Welcome to Burke County: What message do giant Confederate flags convey to visitors?

Travelers entering Burke County on I-40 from either direction are greeted first by official county welcome signage. “Burke County,” the signs read. “All. About. Advancing.”

Within a mile, east-bound and west-bound I-40 travelers encounter gigantic, high-off-the-ground Confederate flags. One is near the Dysartsville exit to the west, the other adjacent to the Hildebran exit to the east.

They are monster big, 20-feet by 30-feet, atop 80-foot poles, and almost impossible to miss when unfurled in the breeze. The flags appear so close to the interstate that passing motorists say they wonder if the flags are planted on private or public property.

The western flag is installed on an 0.92-acre plot adjacent to I-40 near exit 94 (Dysartsville Rd.), 3860 Jamestown Road, Morganton, owned by Dale V. Curtis, according to Burke County records. Neighbors say it is not his primary residence.

Curtis purchased the land in August 2005, according to property deeds.

The eastern flag is adjacent to I-40 exit 119 (Henry River Road) on land owned by Cook Properties, LLC in Hildebran, according to the county records. The five-acre plot carries an address of 8968 Dietz Ave., Hickory, NC and was purchased by the Cook family in 1997.

Cook Properties, LLC acquired the property in January 2001 from Barry and Virginia Cook, according to the records. Barry Cook, 101 4th Ave NE Hildebran, is listed as manager of the Cook Properties, LLC, according to filings from the NC Secretary of State.

Images of the flags are visible on Google Maps and Zillow property searches.

With this visual prominence the giant flags are akin to large interstate billboards. 

Lamar Advertising Company has billboards throughout Burke County. The global company states that its east-facing billboard on I-40 at the Hildbran exit (adjacent to one of the flags) receives 16,763 impressions a day.

A west-facing Lamar billboard near the Dysartsville Road exit (near the western flag)  in western Burke County receives an average of 17,616 impressions a day.

Combining these two statistics, an average of nearly 34,000 impressions a day are garnered. Put another way, using the nearby billboard metrics, 12.4 million people a year are exposed to the large Confederate flags at either end of the county along I-40.

There is the old adage that goes, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.”

Erected by the SCV

The Sons of Confederate Veterans erected the Confederate flags on private properties in 2020 after the death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of white police officers in Minneapolis. Floyd’s death contributed to a sweeping movement to remove or relocate monuments that could be perceived as racially-intolerant.

Like the Confederate monument on the Historic Courthouse Square in downtown Morganton, the flags along I-40 are a source of continuous local contention.

But, people willing to talk with The Paper about the flag were either very measured with their statements or requested off-the-record status to share deeper sentiments.

Business, education, and civic leaders speaking anonymously voiced unequivocal disapproval of the Confederate flags bookending Burke County along I-40. They said there is no redeeming quality whatsoever in having massive, controversial symbols thrust into the face of travelers.

“I hate them,” said one leader as he pushed back his chair with frustration from a conference table. “They do not send the right message about who we are. They make people considering relocating into the county pause and ask themselves, ‘Is this the right place for us?’”

“The (owners) who fly the giant Confederate flags on I-40 on both ends of Burke County should be forced to remove them,” said a respondent to an informal survey by The Paper on the matter. They “are more obnoxious, more visible, and much more offensive. I have had many visitors come here and comment about those flags, but not one visitor has ever complained about the statue.”

Proponents of the flags are equally passionate. 

"Take down our statues, and we're going to put up a flag somewhere along the major interstates in North Carolina," said Valdese resident Elgie McGalliard, a local leader with the Sons of Confederate Veterans, in a 2020 interview with WSOC television. "The Sons of Confederate Veterans, we're trying to replace the statue with flags, and we try to put them on the interstate so more people can see it," he said. 

Impact on teacher recruitment

The erecting of the gigantic Confederate flags in Burke County coincided with a teacher recruitment drive by the Morganton campus of the North Carolina School of Science and Math. School officials said that the presence of the giant flags was a topic of conversation among parents, administration, and potential employees.

Todd Roberts, Chancellor of North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, said from his Durham office that the Burke County flags have been the subject of some uneasiness among prospective students and employees.

 “The flags’ presence has prompted expressions of concern from a number of prospective students and families about whether they are safe and welcome in the community,” Roberts said. 

“We have also fielded similar questions and concerns from prospective employees who, in some cases, have withdrawn from consideration for a position at our Morganton campus after noticing the flags,” he continued. 

But according to Roberts, administration, faculty, staff, and students have found the people of Burke County to be warm and welcoming.

“We believe the presence of the flags as you enter the county misrepresents a Morganton and Burke County community that has been so warmly welcoming, inclusive, and supportive of our school, employees, and students,” he said. 

According to Burke County Sheriff Banks Hinceman, the flags have not generated any calls or complaints to his office. 

“We looked back at our call records and found no calls for service regarding the flags,” he said. He said the banners have generated neither positive nor negative feedback to his office.

Alan Wood, President and CEO of Burke Development Inc., said he does not think the flags have dissuaded industries from considering expanding into Burke County.

 “Heretofore we have not seen them be a major point of emphasis though we have had a couple of comments on them,” he said. “I think the big thing is companies coming in from outside, don't necessarily understand the county lines or the significance of them or why they're located where they are. At this point in time, it has not been an issue one way or the other.” 

Ed Phillips, Director of Tourism with the Burke County Tourism Development Authority, said the I-40 flags have prompted little concern from tourists contacting his office. 

“We have had a very limited number of phone calls asking us about the flags and who is responsible for them,”  Phillips said. “No one has asked about them in person at the Visitor Center. We have no way to determine the impact of the flags on visitors, since we don't have many comments or questions about them,” he added.

The message conveyed

Morganton Mayor Ronnie Thompson said, “Many people are troubled when they see the large Confederate flags on I-40 and in downtown Hildebran. Those flags do not convey a welcoming message for visitors and business clients.”

Hildebran Mayor Wendell Hildebrand also spoke directly. In 2020, shortly after the flags went up, he told WSOC-TV, "I've had numerous contacts from people saying they wouldn't do business in town because of that flag.” 

Unlike the Confederate monument on the courthouse square, control of the flags is governed by Burke County ordinances, set by the Burke County Commissioners. (The monument is controlled by the NC Legislature in Raleigh.)

Under local law, there are no ordinances that allow county officials to remove personal property (ie. flags) from private property.  Unreasonable searches and seizures are protected by Article 4 of the Constitution.

Debates between local governments and citizens over giant flags are not new. A recent example is the battle of a 40-foot by 80-foot American flag overlooking I-77 in Statesville and installed by Camping World and Gander Outdoors. The flag was larger than the 8-feet by 12-feet allowed by city ordinance.

What followed were a divided city council, reported death threats and a lawsuit from the city that imposed a $50-a-day fine for every day the flag wasn’t taken down. 

Eventually a settlement agreement was reached where the city unanimously amended the ordinance to allow the flag to fly and Gander RV paid $16,350 in fines and legal costs.

In Orange County, county commissioners made new rules about the number and size of flags allowed on private property after a massive Confederate flag was raised.

Town jurisdictions within Orange County currently have set flag standards. Chapel Hill and Carrboro exempt American and state flags from their regulations and require permits for any other flag.

Hillsborough exempted the American and state flag and allowed them a maximum of 100 square feet in area, required permits for any other flag, and currently have no flagpole restrictions.

Allen VanNoppen is publisher of The Paper and Sandra Wilkerson Queen is the education and business reporter.