fought in North Carolina. Admission is free, but donations are welcome.
A major pre-Revolutionary port on North Carolina's Cape Fear River, Brunswick was razed by British troops in 1776 and never rebuilt. During the Civil War, Fort Anderson was constructed atop the old village site. Admission free, but donations welcome.
Founded in 1902 by Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown, Palmer Memorial Institute transformed the lives of more than 2,000 African American students. Today visitors can explore this unique environment where boys and girls lived and learned during the greater part of the 20th century. Free.
Glimpses into two of our nation's most pivotal wars can be found in one historic site within the city of Kinston. Here you will explore the celebrated life of Richard Caswell, the first governor of the independent state of North Carolina.
See the early home, factories, and farm where Washington Duke first grew and processed tobacco. His sons later founded The American Tobacco Company, the world's largest tobacco company. Admission is free, but donations are welcome.
Ft. Dobbs provides a window into the tumultuous period of history known as the French and Indian War (1754-1763) or Seven Years War. As the only state historic site associated with the period, it represents North Carolina's link with a global war for empire that crossed five continents, lasted nearly a decade and sowed the seeds for independence. Free.
Until the last few months of the Civil War, Fort Fisher kept North Carolina's port of Wilmington open to blockade-runners supplying necessary goods to Confederate armies inland. When Ft. Fisher fell after a massive Federal amphibious assault on January 15, 1865, its defeat helped seal the fate of the Confederacy. Free Admission.
In 1900 he was elected governor and dedicated himself to improving public education in North Carolina. By the time he left office four years later, one school had been built for each day the governor was in office. Free Admission.
This pioneer farmstead, tucked in the beautiful Reems Creek Valley, features a two-story log cabin "mansion," an original 1790s slave cabin, and five outbuildings. Furnished as it would have been in the 1830s, the site explores life in early Buncombe County as seen through the lives of the Vance family and enslaved people. Free admission, donations are accepted and appreciated.
European settlement near the Pamlico River in the 1690s led to the founding of Bath, North Carolina's first town, in 1705. By 1708, Bath had 50 people and 12 houses. Political rivalries, Indian wars, and piracy marked its early years but in 1746 Bath was considered for the colony's capital.
Featuring 18th and 19th century history, North Carolina's second oldest town Edenton was one of the fledgling nation's chief political, cultural, and commercial centers. The state's first colonial capital, it was established in the late 17th century and incorporated in 1722.
Located on the Roanoke River, the town of Halifax developed into a commercial and political center at the time of the American Revolution. A self-guided walking tour of the site includes several authentically restored and furnished buildings including the 1838 Jail, the 1790 Eagle Tavern and the Underground Railroad Trail.
Donation Requested for Guided Tours
Comprises the remains of North Carolina's largest pre-Civil War plantation and one of the South's largest. It once belonged to the Bennehan-Cameron family, whose combined holdings totaled approximately 900 slaves and almost 30,000 acres by 1860.