BURGAW, NC (WWAY) — The Pender County Museum is set to debut a major new exhibit highlighting the region’s agricultural heritage during the North Carolina Blueberry Festival, before bringing it back to the Museum for a long-term display.
The exhibit, “Deep Blue Roots: The Early History of North Carolina Blueberries,” will open inside the historic Burgaw Depot, where the festival is dedicating its main hall to the museum for the special unveiling.
Museum officials say the exhibit traces the history of blueberries in the region—from wild berries that once grew in abundance across Carolina bay lands to the rise of a commercial blueberry industry in Pender, Duplin, Sampson, and Bladen counties. The display also highlights North Carolina’s role as the second place in the nation to develop blueberry cultivation, following breakthrough work by USDA botanist Dr. Frederick Coville…