GREENSBORO, N.C. — While dozens of publications around the country are seeing shutdowns, "Our State" has only become more successful. This June marks the 89th anniversary of the magazine.

What You Need To Know

  • This week is "Our State" magazine's 89th anniversary

  • The magazine prints 230,000 copies every month

  • "Our State" has over 180,000 subscribers

Founded in 1933, "Our State" has grown from a mere 40 pages to over 200. Each month, it publishes 230,000 copies and reaches newstands and the homes of over 180,000 nationwide subscribers. 

Editor-in-Chief and North Carolina native Elizabeth Hudson has been working at "Our State" for over 24 years and has seen the evolution of the publication, along with her job role. While she started out as a recent college grad with a love for magazines and reading, her constant creative generation has landed her as the head and heart of the magazine. 

“It’s the greatest job in the world,” she said. “I was born and raised in North Carolina, I grew up here. The state feels like my backyard and it is such a privilege and an honor to create stories every month that showcase the best we have to offer here.”

"Our State" features everything North Carolina, from century-old recipes to 4,000-word photo essays about landmarks like the Blue Ridge Parkway. Readers near and far can feel North Carolina is in their backyards. 

Readers find in-depth and immersive stories, along with high-resolution photos, mostly from North Carolinians themselves. And while Hudson says journalism overall has shifted to much shorter bits and pieces, "Our State" prides itself on giving readers something they can spend their time with. 

“It really comes back to the magazine that you can hold in your hand, you can take with you on a trip, you know you can curl up (with) on the couch. It's the perfect vehicle, and I can't imagine it going away,” she said.

From an in-house art department that reviews every page before its released to their roundtable creative collaboration editorial meetings, meticulous attention to detail is poured into every issue. 

Hudson says the key to their success is in expressing what encapsulates North Carolina as a state. She says it's all of the little things that make North Carolina feel like home, like spreading Duke’s Mayonnaise on a tomato sandwich in the summertime. 

“There are just things that by living in this state you come to appreciate and know as ours,” she said.