Section 1.

Resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring, That the Secretary of State shall cause to be printed at once, and again next winter, and biennially thereafter, "A Manual of North Carolina," containing the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of North Carolina, with the names of all the Governors and other executive officers of the State, Judges of the Supreme and Superior Courts, members and officers of the two Houses of the General Assembly, with such other chronological and statistical information as he may deem useful.

Resolved further, That each publication shall cover one thousand copies, and to be distributed as follows: Four to each Senator and Representative, one to each officer of the two Houses, one to each State officer, including Judges of the Supreme and Superior Courts, one to the Governor of each State, one to each Superior Court Clerk for the use of their offices, and there to remain ten copies to the State Library, and the residue to be equally distributed in the several counties of the State to such parties as the said Secretary may elect.

Resolved further, That in no edition of said "Manual" after the first shall any name be reprinted except the names of those actually in office.

Section 2.

This resolution shall be in full force after its ratification.

Ratified this 10th day of February, A.D. 1874.

Section 1.

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact, That the resolution in relation to a "North Carolina Manual," ratified the tenth day of February, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, be and the same is hereby repealed.

Section 2.

This Act shall be in force from and after its ratification.

Ratified the 18th day of December, A. D. 1874.

Although the North Carolina Manual was authorized and printed in 1874, the authorization was soon thereafter repealed and it was not printed again until 1903, when it was re-introduced and printed bi-annually. For the 1913 NC Manual, the General Assembly authorized the research and publishing of a considerable amount of historical information about North Carolina's government since the early colonial era, with the stipulation that most of this historical information would not be included in any subsequent versions of the NC Manual.

Due to budget reductions, in 2009 the NC Manual was no longer printed in hardcopy, but was posted on the NC Secretary of State's website in electronic format. The last NC Manual to be published online was for the years of 2011-2012. Due to additional budget cuts, the NC legislature quit authorizing funds to keep this document alive, and it is no longer published in any format, including electronically online. The legislature rationalized that all relevant information was now already contained in the many diverse websites of the state government.

Click on the links below to view or download each available NC Manual. A few have pages missing, beats me.

The need for the North Carolina Manual arose from the early confusion caused by Reconstruction and the resulting total rework of the North Carolina State Constitution in 1868. With so many new people elected to public office that had never participated in any form of a state or local government, it was soon apparent that these new elected members needed a handy reference book that provided them with essential information about all branches of government, of which they were now a part.

As the state government evolved in the early twentieth (20th) century, new agencies and boards/committees were created to meet the needs of a growing and rapidly changing population. The North Carolina Manual evolved into a great source of the names and roles of all members of the burgeoning state government. As printing and publishing became cheaper and more useful with actual photographs and sketches, the North Carolina Manual soon became a "must have" source at all levels of the state and county governments.

It has turned out to be one of the most important sources for critical governmental information in the state of North Carolina, and has been cited by many notable historians during the twentieth (20th) century.

In 2014, the General Assembly authorized a new online document, known as the NC Directory, which contains much of what was earlier included in the NC Manual, but of course, not ALL of the same data. For example, no photographs are included in the NC Directory.

Click on the links below to view or download each NC Directory as this Author finds them.