Insider Carolina

Southern Living just named Hilton Head Island the #1 Beach Town in the South. 🏖️

Check it out: http://ow.ly/YsBM50Iepl7
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce

🐂 IS . Throughout the Bull City (& Raleigh), you’ll come across bricks with an intriguing design. These are Fitzgerald bricks.⁠
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The bricks in this photo were called pavers. They were specifically made for walkways. The company that made the mold with this particular design was out of Ohio, but the bricks were made right here in Durham. By chance, the name for the paver mold design was "Bullseye."⁠
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Richard Burton Fitzgerald was born free in Delaware in 1843. After the Civil War ended & the same year Durham was officially incorporated, 1869, he moved to North Carolina & built a brick empire as Durham grew, brick by brick with his brother Robert.⁠
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The building on the corner of Kent & West Chapel Hill Street is the Fitzgerald building. Under that stucco lies Fitzgerald bricks. The land surrounding was once his brickyard.⁠
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No one could compete with the craftsmanship of his bricks. They were the preferred bricks of both the Dukes & W.T. Blackwell. Yes, those Dukes. Blackwell as in Blackwell Street, the Old Bull building & the business-crazed, hardass that steamrolled all other to***co competitors to make Bull Durham to***co a global household name.⁠
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The Old Bull is the oldest standing building in Durham built in 1874 & the 1st all brick to***co factory in the US. Not just any bricks. Fitzgerald bricks.⁠
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It is rumored that both the Duke family & Blackwell turned down white brick masons who thought that their skin color alone would warrant them a contract. The to***co moguls stuck with Fitzgerald’s quality bricks. At 1 point Blackwell offered to buy EVERY brick Fitzgerald made. ⁠
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Fitzgerald went on to become 1 of the forefathers of Durham’s Black Wall Street as the 1st president of black-own Mechanics & Farmers Bank, purchasing the equipment needed to start a local newspaper for the black community, co-founder of Durham Drug Co. (renamed Fitzgerald Drug Co.), treasurer of Lincoln hospital, 1st president of Coleman Manufacturing Co., & an original incorporater of NC Mutual. His list of accomplishments goes on, as does his legacy.⁠
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TheBullsOfDurham.com

If you don’t know Pearl Fryar’s topiary, learn about its amazingness here.

Pearl Fryar’s Living Legacy Continues

The grits I make are the best imho.

Readers Recall the Best Grits They’ve Ever Had

CARRBORO, N.C. – Legendary North Carolina musician Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten is being feted by her hometown with her very own day on this birthday anniversary.

Mayor Damon Seils is officially proclaiming Wednesday, Jan. 5, as “Libba Cotten Day” in Carrboro.

“Libba Cotten continues to inspire musicians around the world and occupies a special place in Carrboro’s history and our vibrant and enduring local music culture,” Mayor Damon Seils said. “I invite you to join us in this opportunity to celebrate her life and legacy.”

Born on Jan. 5, 1893, Cotten wrote her signature song, “Freight Train,” about the train she could hear from her childhood home on Lloyd Street in Carrboro, North Carolina. Cotten's talents as guitarist and songwriter came to light while she was working in the home of the Seeger family, who encouraged her career as a professional musician. Cotten toured across the country, recording several albums and winning a Grammy Award and a National Heritage Fellowship before her death in 1987.

LIBBA COTTEN DAY Celebrations will include:

Carrboro Libba Cotten Day Community Ride – Join the community bike ride at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 5, starting at the Libba Cotten mural at 111 N. Merritt Mill Road. Riders will then bicycle to the NC Historical Marker honoring Ms. Cotten on East Main Street and continue onto the Libba Cotten Bikeway before returning to their starting point back at the mural. Thanks to the ReCYCLEry for organizing this community ride. Masks and social distancing required.

Reading at the NC Historical Marker – Mayor Damon Seils will read the proclamation declaring Libba Cotten Day in the Town of Carrboro at the site of the NC Historical Marker on East Main Street in Carrboro. The reading will occur just after 9 a.m. Attending the reading will be Ms. Cotten’s great-grandson John W. Evans Jr. and Ansley Herring Wegner of the North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program, NC Office of Archives and History. More about the marker is available at http://www.ncmarkers.com/Markers.aspx?MarkerId=G-129

Libba Cotten Bikeway – Named for Ms. Cotten, the bikeway will be decorated for her birthday. Happy Birthday, Libba!

