Return to Currituck Co.
Formation of Currituck Co. N.C.
by David Leroy Corbitt
Currituck was formed in 1668 as a precinct in Albemarle
County. It was named in honor of an Indian tribe. It is in the
northeastern section of the State and is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean,
Albemarle Sound, Camden County, and the state of Virginia. The present
area is 273 square miles and the population is 6,709. Currituck Court
House, mentioned as early as 1755, is the county seat.
That part of Albemarle County, lying on the South-side of Albemarle Sound, and Moratuck River, being Part of [Chowan, Pasquotank, Bertie and Currituck] the several Precincts' before mentioned, bounded to the Westward by Thomas Hoskin's upper line, beginning at his upper Corner Tree, on Rainbow Banks, on Moratuck River, and by a Line running South from his outer Corner Tree, to the Southward by the Bounds of Albemarle County, to the Eastward, by the Sound, between Roanoke Island and Croatan, and to the Northward by Albemarle Sound and Moratuck River, as high as the Rainbow Banks, in Moratuck River... [State Records of North Carolina; Vol. 25; pg. 212]
Part of Hatteras Banks, adjoining Currituck, which was without the bounds of any county, was annexed to Carteret in 1770.
And whereas Part of Hatteras Banks, adjoining the Bounds of Currituck County, from the Place where Hatteras Inlet formerly was, and extending Westward to Ocacock Inlet, is not included in any County within this Province; by which means the Inhabitants thereof are not liable to pay Taxes or perform any Public Duties whatsoever: For Remedy whereof, Be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the Passing of this Act, all that Part of the said Banks from the Low Beach, which runs across the same to the Sea Side, and where Hatteras Inlet formerly was, extending Westward to Accomack Inlet, shall be forever hereafter annexed to the County of Carteret and shall be held, taken, and deemed as Part of the same;.... [State Records of North Carolina; Vol. 23; pg. 809]
The dividing line between Currituck and Camden counties was authorized to be run in 1784.
....That the following shall hereafter be held and deemed the boundary line between the said counties, that is to say: Beginning at the head of North river where the same forks into two runs, thence a direct course to the middle of Lamb's toll-road or bridge, thence a direct course to the Virginia line, so as to divide that part of the Great Dismal Swamp, as nearly as may be between the said counties.... [State Records of North Carolina; Vol. 24; pg. 647]
Part of Currituck was annexed to Hyde in 1823.
....That all that part of Currituck county which lies South of New Inlet, be, and the same is hereby added to the County of Hyde. [Laws of North Carolina 1823; Chapter 43]
Dare was formed in 1870 from Currituck, Tyrrell and Hyde County.
That a new county is hereby laid off and established to be formed out of portions of Currituck and Tyrrel and Hyde counties, bounded as follows, to wit: Beginning in the north of Long Shoals river at a point on the north side of said river known as Rawls' Point, thence running up said river to the dividing line between the counties of Hyde and Tyrrel, thence running west said line to Alligator river, thence running the various courses of said river to its mouth, thence running a course across the Albemarle and Currituck sounds, so as to strike a point on the Currituck sound known as Long Point of Marsh, thence running a northeast by east course to the Atlantic ocean, thence running south along the sea beach to Hatteras inlet, thence running a direct course across the Pamlico sound to the place of beginning. [Public Laws of North Carolina 1869-70; Chapter 36]
An act amending the act to lay off and establish the county of Dare was passed in 1873.
That an act entitled as act to lay off and establish the county of Dare, passed by the Legislature of one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine and one thousand eight hundred and seventy, be amended by striking out the words "as Long Point of Marsh, thence running northeast by east course to the Atlantic ocean" which occur in the eleventh and twelfth lines of section first of said act, and insert the words, "known as southwest point of the Long Point of Marsh, thence about an east course to the southern boundary of a tract of land belonging to Moore and Griffith, at the head of Kitty-hawk Bay, thence along the said boundary line to the Atlantic ocean." [Public Laws of North Carolina 1872-73; Chapter 127]
© 2004 Marty Holland