Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem in the Old North State

THE TOM DULA LEGEND IN SONG

Given its notoriety at the time the events took place, and its subsequent elevation into legend, the Tom Dula…

Ella May Wiggins’ Lament

Ella May Wiggins was a union organizer and balladeer who was killed during…

LaGrange’s “Country Boy”

Frank Lucas was born near LaGrange, North Carolina, in 1930. He saw his older cousin lynched by the Ku Klux Klan in…

Ballads of the Legendary Maco Light

North Carolina has a rich tradition of ghost stories throughout its history. Strangely, however…

8 Folktales, Legends, and Mysteries from North Carolina History

Velma Barfield the “Death Row Granny”

Velma Barfield was the first woman executed in North Carolina after the death penalty was…

The Ballads of Poor Ellen Smith

On July 20, 1892, Ellen Smith was fatally shot by Peter DeGraff near the Zinzendorf Hotel in…

Tragedy and Mystery at Bostian Bridge

North Carolina has its fair share of train wrecks and eerie ghost stories. This one involves…

All the World Loves a Clown

Spotlight on an artifact at the North Carolina Museum of History