Libba Cotten Day Proclamation – Read the complete proclamation at https://townofcarrboro.org/DocumentCenter/View/10426/Libba-Cotten-Day-2022-

Freight Train Blues Festival – With partner Music Maker Blues Foundation, the Town of Carrboro announces its 2022 concert series, which will include five evening concerts featured from May 13 to June 10 at Carrboro Town Commons, 301 W. Main St. https://musicmaker.org/freight-train-blues-concert-series/

We encourage everyone to give her songs a listen! Learn more about Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten from the following:

A collaborative playlist on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/35pkraXskTTSEH96SEYkeT?si=mPwDrqmLTcSbq4zMqCJetA&utm_source=copy-link

When I’m Gone: Remembering Folk Icon Elizabeth Cotton – This program from University Libraries at UNC-Chapel Hill features an evening of stories and music, including guitarist Yasmin Williams, musician and scholar Alice Gerrard and Cotten’s great-grandson John W. Evans Jr. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfQ5Oit6324

The Southern Folklife Collection at the Wilson Special Collections Library collects, preserves and disseminates music, art and culture related to the American South. The SFC is honored to preserve and provide access to studio masters, interviews, concert recordings, photographs and papers relating to Elizabeth Cotten’s extraordinary musical career. Learn more at https://library.unc.edu/wilson/sfc/

Elizabeth Cotten In Portland (Bill Fisher, 1978) - YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AazOEGgAQ

Elizabeth Cotten - Rainbow Quest Tv Show - YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAPibSxgIyw&t=16s

Libba Cotten Documentary - YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k439N7Ns0wg

Kid Lit Review of “Libba: The Magnificent Musical Life of Elizabeth Cotten” by Laura Veirs | Rhapsody in Books Weblog (wordpress.com) - https://rhapsodyinbooks.wordpress.com/2018/06/02/kid-lit-review-of-libba-the-magnificent-musical-life-of-elizabeth-cotten-by-laura-veirs/

Pete Seeger on Libba Cotten, musical genius cast in bronze in Syracuse - https://ecs.page.link/Waomx

Explore! It’s what Insider Carolina is all about.

Urban exploring: Triangle trails that lead to abandoned historic ruins Many places in the Triangle area are known for beautiful hiking trails - but did you know several popular hiking spots lead to the remains of abandoned structures, mills and even cemeteries dating back as early as the 1700s?

The Very First Christmas at Biltmore

Did you know?

Almost abandoned: The magical origins of NC's very own Christmas Town :: WRAL.com Many North Carolinians have no idea that our state has one of the most magical towns in the country. Each year, Christmas Town comes to life - an entire town of businesses, homes, schools and churches that transforms overnight into a world of twinkling lights and holiday sights.

Did you know—NC is a top producer of Christmas trees.

Who was Fraser anyway? Six things you might not know about NC-grown Christmas trees Fast facts about North Carolina’s Christmas crop, from how long it takes trees to reach the correct height to the bug that endangers them.

We LOVE The Big Crafty for so many reasons. This year Dec. 4-5.

http://thebigcrafty.com/?

The Big Crafty | Shop indie. Shop handmade. Shop fun. The Big Crafty is a hand-to-heart celebration of creative exuberance held twice annually in the heart of beautiful Asheville, NC. Our guiding principle is that supporting creative venturers makes for a stronger community, and our aim is to make doing so fun. We extend warm welcome to the rich pagean...

Loving all things that Asheville chef and restaurateur Katie Button does. This will be really good, folks. Insider Carolina will be tuning in. And hoping you will, too.

https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2021/11/19/asheville-nc-chef-katie-buttons-reality-series-from-source-debuts-magnolia-network/8681098002/?

Chef Katie Button's culinary reality series 'From The Source' debuts on Magnolia Network Chef Katie Button's original series "From The Source" debuts on the Magnolia Network, available for streaming on the and discovery+ and Magnolia app.

Insiders know these things.

7 best under-the-radar burgers in North Carolina These seven NC burger shacks have been serving up patties for decades, and have loyal followings. Plan your trip soon.

Mmmmmm. It’s so good.

Chocolate Factory Tours Book your spot today!

This is Raleigh, one of the capitals of Modern Architecture. Read on to find out why.

One of the Best Examples of Modern Architecture Is a Former Livestock Pavilion in North Carolina When you hail from one of the magnificent capital cities of New England, such as Boston or, in my case, Providence, Rhode Island, it’s sometimes a...

SC cooking sure looks good to Insider Carolina. What do you think?

https://thelocalpalate.com/articles/columbia-sc-reimagines-southern-food-2/

Columbia, SC, Reimagines Southern Food | The Local Palate Columbia, SC, offers restaurants full of new ways to discover the Southern favorites, diverse flavors, and intentions that highlight the city’s food scene.

21 Artists of the Parkway | Our State The scenic drive from Cherokee to the Virginia state line guarantees beauty in more ways than one. Take a detour off the Blue Ridge Parkway to meet some of the artists inspired by our majestic mountains, wild landscapes, and natural diversity — and to appreciate a different sort of view.

What a great read. What a great place. If you haven’t been there, GO! I’ve seen baseball there in the 1980s, I’ve seen the Bull Durham Blues festival there in the 1990s, I’ve driven by there countless time or eaten in restaurants looking on 3 different dudes of it. It is being dwarfed by the many five -story block-long apartment buildings and condos sprouting up as this writer mentions. It’s an oasis in a desert of development now. So sad that N.C. Central Univ (HBCU) lose their baseball program and glad younger youngsters will get to love playing baseball in it. Y’all come, too.

https://indyweek.com/news/ninth-street-journal/the-future-of-durham-s-old-ballpark-more-baseball/