We’re headed to Pasquotank County on the Albemarle Sound

Continuing our road trip from Dare County to explore all eight counties that make up the territory of North Carolina Senate District 1, today’s destination is Pasquotank County.

Pasquotank is in the middle of the five “finger counties” in northeastern North Carolina that form the northern shoreline of the Albemarle Sound. Pasquotank County is nearly and neatly boxed in by the Albemarle Sound, the Pasquotank and Little rivers and the Great Dismal Swamp.

 

Getting from Dare to Pasquotank on dry land is quite an adventure. Hop on U.S. Route 158 at Nags Head – and keep going for about 60 curvy miles. 

The highway passes through Currituck and Camden counties before crossing the Pasquotank River and entering Elizabeth City, the Pasquotank County seat. Almost 18,000 people reside in Elizabeth City, making “E-City” the largest city in the Albemarle Sound region.

 

The community was once known as Redding’s-on-the-Narrows but became Elizabeth Town in 1794 and then Elizabeth City in 1801. It was named for Elizabeth “Betsy” Taylor Relfe, who owned a swanky tavern in town. 

The Pasquotank River was the first waterway in America to receive an “Underground Railroad Network to Freedom” designation from the U.S. National Park Service in 2004. From Elizabeth City, slaves (freedom seekers) escaped on vessels traveling north into free territory or south to the West Indies.

 

After the Civil War, a railroad line was built in 1881 from Norfolk, Va., through Elizabeth City and on to Hertford in Perquimans County and Edenton in Chowan County. 

At the time, Richard Benbury Creecy, a newspaper publisher in Elizabeth City, proclaimed “the railroad promised prosperity, prosperity and more prosperity.” He was mostly right about that. 

Today, Pasquotank has about 40,540 residents, making it the second largest county within Senate District 1, trailing only Carteret with about 68,050 people. 

Both Pasquotank and Carteret counties host U.S. Coast Guard facilities, bases and stations and share a deep respect for their rich Coast Guard heritage…while proudly welcoming Coast Guard families into their communities.

 

Elizabeth City has earned distinction as an official “Coast Guard City.” Similarly, Carteret County, with units at Fort Macon/Atlantic Beach and at Emerald Isle, holds equal status as an official “Coast Guard Community.” 

Pasquotank and Carteret counties have “sister state museums” that are units of the N.C. Museum of History – the Museum of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City and the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort. 

Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), founded in 1891 as a “normal school for African-Americans,” is now part of the 16-campus consolidated University of North Carolina System. More than 2,000 students are currently enrolled at ECSU. 

Offering the only four-year collegiate aviation education program in the state, the ECSU School of Science, Aviation, Health and Technology is highly regarded. The program includes a fleet of 10 aircraft for flight training.

 

Additionally, the university and Coast Guard are partnering to enable upper classmen to pursue careers within the Coast Guard. Participating students can directly enter officer candidate school upon graduation. 

Elizabeth City has received national acclaim for its “Rose Buddies” tradition that started in 1983 when two local men decided to host an impromptu wine and cheese party at Mariners’ Wharf on the Pasquotank River waterfront. 

One man supplied roses clipped from his garden, and the other provided wine, cheese and crackers. They hosted 17 transient boaters who had docked that day in Elizabeth City. Most were moving up or down the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway).

 

The “Rose Buddies” has continued and has put the city on the map as the “Harbor of Hospitality.”