Hertford Steeped In Perquimans County History

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Hertford

Newbold-White House is a historic brick house in Hertford. It was built in 1730 by Abraham Sanders, and is touted as the oldest brick house in North Carolina.

File Photo

steeped in Perquimans County history

County has oldest brick house, courthouse in the state

From Staff Reports

That view of Hertford across the US 17 bridge is the hook that draws you into Perquimans County. One can’t help but think that this small town is like Mayberry on the water. And then once you stop at the local drug store for a cone of ice cream, maybe a chat about the Tarheel sports and local lore, you end up exploring the county to learn

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Albemarle Magazine Fall 2020

more about its rich history.

Perquimans County, located in the Coastal Plain region of North Carolina, was formed in 1679 and originally called Berkeley Precinct of Albemarle County; it was later renamed for the Perquimans Indians of the area. It is partially bordered by the Albemarle Sound. The Weapemeoc as well as Perquimans Indians were early inhabitants of the county, followed by English and Welsh settlers.

Perquimans County, with 100 miles of shoreline, is a haven for boaters, fishermen, and hunters. Perquimans River features slow moving, flat waters while the Yeopim offers a familiar feel with forests and homes nestled along its shores.

Hertford, the county seat, was incorporated in 1758 and named after Hertford, England; the town was originally called Phelps Point after a local landowner named Jonathon Phelps. Other communities in Perquimans County include Winfall, Belvidere, Durants Neck, Chapanoke and Snug Harbor. Notable physical features, in addition to the Albemarle Sound, include the Perquimans, Little, and Yeopim Rivers, Harvey and Grassy Points, and Godwin and Sutton Creeks.

Among Perquimans County's landmarks and historic sites are the brick Newbold-White House (ca. 1730), the Alfred Moore House (ca. 1825), the Thomas Nixon Plantation (1848), and Piney Woods Friends Meetinghouse (1854).

For motorists crossing the US 17 bridge in Perquimans

Downtown Hertford offers a variety of shops and restaurants.

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County, Hertford’s small town appeal and waterfront homes attract the imagination.

Hertford features one of the oldest courthouses in the nation. It was built between 1819 and 1825, and is a 2 1/2-story, four bay, Georgian style brick building. It has a "T"-shaped plan, with late-19th and 20th century rear additions. The front facade features a one-story, onebay pedimented portico with molded brick columns. Courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

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Albemarle Magazine Fall 2020

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While the early religious scene of Perquimans County and the town of Hertford was dominated by the Quakers, the mid-nineteenth century construction of several prominent church buildings in Hertford attest to the rising popularity of traditional mainstream denominations, according to The Historic Architecture of Perquimans County, North Carolina. Hertford: Town of Hertford. Constructed within ten years of each other, the 1848 Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity, the 1854 Hertford Baptist Church, and the c.1855 Hertford Methodist Church (replaced by the current 1901 brick Romanesque style church) continue to assert their influence over Hertford.

The town's prosperity is reflected in the many handsome Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style homes scattered throughout the town from the late-nineteenth and earlytwentieth centuries. In addition, the first quarter of the twentieth century witnessed the expansion of Hertford's business district along Church Street replacing former wood buildings with more durable two-story brick structures embellished with raised parapets and simple brick details.

Don’t forget to check out the Newbold-White House is a historic house in Hertford, Perquimans County, North Carolina. The brick house was built in 1730 by Abraham Sanders, a Quaker who purchased the property in 1726. His plantation on the Perquimans River produced corn, cotton, wheat, flax, indigo, tobacco, rice, and wood products. It is the oldest house in North Carolina that is open to the public. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Hertford is among several churches within walking distance of the town’s waterfront and downtown core.