| THE NAME:
North and South Carolina were one colony until 1729. Carolina was named to honor Charles IX of France and
then Charles I and Charles II of England. Carolina is rooted in Latin and comes from the word Caroliinus.
This word is derived from the name Carolus, translated as "Charles."
Source: Shearer, Benjamin F. and Barbara S.
State
Names, Seals, Flags and Symbols Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut - 1994 |
| THE NICKNAMES:
The Tarheel State: In North Carolina's early years, tar was one of the state's major products. Tar
is a dark brown or black sticky liquid created by the decay of organic material such as wood, coal or peat.
There are two contradictory stories about the origin of this nickname. Both stories concern Civil War battles in
which North Carolina troops were involved.
John S. Farmer's Americanisms - Old and New, published in 1889, tells of a battle involving Mississippi and
North Carolina soldiers. The story goes that, during a battle, a brigade of North Carolinians failed to hold their
position. The Mississippians taunted the North Carolinians with failure to tar their heels that morning. They
meant by this that, if the North Carolinians had tarred their heels, they would have been able to "stick" to
or hold their position.
North Carolina soldiers come out of a story by Walter Clark looking a little more heroic. In Mr. Clark's story,
the North Carolinians had to fight it out alone after their supporting column failed to hold their position.
The story goes that the derelict outfit (It's implied that they were from the Army of Northern Virginia.) later
asked "Any more tar down in the Old North State, boys?" The North Carolinians responded "No; not a bit old Jeff's
bought it all up." "Is that so; what is he going to do with it?" the derelicts asked. The reply; "He's going
to put it on you'ns heels to make you stick better in the next fight." "Old Jeff" is a reference to the President
of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis.
The Land of the Sky: Derived from a book, The Land of the Sky (1876), by Frances Fisher Tieran
who wrote under the name Christian Reid, this nickname references the Blue Ridge and the Great Smokey Mountains
of western North Carolina. This nickname can also be found in a line from the official State Toast, " Where
soars Mount Mitchell's summit great, In the "Land of the Sky," in the Old North State!" The city of Asheville,
North Carolina has also adopted "Land of the Sky" as its nickname.
The Old North State: In 1710, Carolina was divided into northern and southern sections. The southern
section was called South Carolina and the northern section was called North Carolina. "The Old North State"
is a reference to the northern section.
The Turpentine State: The principal products of North Carolina in its early history were tar, pitch and
turpentine. It is from the latter that this nickname is derived. Large quantities of turpentine were
produced from North Carolina pine forests.
The Rip Van Winkle State: This nickname was mentioned in C.J. Thomas's Manual of Useful Information
but no explanation for it was given. We could speculate that northern visitors may have compared the mountains
of North Carolina to the Catskill mountains of New York where the Rip Van Winkle legend was publicized by
Washington Irving.
Source: Shearer, Benjamin F. and Barbara S. State
Names, Seals, Flags and Symbols Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut - 1994
Shankle, George Earlie, Phd State Names, Flags, Seals, Songs, Birds, Flowers and
Other Symbols H. H. Wilson Company, New York - 1938 (Reprint)
Clark, Thomas (Editor),Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-65, Nash Brothers Book and Job Printers,
Goldsboro, NC - 1901 |
