Edenton Colony In 1658, adventurers from the
Jamestown area drifted through the wilderness from
Virginia and found a location on the northern shore of a small natural harbor at , now called Edenton Bay. Edenton Colony was the first permanent
European settlement in what is now the state of
North Carolina. Edenton was established in 1712 as "the Towne on Queen Anne's Creek". It was later known as "Ye Towne on Mattercommack Creek" and still later as "the Port of Roanoke". It was renamed "Edenton" and incorporated in 1722 in honor of Governor
Charles Eden, who had died that year.
Historic Edenton Edenton served as the second
capital of the
Province of North Carolina, from 1722 to 1743, with the governor establishing his residence there and the population increasing during that period.
William Byrd II, who visited the town in March 1729, provides a description of Edenton in his
The History of the Dividing Line: This town is Situated on the north side of
Albermarle Sound which is there about 5 miles over. A Dirty Slash runs all along the Back of it, which in the Summer is a foul annoyance, and furnishes abundance of that Carolina plague,
musquetas. There may be 40 or 50 Houses, most of them Small, built without Expense. A Citizen here is counted Extravagant, if he has Ambition enough to aspire to a Brick-chimney. Justice herself is but indifferently Lodged, the Court-House having much the Air of a Common
Tobacco-House. I believe this is the only metropolis in the Christian or
Mohametan world where there is neither Church, Chapel, Mosque, Synagogue, nor any other Place of Publick Worship of any Sect or Religion whatsoever. What little Devotion there may be is much more private than their vices. A landmark in women's history occurred in Edenton in 1774. Fifty-one women in Edenton, led by
Penelope Barker, signed a protest petition agreeing to boycott English tea and other products, in what became known, decades later, as the
Edenton Tea Party. The Edenton Tea Party is the first known political action by women in the British American colonies. In fact it so shocked London that newspapers published etchings depicting the women as uncontrollable. Her home, the Barker House, is open seven days a week, without a fee, and is considered by many as Edenton's living room.
Joseph Hewes, a resident of Edenton and successful owner of a merchant marine fleet, was appointed the first Secretary of the Navy in 1776.
John Adams said that Hewes "laid the foundation, the cornerstone of the American Navy." Hewes also signed the
United States Declaration of Independence.
James Iredell, also of Edenton, was at 38 the youngest member of the first
United States Supreme Court. He was appointed by
George Washington. His son
James Iredell Jr., served as the Democratic-Republican governor of North Carolina and then became a United States senator. His home may be toured through the Historic Edenton Visitors Center. Easy sea access halted with a 1795 hurricane which silted
Roanoke Inlet. Completion of the 1805
Dismal Swamp Canal took business elsewhere by diverting shipping to
Norfolk, Virginia. Locals rejected construction of a railroad, a lack that impeded the local economy. Supreme Court Justice
James Wilson, a signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the
United States Constitution, died in Edenton on August 21, 1798, at age 55, while riding his judicial circuit.
Harriet Jacobs and her brother
John were born into slavery in Edenton in 1813 and 1815, respectively. They, and later Harriet's children, were baptized at
St.Paul's. Their early childhood was centered around Horniblow's tavern, the town's only colonial hotel, on the northern side of East King Street, just west of
Chowan County Courthouse. Twelve-year old John Jacobs was sold at public auction in 1828, probably at Market House (junction Water Street / Broad Street). Both siblings became enslaved to an abusive master, the local physician, Dr. James Norcom, living with him at his house on West Eden Street. In 1835, Harriet Jacobs went into hiding in the house of her grandmother, a freedwoman, on the northern side of West King Street, a few steps from Broad Street. She famously had to stay there concealed in a crawl space for seven years before she was finally able to escape to New York, where she wrote
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, now considered an "American classic". In 1862, during the
Civil War, the Albemarle Artillery was recruited at Edenton by a local attorney named William Badham Jr. Its guns were cast from bronze bells taken from courthouse and churches in the Edenton area. Known as the
Edenton Bell Battery, its four
howitzers were named the
Columbia,
St. Paul,
Fannie Roulac, and
Edenton. Two of the guns, the
St. Paul and
Edenton, have been returned to Edenton and can now be seen at Edenton's waterfront park. Edenton enjoyed an economic revival beginning in 1890 led by
lumbering, an 1898
cotton mill, and a 1909
peanut-processing plant. Edenton is the home of the 1886
Roanoke River Lighthouse. The lighthouse is called a
screw-pile design because of its original support system. Each piling was literally screwed into the river or sound bottom so they would not pull out in heavy storms and hurricanes. The Roanoke River Lighthouse, now located at Edenton, is believed to be the last extant example in the United States of a rectangular frame building built for a screw-pile base. The lighthouse was in commission from 1887 until 1941. Edenton is home to numerous early houses and public buildings, including the
Cupola House. It was designated a
National Historic Landmark in 1970, a designation also accorded the 1776 Chowan County Courthouse. The courthouse is still used for official court events. The city is home to the
oldest house still in existence in North Carolina, constructed in 1719 before the establishment of the city. Edenton achieved international notoriety for the
Little Rascals Day Care sexual abuse case, the subject of journalist
Ofra Bikel's award-winning trilogy of Frontline documentaries:
Innocence Lost (1991),
Innocence Lost: The Verdict (1993), and
Innocence Lost: The Plea (1997). ==Geography==