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55 North Carolina Trivia Questions and Fun Facts

Reviewed by Stefanie Zaldarriaga, Author·Updated Oct 2026·7 min read

55 North Carolina trivia questions with answers and a set of checked fun facts, from the Wright brothers and the Lost Colony to Blackbeard, Krispy Kreme and the official state sport.

Featured Image of North Carolina Trivia Questions. Credit: Henryhartley, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

North Carolina gave the world powered flight, Pepsi and Krispy Kreme, holds the highest mountain in the eastern United States and lost an entire colony of English settlers without a trace. Before the 55 questions below, here are the facts worth knowing about the Tar Heel State.

On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright flew for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet at Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk. The brothers made four flights that day; the longest, by Wilbur, lasted 59 seconds. (Source: National Park Service, Wright Brothers National Memorial.)

Mount Mitchell, at 6,684 feet, is the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. It is named after Elisha Mitchell, a University of North Carolina professor who measured it and died in a fall there in 1857. (Source: North Carolina State Parks.)

In 1999 the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was moved 2,900 feet inland, rolled along a track a few feet at a time, because the shoreline had eroded to within about 120 feet of its base. (Source: National Park Service, Cape Hatteras National Seashore.)

The first documented gold find in the United States came in 1799, when Conrad Reed found a 17-pound nugget in a creek on his family's Cabarrus County farm. The family used it as a doorstop for about three years before selling it to a jeweler for $3.50. (Source: NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Reed Gold Mine.)

The Venus flytrap grows wild only in the coastal plain around Wilmington, in a small range reaching just into South Carolina. North Carolina made it the official state carnivorous plant. (Sources: NC State University College of Natural Resources; NCpedia, State Library of North Carolina.)

Some of the state's other official symbols: stock car racing is the state sport, milk is the state beverage, the Plott hound is the state dog and the Fraser fir is the official state Christmas tree. (Source: NCpedia, State Library of North Carolina.)

The questions start easy and get harder as you go, and every one has multiple-choice options. Read each question aloud, give the table a moment, then reveal the answer.

  1. 1What is the capital of North Carolina?

  2. 2What is the largest city in North Carolina?

  3. 3What is North Carolina's best-known nickname?

  4. 4The Wright brothers made the first powered airplane flights in December 1903 from Kill Devil Hills, near which Outer Banks town that gave the event its famous name?

  5. 5Which soft drink began in 1893 as "Brad's Drink," mixed by pharmacist Caleb Bradham in New Bern?

  6. 6Which doughnut chain was founded in Winston-Salem in 1937?

  7. 7What is the highest peak east of the Mississippi River?

  8. 8Which national park, shared with Tennessee, is the most visited national park in the United States?

  9. 9North Carolina grows more of which vegetable than any other state, which is also its official state vegetable?

  10. 10What is the state bird of North Carolina?

  11. 11What is the official state beverage of North Carolina?

  12. 12Which grand Asheville mansion, completed for George Vanderbilt in 1895, is the largest privately owned home in the United States?

  13. 13Which NFL team plays in Charlotte?

  14. 14What is the name of the long chain of barrier islands along North Carolina's coast?

  15. 15Which motorsport is the official state sport of North Carolina?

  16. 16The famous "Lost Colony" of English settlers vanished from which North Carolina island?

  17. 17The carnivorous Venus flytrap grows wild only in a small area around which North Carolina city?

  18. 18Born on Roanoke Island in August 1587, who was the first child born to English parents in the Americas?

  19. 19Which word was found carved into a post at the abandoned Roanoke settlement in 1590?

  20. 20Which pirate was killed in battle off Ocracoke Island in November 1718?

  21. 21Which flagship of that pirate was discovered on the seabed near Beaufort Inlet in 1996?

  22. 22Which lighthouse was moved 2,900 feet inland in 1999 to save it from the eroding shoreline?

  23. 23The 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway links North Carolina's Great Smoky Mountains to Shenandoah National Park in which state?

  24. 24In February 1960, four college students started a famous civil rights sit-in at which store's lunch counter in Greensboro?

  25. 25Which president was born in Raleigh in 1808?

  26. 26Which president, the 11th, was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, in 1795?

  27. 27What does North Carolina's state motto, "Esse quam videri," mean?

  28. 28How many counties does North Carolina have?

