Over the past year I’ve embarked on a series of Revolutionary Time Traveling Adventures across my home state of North Carolina. I’ll continue to update this page with links to my First in Freedom – America 250 NC posts. I’ve been chronicling much of this journey on my facebook page with daily historical posts on the Road to 250. You can also find me on Instagram.
In addition to my primarily blog website here at americannomadtraveler.com, I’ve also have a Substack page (I’ll be creating a Substack hub here as well for links to Substack posts to keep it simple for readers). I appreciate your support.
The Road to 250 didn’t end on July 4th, in fact that is only the beginning. The Revolutionary War didn’t formally end until 1783 with the Treaty of Paris. The majority of fighting in the Carolinas to Virginia didn’t occur until 1780-81 (Surrender at Yorktown on October 18, 1781); Even after Yorktown, there were isolated skirmishes from in the Carolinas. I’ll be continuing to share these Road to 250 adventures from museums, to living historical events and reenactments, book clubs and more…
A great resource for celebrating North Carolina’s role in the Revolutionary War is America 250 NC – the official state commemoration. You can check out their page here. I recommend their America 250 book selections in partnership with UNC-CH Press. I’ll include the links to a few of my favorites in my book guide below.
These are the sites mentioned in my July 23rd Library talk:
- Museum of the Waxhaws – Waxhaw NC (near Charlotte)
- Charlotte Museum of History
- Wilmington/Lower Cape Fear area:
- My feature for Wilmington NC: Wilmington is Revolutionary
- Brunswick Town
- Moores Creek Bridge
- Burgwin Wright House – Outlander in Cape Fear Tours!
- Fort Johnston, Southport NC
- Ramsour’s Mill/Lincoln County Historical Association
- Historic Halifax State Site
- Guilford Courthouse National Military Park
- Historic Hillsborugh:
- Salisbury:
- Wilkes County:
- Randolph County:
- Edenton, NC
- Overmountain Victory Trail (across VA, TN, NC, SC)
- Beaufort NC (site of last major skirmish in Rev War in NC)
Helpful resources about topics I covered:
- Timeline of the Revolutionary War in NC: https://ncssar.org/nc-history/
Bath, NC:
Stamp Act Crisis:
- My blog: https://americannomadtraveler.com/2025/12/03/revolutionary-cape-fear-the-stamp-act-crisis/
- NC Anchor: https://www.ncanchor.org/anchor/stamp-act-crisis-north
Josiah Martin: Last Royal Governor of NC
Fort Johnston:
Signers of Declaration of Independence from NC:
Book Guide: *From July 23rd, 2026 Library Talk at Wake County Public Library
Nonfiction:
- Road to Guilford Courthouse by John Buchanan
- Chronology of the American Revolution in North Carolina by Michael W. Coffey
- Partisans and Redcoats by Walter Edgar
- Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee in the Revolutionary War by Michael Hardy
- A History of North Carolina by William Powell (The ‘Bible’ of NC History)
- Any books by Jack Fryar and Dram Tree Press; My favorite is The Stamp Act Crisis in North Carolina, it is for kids but very detailed and a must read about the history of the first armed resistance against the Stamp Act in America in 1765.
- Another such Victory – Guilford Courthouse by Thomas Baker
- Battle of Kings Mountain – Eye Witness Accounts, edited by Robert Dunkerly
- Women in the Revolution by Robert Dunkerly
- An Explorer’s Guide to the American Revolution by Robert Dunkerly for the Blue and Gray Society
- North Carolina’s Revolutionary Founders edited by Jeff Broadwater and Troy L. Kickler
- Chris Fonvielle has a book about Moores Creek coming out soon!
Fiction:
- The Line of Splendor: A Novel of Nathanael Greene by Salina Baker
- Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon
Youth and Middle Readers:
- Freedom’s Howl by Eileen Heyes – a wonderful illustrated book about Red Wolves in NC!
- Blue’s March – Overmountain Men Story by Katelynn A. Hatton
- Within our Power: The Story of the Edenton Ladies Tea Party by Sally Walker
- Susanna’s Midnight Ride by Libby Carty McNamee
Passport Guide to Historic Sites
*I’ll be launching a fun PDF Revolutionary Adventures Passport in fall 2026. For now here are a list of wonderful museums, national parks, battlefields and historic towns to add to your Revolutionary Road Trip bucket list (and museums/sites to celebrate all 250+ years of North Carolina History. *I’m continuing to update. Let me know in comments if you have suggestions as well.)
NC First in Freedom Passport Guide (Southeastern NC): The 250th Anniversary of the Patriot Victory at Moores Creek Bridge was celebrated through Southeastern NC from the battlegrounds in Pender County, along with eight southeastern NC counties. You can learn more about the NC First in Freedom Passport Guide here. I’ve included a list of the passport sites below.
Bladen County
- Harmony Hall
- Lu Mil Vineyard
- Jones Lake State Park
- Singletary Lake
- Turnbull Creek
- Cape Fear Winery and Distillery
- Goldston’s Beach and Pier
- Bladenboro Historical Museum
Brunswick County
- Bald Head Lighthouse
- Brunswicktown/Fort Anderson State Historic Site
- NC Maritime Museum at Southport
- Museum of Coastal Carolina
- Ingram Planetarium
Columbus County
Duplin County
New Hanover County
- Bellamy Mansion
- Battleship North Carolina
- Wilmington Railroad Museum
- Fort Fisher State Historic Site
- Burgwin-Wright House and Gardens
- Cameron Art Museum
- Latimer House (Lower Cape Fear Historical Society)
- Airlie Gardens
- Children’s Museum of Wilmington
- Flying Machine Brewery
Onslow County
- Hammocks Beach State Park
- Onslow County Museum
- Onslow County Parks and Recreation
- Swansboro Historical Association
- Sturgeon City Environmental Education Center
- Jacksonville City Hall
Pender County
- Missiles and More Museum
- Moores Creek National Battlefield
- Karen Beasley Turtle Center
- Pender County History Museum
- Poplar Grove Plantation
Sampson County
Fayetteville:
Northeastern NC/Outer Banks:
Historic Halifax: First in Freedom and the Halifax Resolves (April 12, 1776)
Raleigh:
Hillsborough NC:
Alamance County:
Greensboro NC/Guilford County:
- Guilford Courthouse National Military Park
- Greensboro History Museum
- Greensboro Science Center
- International Civil Rights Center & Museum
- Blandwood – Governor Morehead House
Randolph County:
- Faith Rock in Franklinville NC
- Seagrove ‘Pottery Capital of America’
- Facebook Page
- North Carolina Pottery Center
- Westmoore Pottery – Mary Farrell is foremost expert on 17th-18th century pottery. Her work is featured in Colonial Williamsburg and historic sites, as well as over a dozen films including John Adams mini-series, Amistad, Cold Mountain and others…
Wilkes County
- Wilkes Heritage Museum
- Kerr Lake Dam and Overmountain Victory Trail
- Rendezvous Mountain State Park – Where Benjamin and Robert Cleveland are said to have called the ‘muster’ of the Overmountain Men for Wilkes in Sept. 1780 on the march to Kings Mountain to defeat British Maj. Patrick Ferguson and his loyalist forces.
*More to come!
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