North Carolina head coach Roy Williams, center, celebrates with his team after their 89-72 victory over Michigan State in the championship game at the men's NCAA Final Four college basketball tournament, Tuesday, April 7, 2009, in Detroit.
Tarheel - In its early years as a colony, North Carolina settlements became an important source of the naval stores tar, pitch, and turpentine especially for the English navy. At one time, an estimated 100,000 barrels of tar and pitch were shipped annually to England.
Tar and pitch were largely used to paint the bottom of wooden British ships in order to both seal the ship and to prevent shipworm from damaging the hull. North Carolina was nicknamed the "Tar and Turpentine State" because of this industry. Somehow, these terms evolved until the nickname Tar Heel was used to refer to residents of North Carolina and gained prominence during the American Civil War. During this time, the nickname Tar Heel was a pejorative, but starting around 1865, the term began to be used as a source of pride.
5 comments:
GO TARHEELS! My dad is probably doing a happy dance. He lives in Binghamton, NY but he follows the Tarheels as if he lived in North Carolina.
And as a Florida Gator and former NCAA National Champion, I congratulate you and say, may the Force be with you in the Finals.
Congrats on your house. The RV is VERY nice. I hear you on being debt free. We working towards that but it takes time. Look forward to reading more about your journey. That is nice to have a MIL that gardens and cans and lives next door. ~Kim
I have an award for you!
Thanks for the education - my sister has lived in NC for a few years, but I never knew where the "tar heel" title came from!
Looking forward to seeing Cahoot, as I know you are.
Nancy in Atlanta (a Gator deep in enemy territory)
OMG, thank you! I've lived here for almost 4 years, and never knew where that came from!
You just edumicated a teacher, you did.
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