General News

In 2010, a UNC Charlotte research team led by Dr. Elizabeth Racine conducted a Mecklenburg County Community Food Assessment for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Food Policy Council. The results of Phase 1 of that study (posted on this website in September 2010) looked at the presence or absence of food stores in Mecklenburg’s Census Block Groups […]

Last week while surveying one of our properties, a natural heritage field biologist found an interesting species never before documented this far south – the eastern gray tree frog (Hyla versicolor). The gray tree frog found widely across the state is the Cope’s gray tree frog (Hyla chrysoscelis). The eastern gray tree frog was documented […]

In 1786, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were in London to negotiate a trade deal and follow up on unfulfilled terms of the peace treaty reached at the end of the Revolutionary War. When talks bogged down, they took a break to visit the English countryside. Despite their animosity toward their former enemy, they were […]

Fruits and vegetables that taste like summer—tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, blueberries, raspberries, melons—are swelling and ripening in gardens and farms of our region. These crops would be far less abundant without the buzzing chorus of pollinating insects that provide their services for free. Commercial honey bee and bumble bee operations make good use of the industrious […]

My mom was putting out mulch about this time last year when she noticed a box turtle digging a hole in the dry, red clay under the eaves of the house. Eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) appear in many types of habitat, making them a natural choice for our state reptile. Since they’re most […]

If you’ve gotten outside lately you must have noticed that the forests have been alive with a consistent humming and drumming, sometimes quite loud. When you first hear it you’ll swear there is a motor running, or look skyward in search of the nearby power line. But this sound is natural, as it comes from […]

The City of Salisbury has had great success as a community in preserving its past. These photos highlight some examples of the many treasures in its commercial center and historic neighborhoods. Read related article on this site. Photographs by Nancy Pierce

May is National Preservation Month. The theme this year is “Celebrating America’s Treasures.” If you are new to the Charlotte Region, you may not be aware of the many historic treasures that can be found in this area. One of those treasures is undoubtedly the City of Salisbury, which is about 45 minutes northeast of […]

As you’ve likely gathered from a number of both my and Ruth Ann Grissom’s past articles on this website, it is pretty safe to say that there’s still a lot about wildlife we just don’t know in the Uwharries, and a lot of other places as well. One factor that is largely responsible for this […]

In 1805, one of my ancestors, Stephen Grissom, signed a petition to the state’s General Assembly on behalf of American shad. The petitioners were concerned that mill dams on the Uwharrie River blocked the passage of this migratory fish. The petition says those living on or contiguous to the river were “being deprived of the […]