Edenton, NC Summary

Edenton is a small coastal town on Albemarle Sound—the first area of North Carolina to be permanently settled by Europeans. Founded in 1712, it was incorporated in 1722 as a colonial capital, which it remained until 1743. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries it was an important regional center of politics, commerce, and culture, with citizens including signatories of the US Constitution. In 1774, 51 local society women staged an “Edenton Tea Party” by swearing off tea to protest English taxation. An interesting historical and literary footnote concerns Harriet Jacobs, an African-American slave who hid in her grandmother’s Edenton attic for seven years before escaping to Boston. Jacobs’ \”Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl\” (1861) became one of the best-selling slave narratives of the nineteenth century.

Edenton faded from prominence in the mid-nineteenth century but retained a fine legacy of historic buildings, particularly on Edenton Bay. A brochure for self-guided walking tours is available from the Edenton Visitor Center. It is possible to inspect the Jacobean-style Cupola House and Gardens (circa 1725), St Paul’s Episcopal Church (mid-eighteenth century), the Georgian-style Chowan County Courthouse (1767), and the James Iredell House State Historic Site, which was the home of a justice of the first US Supreme Court.

Broad Street, with its Victorian fa\347ades, 1950s chrome signs, and old-fashioned drugstores, is also interesting.

Edenton is accessible by car (US- 17), bus and a regional airport.