100 North Carolina Icons: from Our State Magazine

By Kelly Agan, North Carolina Government & Heritage Library, 2017, 2018, 2019

North Carolina has many traditions, places, and events that have come to be well-known or iconic representations of the state's history and folk heritage. In its July 2012 edition, Our State magazine asked the question "What is a North Carolina icon?" and with it published a list of "100 icons" that they called the "definitive North Carolina to-do list". The list provides a fun and unique starting point for exploring the history and heritage of the state and many of its most cherished places. 

Our State magazine is a long-running North Carolina publication that has been in publication since the first issue was published in 1933 as The State.  It went by that name until 1996 when it became known as Our State.  A complete run of digitized back issues of the magazine from 1933 to 2014 is freely available for viewing online at the North Carolina Digital Collections. The Digital Collections are a joint project of the State Library and State Archives of North Carolina.

NCpedia has an article for each "icon". And each article includes a link to a back issue of Our State with an article about that individual icon.  

Visit NCpedia's 100 North Carolina Icon articles here: https://www.ncpedia.org/north-carolina-icons

Get a printable PDF of 100 North Carolina Icons, with links to NCpedia articles, books, online resources, and online Our State articles about each icon. Click here.

Visit the Our State Online collection at the North Carolina Digital Collections here: https://digital.ncdcr.gov/spotlights/our-state

Visit the July 2012 edition of Our State with the first publication of its "100 icons" list: https://digital.ncdcr.gov/spotlights/our-state