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Albemarle Genealogical Society
Serving Currituck and Dare Counties, North Carolina
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Origins of Currituck and Dare Counties
written by Vicky Hagemeister
The first Europeans to settle in North Carolina migrated from Virginia; they did not arrive directly
overseas. These new settlements were created during the mid 1660s and account for the beginning
North Carolina's first county, Albemarle County, that extended from the Currituck Sound to the Chowa
River. It is believed that Knotts Island was the first settled area in what later became Currituck County,
from before 1663.
In 1668, a tract of land known as Carolina was given by the King of England to eight men who were kn
the Lord Proprietors. The Lord Proprietors set up a government within the inhabited part of the tract an
called it Albemarle County. The county was further divided into four precincts which were called Curr
Pasquotank, Perquimins and Chowan. These precincts were later divided over the years into other coun
because the size of the original counties were too large to be manageable. Dare County, for example, w
formed in 1870 with land annexed from Currituck, Hyde and Tyrell counties.
Many records are missing for some of the early years in the history of Currituck County. Changing law
where certain records were to be filed, the capabilities of Clerks of the Court and losses due to fire acco
some of these missing documents. However, of the older counties in North Carolina, Currituck is fortun
having so many well preserved early records. Because Dare County was not created until late in the
Nineteenth Century, more of their records exist, however, for individuals looking for records prior to 1
information would have to be secured from the counties from which Dare County was formed.
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