The North Carolina Museum of History provides this list as a general resource. Hours, fees, and exhibit schedules are subject to change. Admission is free unless otherwise noted.

Barker House
509 South Broad Street, Edenton
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.; Sunday, 1:00 to 4:00 P.M.
252-482-7800
http://www.edenton.com/history/barker.htm

Built in 1782 and enlarged during the 1820s, this clapboard house is best known as the home of Penelope Barker (1728–1796), the reputed leader of the Edenton Tea Party in 1774, and her husband, Thomas Barker (1728–1789), a successful lawyer, planter, and colonial agent. Now owned by the Edenton Historical Commission, the Barker House is open to the public for tours of the interior. The Barkers’ grave sites can be seen at nearby Hayes Plantation.

Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station
N.C. 12, Rodanthe
Hours: Mid-April through November, Monday through Friday, 12:00 to 5:00 P.M.
Adults, $6; seniors (65+) and children 5 to 18, $4; group rate (20+ people), $5/person
252-987-1552
http://www.chicamacomico.net/

This National Park Service historic site features exhibits about the lifesaving crews on the Outer Banks.

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
1401 National Park Drive, Manteo
Hours: daily 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Visitor center open until 6:00 P.M. in summer during the run of the outdoor drama The Lost Colony.
252-473-5772
http://www.nps.gov/fora/

Reconstructions, exhibits, live drama, and presentations by park interpreters give visitors a rich understanding of those who backed the ill-fated Lost Colony and those who lost their lives in the quest. Virginia Dare, the first English child born in America, and Queen Elizabeth I are among the individuals featured.

Josiah Bell House
100 block of Turner Street, Beaufort
Hours: Guided tours of the house, offered as part of the larger Beaufort Historic Site, (March through November) Monday through Saturday, 9:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.; (December through February) Monday through Saturday, 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.
Adults, $8; students, $4
252-728-5225

Tour the circa 1825 house of Josiah Fisher Bell, who served as a Confederate spy, and view an exhibit honoring Union and Confederate veterans.

Moores Creek National Battlefield
40 Patriots Hall Drive, Currie
Hours: daily 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
910-283-5591
http://www.nps.gov/mocr/index.htm

This park, commemorating the decisive victory by 1,000 Patriots over 1,600 Loyalists at the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge on February 27, 1776, contains a monument to Mary Slocumb and other women associated with the Revolutionary War. According to legend, after dreaming that she saw her husband lying wounded in battle at Moores Creek, Slocumb rode her horse all night to reach the battle, then spent many hours caring for the wounded.

North Carolina Maritime Museum
315 Front Street, Beaufort
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.; Saturday, 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.; Sunday, 1:00 to 5:00 P.M.
252-728-7317
http://www.ncmaritimemuseums.com/index.php

Learn about the museum’s role in salvaging and preserving the remains of the Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard’s flagship that was discovered in Beaufort Inlet in November 1996.

Wright Brothers National Memorial
1401 National Park Drive, Manteo
Hours: Daily 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
Adults, $4 (good for 7 days); children under 16, free
252-4732111
http://www.nps.gov/wrbr/index.htm

View the location where Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful powered flight. Exhibits, a monument, reconstructed camp buildings, and special programs provide more information about these legendary brothers.

Ava Gardner Museum
325 E. Market Street, Smithfield
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.; Sunday, 2:00 to 5:00 P.M.
Adults, $7; seniors (65+) and teens 13–16, $6; children 3–12, $5; children under 3 free.
919-934-5830
http://www.avagardner.org/

The museum houses a large collection of Ava Gardner memorabilia. Gardner, a Smithfield native whose film career spanned forty-four years, achieved fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum
U.S. 70, Sedalia
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
336-449-4846
http://wwwah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/hs/chb/chb.htm

This state historic site, showcasing the life and work of Charlotte Hawkins Brown, pioneer in African American education, features a visitor center, Brown’s grave site, and buildings from Palmer Memorial Institute, the rural African American school that Brown founded.

