Formed January 1, 1668 (3rd county)
Pasquotank County (40,568), Elizabeth City (18,653)
The 1883 red brick Classical Revival courthouse, located at Main and Elliott streets, was remodeled in 1979. United States Highway 17 passes one block to the west of the site. Alexander L. West is the courthouse designer. The building was renovated and enlarged in 1980. It features columns and a tower with a working clock. Veteran memorials are on the grounds. Brook Field (1737), Reke’s Point (1757), Winfield (1762), Nixonton (1785), and Elizabeth City (1798) have all been county seat. Pasquotank County was organized on January 1, 1668 from Albemarle County, which no longer exists and is considered an original county (3rd county.) The county name is Native American for “where the current of the stream divides.” The county seat is named for the wife of settler Adam Tooley or for Queen Elizabeth I. Queen Elizabeth is also the namesake for the county seat of Bladen County. Pasquotank County was the birthplace for 1 North Carolina Governor, John C. B. Ehringhaus.
Pasquotank County government consists of a manager, a register, a sheriff, an attorney, and a clerk (executive). It has 7 Commissioners (legislative.) Sixteen Superior Court Judges serve Pasquotank, Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin, Gates, Granville, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Martin, Nash, Northampton, Perquimans, Person, Pitt, Tyrrell, Vance, Warren, Washington, and Wilson counties, Four District Court Judges serve Pasquotank, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, and Perquimans counties and a court clerk serves Pasquotank County (judicial.) Pasquotank County is in the northeast part of the state. Norfolk, Virginia is north and Raleigh, North Carolina is southwest of the county. The county center is 4.5 miles West of Elizabeth City. The county is surrounded clockwise by Camden, Tyrrell, Perquimans, and Gates counties.
The area of the county is 289 square miles. It is 89 out of 100 in the state. It ranks 62 out of 100 in population in the state. It has a density of 140.4 persons per square mile making it 38 out of 100 in the state. Pasquotank County has 45.9% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 17 enters the county from the north, Camden County, and exits to the southwest, Perquimans County. United States Highway 158 goes east to west from Camden County to Gates County. The county is a funnel facing northwest. Elizabeth City is eastern border of the county and extends into Camden County. Elizabeth City is the county seat and, as the only incorporated city, it is the largest city. It is 46.0% of the county population. The county is pronounced PAS-KWOE-TANK. This county is in the Elizabeth City Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Elizabeth City
