1474, 1592, 2907 UNITED STATES (Tennessee / North Carolina) - Great Smoky Mountains National Park (UNESCO WHS)

1474 Map of Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Posted on 01.03.2015, 18.05.2015, 18.12.2016
Great Smoky Mountains National Park straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a division of the Appalachian Mountains. The border between Tennessee and North Carolina runs through the centerline of the park. Before the arrival of European, the region was part of the homeland of the Cherokees. President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, beginning the forced removal of all Indian tribes east of the Mississippi River. Many of the Cherokee left, but some hid out in the area that is now the park. Some of their descendants now live in the Qualla Boundary.

1592 Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The park is a major refuge of temperate zone flora and fauna that survived the Pleistocene glaciations. The park includes the largest remnant of the diverse Arcto-Tertiary geoflora era left in the world, and provides an indication of the appearance of late Pleistocene flora. It is large enough to allow the continuing biological evolution of this system, and its biological diversity exceeds that of other temperate-zone protected areas. The park is of exceptional beauty with virgin forest including the largest block of virgin red spruce remaining on earth.

2907 John Oliver Cabin in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

It is home to more than 3,500 plant species, including almost as many trees (130 natural species) as in all of Europe. Many endangered animal species are also found there, including what is probably the greatest variety of salamanders in the world. The park contains evidence of four pre-Columbian Indian cultures: Mississippian, Woodland, Archaic and palaeo-Indian. The early Woodland culture period is of special archaeological importance because it shows the first evidence of organized horticulture in North America. More than 150 archaeological sites have been identified within the park.

2783 Murder in the botanical garden

2783 Common wasp (Vespa vulgaris) caught in a
Venus flytrap (Dioanea muscipula)

The Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is a carnivorous plant native to subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of the United States in North Carolina and South Carolina, specifically within a 60-mile radius of Wilmington. It catches its prey (chiefly insects and arachnids) with a trapping structure formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves, which is triggered by tiny hairs on their inner surfaces. When an insect or spider crawling along the leaves contacts a hair, the trap closes if a different hair is contacted within twenty seconds of the first strike. The requirement of redundant triggering in this mechanism serves as a safeguard against wasting energy by trapping objects with no nutritional value.

2196 UNITED STATES (North Carolina) - Holden Beach

Located in southern Brunswick County, Holden Beach is a seaside town with 575 inhabitants, which occupies an 13-km-long barrier island on the Atlantic Ocean, bounded by Shallotte Inlet to the west, Lockwoods Folly Inlet to the east, and the Intracoastal Waterway to the north. Before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredged the Intracoastal Waterway in the 1930s, the only body of water separating Holden Beach from the mainland was the Elizabeth River.

1247 UNITED STATES (North Carolina) - North Carolina map and flag

Located on the Atlantic coast, between South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia, and known as the Tar Heel State and the Old North State, North Carolina has a wide range of elevations, from sea level to 2,037m at Mount Mitchell (the highest point in the Eastern US), consisting of three main geographic sections: the Atlantic Coastal Plain, the Piedmont region, and the Appalachian Mountains and foothills. Its capital is Raleigh, founded in 1792 specifically for this purpose, and its largest city is Charlotte. Most of the state falls in the humid subtropical climate zone. In the past five decades, North Carolina's economy has undergone a transition from heavy reliance upon tobacco, textiles, and furniture-making to a more diversified economy with engineering, energy, biotechnology, and finance sectors.