Nickname applied to the State of North Carolina and its inhabitants. Also used by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's basketball, football and other athletic teams.
Legend has it the nickname was first applied to the state's residents during the Revolutionary War. The troops of British General Cornwallis were fording what is now known as the Tar River between Rocky Mount and Battleboro when they discovered that tar had been dumped into the stream to impede their crossing. When they finally got across the river they found their feet completely black with tar. They observed that anyone who waded North Carolina rivers would acquire tar heels.
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