Duke Homestead and Tobacco Museum
2828 Duke Homestead Road, Durham
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
919-477-5498
http://www.ibiblio.org/maggot/dukehome/index.htm

The museum chronicles the story of the Duke family from Washington Duke’s humble beginnings as a farmer in the early 1800’s to the present. The homestead features original buildings and a working tobacco farm.

Guilford Courthouse National Military Park
2332 New Garden Road, Greensboro
Hours: daily 8:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
336-288-1776
http://www.nps.gov/guco/index.htm

This National Park Service site contains twenty-eight monuments recognizing heroism during the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Kerrenhappuch Turner, according to legend, rode on horseback from her Maryland home to nurse her son wounded on the Guilford battlefield. Martha McFarland McGee Bell, from Randolph County, convinced Lord Cornwallis not to burn Bell’s Mill, which she operated while her husband fought in the war.

Historic Greensboro Walking Tour
Information available at the Greensboro Visitor Information Center, 317 South Greene Street 336-274-2282
http://www.greensboronc.org/attraction_details.cfm?AttractionID=107

This self-guided walking tour of downtown Greensboro features sites associated with O. Henry, the Greensboro sit-ins, Judge Henry Frye, and Jefferson Davis.

North Carolina Museum of History
5 East Edenton Street, Raleigh
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.; Sunday, noon to 5:00 P.M.
919-807-7900
http://ncmuseumofhistory.org/

The roles of legends in North Carolina history figure in exhibits and educational programs.

North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company
411 West Chapel Hill Street, Durham
Guided tours available upon request
919-682-9201
http://www.ncmutuallife.com/

John Merrick, C. C. Spaulding, and Aaron Moore founded this firm, the nation’s oldest and largest African American–owned insurance company, in 1898. The company’s headquarters, built in 1921 on the site of the first office, has become both a landmark and a symbol of racial progress. Tours of the Heritage Room can be arranged.

Thomas Day House/Union Tavern
Main Street, Milton
336-694-6106 (Caswell County Chamber of Commerce)
http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1557&ResourceType=Building

Now being restored, this building was the residence and workshop of free African American cabinetmaker Thomas Day from 1848 to 1858.

Biltmore Estate
1 Lodge Street, Asheville
Hours: Estate is open 9:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. daily. Admission gate closes at 3:00 P.M. Monday through Thursday and 4:00 P.M. Friday through Sunday.
Fees vary by season and day of the week.
800-624-1575
http://www.biltmore.com/

Explore the history of the Vanderbilts, one of America’s wealthiest and most famous turn-of-the-century families, and their opulent estate.

Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site
1928 Little River Road, Flat Rock
Hours: daily 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
House tour: adults, $5; seniors, $3, children 15 and under, free (no charge to tour the grounds)
828-693-4178
http://www.nps.gov/carl/index.htm

Carl Sandburg, nationally renowned poet, biographer, folksinger, and lecturer, made his home in North Carolina from 1945 until his death twenty-two years later. Visitors can tour Sandburg’s Flat Rock home and goat farm.

Thomas Wolfe Memorial State Historic Site
52 North Market Street, Asheville
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.; Sunday, 1:00 to 5:00 P.M
Fee: Adults, $1; students, $.50
828-253-8304
http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/hs/wolfe/wolfe.htm/

This state historic site preserves author Thomas Wolfe’s childhood home, depicted as “Dixieland” in Wolfe’s novel Look Homeward, Angel. The site also provides a visitor center featuring personal effects from the Wolfe family home, Wolfe’s New York City apartment, and his father’s stonecutting shop.

Whippoorwill Academy and Village11929 N.C. 268 West, Ferguson
Hours: (April through December) Saturdays and Sundays, 3:00 to 5:00 P.M.; weekdays by appointment; (January through March) by appointment only
336-973-3237
http://www.explorewilkes.com/whippoorwill.php

This small village features an exhibition on Tom Dula and a replica of Daniel Boone’s cabin.

Zebulon Vance Birthplace State Historic Site
911 Reems Creek Road, Weaverville
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
828-645-6706
http://www.nchistoricsites.org/vance/vance.htm

This historic site features the reconstructed 1830s birthplace of North Carolina Civil War governor Zebulon B. Vance.