Beaufort County
by Drue Jackson
Fall 2001
As we look through the past and present, we can find that Beaufort County has a seat at the top of important North Carolina counties. Situated fifty miles west of the Atlantic Ocean where the fresh Tar River meets the Pamlico Sound, the brackish estuary is formed. Beaufort County has an area of 957 square miles and is 11 feet above sea level. Currently there are about 44,280 people now living in the county. Two of the most important and well-known towns are Washington and Bath; others include Aurora, Belhaven, and Chocowinity. The county seat is Washington, which prides itself in being the first town named after General George Washington in 1775. Beaufort County is located in the Coastal Plains, with flat farmlands, where life and the economy center around the waterways. Beaufort County is an area saturated with history, beginning as early as the late 1600's when European settlers established themselves in the Pamlico area and began interacting with the Native American Tuscaroras of that region. Agriculture, since those early days all the way to present, has centered around the Tar-Pamlico River and Estuary as the backbone of life and economy. Lumber products, tobacco, and cotton industries still remain a prominent staple in the community, much as they have since Beaufort's early beginnings. Due to the agricultural nature of Beaufort County, many environmental factors now top management concerns in this region. From Beaufort County's early beginnings to present time, we will discuss how some of the major historical, agricultural, and environmental details have helped shape the county.
In 1705, Bath became North Carolina's first town, and functioned as the colony's first capital (Loy 116).
Just before Bath became an incorporated town, St. Thomas Parish established the first public library in the colony with about 1000 books shipped from England. It also provided free schooling for Native Americans and Blacks. By 1712, when English and French settlers had relocated to the area from Virginia, the region was named Beaufort after Henry Somerset, Duke of Beaufort (Powell 32). Another interesting feature in Bath's history is piracy. Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard the Pirate based his operations in Bath, where his residence remains for viewing today. Blackbeard was killed by an expedition of Captain Maynard in a battle near Ocracoke in 1718.
Agriculture remains a factor as it did in the eighteenth century with lumber and farming industries. Naval stores and crops such as tobacco and cotton began industry in Beaufort County and remain prominent today. 
A 200-acre industrial park provides local government an influx of business and skilled labor (www.beaufortcounty.com). Recruitment of new businesses, mainly agriculturally based, is a major concern for the Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce. A significant boom in industry at the turn of the 1900's when the cotton gin was invented. Prior to that time, corn was often the chief crop behind tobacco, but with the advent of the cotton gin, cotton was and is today the second leading crop, just behind tobacco. Clearly, the low-lying flatlands and waterways for export provide an ideal environment for agriculture and farming for many decades to come.
Environmental issues of Beaufort County have surfaced since the 1980's due to large, recurring fish kills stemming form nutrient loaded waters. Primarily, nitrogen and phosphate have been regarded as the chief contributors to this phenomenon. These nutrients flourish algal blooms, which suffocate oxygen levels in the estuary and effectively results in reverse drowning of the fish. Several factors produce these results. These are nonpoint pollution, point source pollution, and habitat destruction. With life in Beaufort County hinging on the estuary, it has become a federal as well as state matter in determining and eliminating environmental concerns in the estuary system. 
Nonpoint pollution is automotive and agricultural chemicals such as gas, oil, and fertilizer which run-off the large, cleared land areas and find themselves invading the waterways. When large areas are cleared of their natural vegatation, it allows these chemicals the ability to contaminate rivers and drinking water. Nonpoint run-off contributes to 80% of nitrogen loading in the estuary. Point source pollution is s clearly identifiable pollution that comes from sewage treatment plants and other industries. Since Beaufort County is rich in industry, the county has allowed 70 million gallons of wastewater to be discharged into the river every day since 1958. This accounts for over 50% of the loading into the estuary. While improvements are being made, there is still a lot of work to be done. Habitat destruction goes hand-in-hand with nonpoint pollution sources. Since Beaufort County has always been a strong agricultural community, more and more habitat is lost annually. Deforestation by lumbering and farmland clearing intensified by crop spraying delivers massive amounts of harmful nutrients to the fragile ecosystem. Management concerns center around correcting these problems, which will continue to be a massive undertaking in years to come.
It can be easily identified how the web of history, agriculture, and environment form the region Beaufort County. As always, even since Beaufort County was incorporated, these issues have remained vital to the areas people and economy. It is impossible to refer to the Washington Beaufort area without discussing something in history, agriculture, or environment. From past to present to future, these particular areas will be traditional as well as dynamic. I encourage you to visit this home of history, which is Beaufort County.
Works Cited
Loy, Ursula Fogleman, and Pauline Marion Worthy. Washington and the Pamlico. Washington, NC: Washington-Beaufort County Bicentennial Commission, 1976.
Powell, William. The North Carolina Gazetter. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1968.
Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce. 18 Nov. 2001 http://www.beaufortcounty.com/Business/chamber/.
Created November 19, 2001
Updated May 17, 2003