NORTH CAROLINA TRIVIA
According to the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the oldest cultivated grapevine in the country is the Mothervine in Manteo on Roanoke Island, North Carolina, a 400 year old Scuppernong vine.
North Carolina ranks 10th for grape and wine production in the United States. (2009)
Scuppernong is the official fruit of North Carolina. Scuppernongs are also known as Muscadine grapes, and they are native to North America.
The world's largest producer of Muscadine wines is the Duplin Winery in North Carolina. It is also the oldest and largest winery in the state.
North Carolina is the largest producer of sweet potatoes in the U.S. (2009)
1.8 billion pounds of sweet potatoes were produced by major sweet potato producing states in 2007. North Carolina (667 million pounds) produced more sweet potatoes than any other state. It was followed by California (426 million pounds). Mississippi and Louisiana also produced large amounts: at least 300 million pounds each.
US Census Bureau, October 2008
Pepsi-Cola was created in 1898 by Caleb D. Bradham, a New Bern, North Carolina pharmacist.
North Carolina adopted milk as its official state beverage in 1987.
An estimated 271 million turkeys were raised in the United States in 2007. The estimate for 2008 is about the same. Minnesota raised 49 million turkeys, followed by North Carolina with 39 million.
US Census Bureau, October 2008
According to the USDA, Iowa had a total of 15.5 million market hogs and pigs as of March 1, 2007, which is 1/4 of the nation's total. North Carolina (8.4 million) and Minnesota (6.2 million) were second and third.
Lexington, North Carolina, is known as the Barbecue Capital of the World, and October was officially declared 'Barbecue Month' with a month long Annual Barbecue Festival. The Festival has a Parade of Pigs on bicycles (also called the Tour de Pig)!
If you didn't already guess, Lexington is famous for its barbecue. The city's first barbecue restaurant opened in 1919. Lexington barbecue is pork shoulder basted with 'dip,' a mixture of water, vinegar, salt, and pepper. It is cooked slowly over hickory wood until it is 'fall apart tender.' One pound of pork takes about an hour to cook. Today there are over 20 barbecue restaurants in Lexington.
In the 1994 Barbecue Festival, 11,000 pounds of barbecue were served to more than 100,000 people.
Library of Congress Local Legacies Project
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