For a comprehensive, evenhanded and engaging look at the story of North Carolina, immerse yourself in the state history museum. Starting with a 3000-year-old dugout canoe, it continues through to the Civil Rights era by way of the European arrival and the Revolutionary and Civil wars. Look out for the cannon retrieved from the 1718 wreck of Blackbeard’s ship, Queen Anne’s Revenge, and the Woolworth’s lunch counter that witnessed a sit-in in 1960.
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North Carolina Museum of History
The Triangle
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
25.88 MILES
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North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
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Nearby The Triangle attractions
1. North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
0.06 MILES
Whale skeletons hang from the ceiling. Butterflies flutter past your shoulder. Emerald tree boas make you shiver. And be warned: if you arrive after 10am…
0.09 MILES
A fine example of Greek Revival architecture, North Carolina’s handsome state capitol was completed in 1840. Despite the risk of running into legislators…
3. North Carolina Museum of Art
4.09 MILES
Expanded in 2010 with the completion of the stunning, glass-and-steel West Building, this superb museum stands 6 miles west of downtown. Ranging far and…
20.88 MILES
The massive former American Tobacco factory has been transformed into a million-square-foot cavalcade of restaurants, bars and entertainment venues. Still…
22.14 MILES
Set amid the Duke University campus woods, this impressive futuristic cube displays art from around the world and across the ages. Only a small portion of…
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Although it can trace its history back to 1838, Duke University became a university, and took its current name, in 1926, thanks to a major endowment from…