Ervin T. Rouse and the Orange Blossom Special

Ervin Thomas Rouse was born about a quarter mile from this spot in nineteen seventeen, in Craven County. He left home young to perform in vaudeville and became known as a dazzling trick fiddler. In nineteen thirty-eight he composed what would become perhaps the most recognized fiddle tune in American music: "Orange Blossom Special."

He first recorded it with his brother Gordon in nineteen thirty-nine, and Bill Monroe later made it a nationwide hit. For decades, the song was used as a kind of audition for fiddle players. Rouse also penned "Sweeter Than the Flowers," a hit for Moon Mullican.

He performed on radio broadcasts and stages until his death in nineteen eighty-one.