Settlers use the word "barbacoa" to describe the way Native Americans cooked meat over an open fire. Spanish settlers also introduce pork to natives.
Since corn is more abundant than wheat in the South, this dish became a classic side dish for pork barbecue.
Barbecue becomes a popular food for political campaign events and celebrations. Usually, the barbecue was free for attendees and served in town squares.
Before the Civil War, Pig Pickin's became popular in the American South. Plantation owners would roast barbecue for large festivals and hold smaller "Pig Pickin's" for slaves, where barbecue is picked at by each diner right off the coals.
On average, southerners ate 5 pounds of pork for every pound of beef during the Civil War Period.
The Charlotte Observer reported recently that the first barbecue stand was advertised in April 1899, over 20 years before more mainstream joints opened.
After the Civil War ended in 1865, a large number of African Americans moved north and brought barbecue with them
Sid Weaver and Jess Swicegood set up barbecue tents in Lexington, N.C. across from the courthouse. This set the precedent for barbecue joints starting in county seat and tobacco market towns.
Warner Stamey opens Stamey's barbecue in Greensboro, N.C. and sets precedent for future barbecue joints in the area.
Barbecue takes over the south as one of the most popular forms of dining. Due to the relative ease to start a barbecue joint, by 1960, barbecue restaurants were the most popular type of restaurant in N.C. towns.
Supreme Court hearing, ruled Maurice Bessinger's chain of five barbecue restaurants in Columbia, S.C. unlawfully discriminated against African-American patrons.
McDonald's and other fast food restaurants move in and recruit those who once ate at small-town barbecue restaurants. For awhile, barbecue struggles, and restaurants become much more regional.
Barbecue regains popularity with the creation of the NC Barbecue Society, founded by Jim Early in 2005 (www.ncbbqsociety.com). UNC Professor John Shelton Reed popularized the cuisine even more in 2008 with his publication of "Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue," and Robert Moss recently studied the history of southern barbecue and published his book "Barbecue: The History of an American Institution" in 2010.
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