North Carolina
Three historic landmarks in North Carolina, across three eras of American history. Start with Biltmore Estate, Wright Brothers National Memorial and Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
- Landmarks
- 3
- Eras
- 3
Pictured Biltmore Estate
WillThomas · CC BY · via Wikimedia Commons
Landmarks in North Carolina
- Gilded Age
Biltmore Estate
Asheville, NC
Biltmore is the largest privately owned house in the United States — a 250-room French Renaissance château that George Washington Vanderbilt II raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina at the height of the Gilded Age.
The 20th CenturyWright Brothers National Memorial
Kill Devil Hills, NC
The Wright Brothers National Memorial marks the spot where human flight began.
The 19th CenturyCape Hatteras Lighthouse
Buxton, NC
Off North Carolina's Outer Banks, the shifting sandbars of Diamond Shoals have wrecked so many ships that the waters earned the name 'Graveyard of the Atlantic.'
Historical Essays
- Gilded Age
Gilded Age America: The Mansions and the Mills
The Vanderbilts built palaces in Newport and the Blue Ridge; the workers of Lowell and Pullman built the fortunes behind them. Four landmarks show both sides of America's industrial boom.
Old USA Editors · 2 min read · September 28, 2026
The 20th CenturyEngineering the American Century
From twelve seconds aloft on the Outer Banks to a steel arch on the Mississippi, five landmarks record how American engineers remade the twentieth century — and where you can see their work today.
Old USA Editors · 2 min read · September 28, 2026