Hertford County, North Carolina

	Hertford County
	Founded 1759
	Website www.co.hertford.nc.us

Hertford County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2000, the population was 22,601. Its county seat is Winton Template:GR.

History

Hertford County is home of the Meherrin Indian Tribe, descendants of indigenous people who had inhabited the region for thousands of years. After decades of encroachment by English colonists, the Tribe moved south from Virginia, where they settled in 1706 on a reservation abandoned by the Chowanoke. This six-square-mile reservation was at Parker's Ferry near the mouth of the Meherrin River. It was confirmed by a treaty of 1726.^[1] They were not able to keep the reservation lands.

The Tribe today has an enrollment of approximately 900 enrolled members, of whom most live within 10–15 miles of the former reservation.^[2] It is recognized by the state. They are seeking Federal recognition. The Meherrin Tribe has an Annual Pow Wow at the end of October.

The county was formed by European Americans in 1759 from parts of Bertie County, Chowan County, and Northampton County. It was named for Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Earl of Hertford, later 1st Marquess of Hertford.

In 1779 the northeastern part of Hertford County was combined with parts of Chowan County and Perquimans County to form Gates County.

Business and industry

Several large employers are located in Hertford County, including a privately run federal prison, Chowan University, a Nucor steel mill, several Perdue poultry processing facilities, an aluminum extrusion facility in Winton, and a lumber-processing facility in Ahoskie. These industries, combined with a fairly typical range of local retail, restaurant and service businesses, combine to give Hertford County one of the lowest unemployment rates in Northeastern North Carolina. The larger area has historically lagged behind the rest of the state in terms of economic development.

It is served by the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald newspaper.

Law and government

Hertford County is a member of the Mid-East Commission regional council of governments.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 360 square miles (933 km²), of which, 353 square miles (915 km²) of it is land and 7 square miles (19 km²) of it (1.99%) is water.

Adjacent counties

Southampton County, Virginia - north
Gates County, North Carolina - east
Chowan County, North Carolina - southeast
Bertie County, North Carolina - south
Northampton County, North Carolina - west

Townships

Map of Hertford County, North Carolina With Municipal and Township Labels

The county is divided into six townships: Ahoskie, Como, Harrellsville, Murfreesboro, St. Johns and Winton.

Towns

Demographics

As of the census Template:GR of 2000, there were 22,601 people, 8,953 households, and 6,240 families residing in the county. The population density was 64 people per square mile (25/km²). There were 9,724 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile (11/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 37.45% White, 59.55% Black or African American, 1.19% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.65% from other races, and 0.82% from two or more races. 1.57% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 8,953 households out of which 30.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.80% were married couples living together, 19.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.30% were non-families. 26.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.30% under the age of 18, 7.80% from 18 to 24, 26.30% from 25 to 44, 24.80% from 45 to 64, and 15.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 85.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $26,422, and the median income for a family was $32,002. Males had a median income of $26,730 versus $20,144 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,641. About 15.90% of families and 18.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.30% of those under age 18 and 21.00% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia adapted for use as a quick research reference on this wiki. The original content was here: Hertford County, North Carolina. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with the ENC Phillips Group Wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.

[1] Brenda Linton and Leslie S. Stewart, "Economic Development Assessment for the Meherrin Tribe, University of North Carolina, Jul 2003, accessed 26 Oct 2009