Formed January 1, 1791 (57th county)
Person County (39,093), Roxboro (8,128)
The 1930 Classical Revival facility was remodeled and enlarged in 1975 and 2012 and sits on Court, Main, Abbitt, and Lamar streets. United States Highway 501 is two blocks west of the courthouse. This tan brick and masonry building’s architect was Charles C. Hartmann. Veteran memorials are on the grounds. The courthouse was enlarged in 1978. There was also an 1873 courthouse in Roxboro, the only county seat. The county was taken from Caswell County on January 1, 1791 as the 57th county. The county is named for Revolutionary War General Thomas Person. Roxboro is named for Roxburgh, Scotland.
Person County government consists of a manager, a register, a sheriff, an attorney, and a clerk (executive). It has 6 Commissioners (legislative.) Sixteen Superior Court Judges serve Person, Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin, Gates, Granville, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Martin, Nash, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Pitt, Tyrrell, Vance, Warren, Washington, and Wilson counties, Two District Court Judges serve Person, Franklin, Granville, and Vance counties and a court clerk serves Person County (judicial.) The county is located on the northern border with Virginia. Raleigh, North Carolina is southeast and Greensboro, North Carolina is southwest of the county. The county center is in Roxboro .5 miles West of the city center. The county is surrounded clockwise by Virginia and Granville, Durham, Orange, and Caswell counties.
The area of the county is 404 square miles. It is 68 out of 100 in the state. It ranks 63 out of 100 in population in the state. It has a density of 96.8 persons per square mile making it 55 out of 100 in the state. Person County has 20.8% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 158 goes east to west in the county from Granville County to Caswell County. United States Highway 501 enters from the north, Virginia, and exits to the south, Durham County. The county is a rectangle. Roxboro is located near the center of the county. Roxboro is the county seat and the largest city since it is the only incorporated city. It has 20.8% of the county population. The county is in the Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Roxboro