  29. 29Which actor's hometown of Mount Airy inspired the fictional town of Mayberry?

  30. 30What is the name of the famous suspension footbridge at Grandfather Mountain?

  31. 31Which cherry-flavored soft drink was created in Salisbury, North Carolina, in 1917?

  32. 32Which chicken-and-biscuits chain was founded in Charlotte in 1977?

  33. 33Which hunting breed is the official state dog of North Carolina?

  34. 34Which tree, grown on mountain farms across western North Carolina, is the official state Christmas tree?

  35. 35What is North Carolina's official state rock?

  36. 36In 1799 Conrad Reed found a 17-pound gold nugget on his family's farm, the first documented gold find in the United States. What did the family use it as for about three years?

  37. 37Which university, which welcomed its first student in 1795, calls itself the nation's first public university?

  38. 38Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill form which well-known research and university region?

  39. 39Which North Carolina city calls itself the "Home Furnishings Capital of the World"?

  40. 40For which college did Michael Jordan hit the winning shot in the 1982 NCAA championship game?

  41. 41Which battleship, a World War II veteran, is now a museum on the river at Wilmington?

  42. 42North Carolina grows more of which crop than any other state, the one that gave "Tobacco Road" its name?

  43. 43In April 1776 the Halifax Resolves made North Carolina the first colony to officially do what?

  44. 44North Carolina ratified the US Constitution in November 1789, after George Washington had already taken office. Which state was it in order?

  45. 45Which NASCAR legend from Kannapolis was nicknamed "The Intimidator"?

  46. 46The name "Carolina" comes from the Latin form of which name?

  47. 47The state capital is named after which Elizabethan courtier, who sponsored the Roanoke voyages?

  48. 48Jockey's Ridge, at Nags Head, holds which coastal record?

  49. 49Which tribal nation's Qualla Boundary lies in western North Carolina?

  50. 50What is North Carolina's official state boat, first built on Roanoke Island?

  51. 51Lexington-style barbecue, from North Carolina's Piedmont, is built on which cut of pork?

  52. 52The wild horses of the Outer Banks are of which breed, now the official state horse?

  53. 53Novelist Thomas Wolfe based the town in "Look Homeward, Angel" on which North Carolina hometown?

  54. 54In the 2020 Census, where did North Carolina rank among the states by population?

  55. 55About how long did the Wright brothers' first powered flight on December 17, 1903, last?

Answer Key

  1. 1. Raleigh
  2. 2. Charlotte
  3. 3. The Tar Heel State
  4. 4. Kitty Hawk
  5. 5. Pepsi
  6. 6. Krispy Kreme
  7. 7. Mount Mitchell
  8. 8. Great Smoky Mountains National Park
  9. 9. The sweet potato
  10. 10. The northern cardinal
  11. 11. Milk
  12. 12. Biltmore
  13. 13. The Carolina Panthers
  14. 14. The Outer Banks
  15. 15. Stock car racing
  16. 16. Roanoke Island
  17. 17. Wilmington
  18. 18. Virginia Dare
  19. 19. CROATOAN
  20. 20. Blackbeard
  21. 21. Queen Anne's Revenge
  22. 22. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
  23. 23. Virginia
  24. 24. Woolworth's
  25. 25. Andrew Johnson
  26. 26. James K. Polk
  27. 27. To be, rather than to seem
  28. 28. 100
  29. 29. Andy Griffith
  30. 30. The Mile High Swinging Bridge
  31. 31. Cheerwine
  32. 32. Bojangles
  33. 33. The Plott hound
  34. 34. The Fraser fir
  35. 35. Granite
  36. 36. A doorstop
  37. 37. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  38. 38. The Research Triangle
  39. 39. High Point
  40. 40. UNC (North Carolina Tar Heels)
  41. 41. USS North Carolina
  42. 42. Tobacco
  43. 43. Call for independence from Britain
  44. 44. The 12th
  45. 45. Dale Earnhardt
  46. 46. Charles
  47. 47. Sir Walter Raleigh
  48. 48. The tallest active sand dune on the Atlantic coast
  49. 49. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
  50. 50. The shad boat
  51. 51. Pork shoulder
  52. 52. The Colonial Spanish Mustang
  53. 53. Asheville
  54. 54. 9th
  55. 55. 12 seconds

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