Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
North Carolina County
Beaufort County, North Carolina
Bath - North Carolina's oldest town - and the Pamlico River - from Bath's distinction as North Carolina's oldest town (incorporated in 1705, Bath was the colony's first incorporated town and its first capital - the Palmer-Marsh House and St. Thomas Episcopal Church, dating to the early 18th century, are among the oldest surviving structures in North Carolina, and Blackbeard the pirate used Bath as his home port before his 1718 death) to Washington's position as the original "Little Washington" (established before Washington DC, the city claims to be the first American community named for George Washington) and the Pamlico Sound's exceptional fishing.
Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Services: Part of the county’s combined Emergency Services division alongside Animal Control, EMS, and the Fire Marshal; maintains the SiRcom SMART Alerts emergency notification system
Related: Beaufort County EMS – coordinates day-to-day and large-scale emergency medical response; Beaufort County Administration – 121 West 3rd Street, Washington, NC 27889, (252) 946-0079.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-17 and US-264 serve Washington, the county seat, at the confluence of the Tar and Pamlico Rivers in eastern North Carolina’s coastal plain
Transit: Limited; primarily auto-dependent – confirm current regional options directly with the county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Beaufort County Building Inspections – accessible via bchd.net | Online permitting portal: evolve-public.infovisionsoftware.com/beaufort
Services: Issues building permits and inspects all buildings/structures for compliance with NC State Building Codes covering location, design, materials, construction, alteration, and occupancy
Related: City of Washington Planning & Zoning/Inspections – handles permits within city limits; properties with a private well/septic require Beaufort County Environmental Services approval first, and properties within 75 feet of water require a CAMA permit or exemption letter.
Notes: Confirm the correct jurisdiction – county vs. City of Washington – for your specific property.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Beaufort County Veterans Services Office – Washington, NC
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library
Main Branch: Washington Branch – headquartered inside the historic Beaufort County Courthouse, corner of W. 2nd and Market Streets, Washington, NC
Services: The Courthouse building itself, constructed around 1786, is one of the earliest public buildings still standing in North Carolina and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (1971) as part of the Washington Historic District
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Washington, Beaufort County’s seat, is genuinely and proudly “THE ORIGINAL WASHINGTON” – widely credited as the very first town in America named in honor of General George Washington; the settlement began in the 1770s as “Forks of the Tar,” established on land donated by local planter and Revolutionary War patriot James Bonner at the strategic point where the Tar River meets the Pamlico River; after Bonner served in the Continental Army, he returned home and in 1776 renamed his town after his commanding general – the first recorded lot sale in the newly christened “Washington” occurred that December, and the town was formally incorporated by the state’s General Assembly in 1782; during the Revolutionary War, Washington’s protected inland river location made it a vital supply port at a time when British forces controlled many of the coast’s other major harbors; the town has long styled itself “The Original Washington” to distinguish it from the many other American places that later took the same name, including the eventual national capital – a claim locals sometimes note with wry humor, since Washington the man himself never actually visited (it was named in his honor at a distance, not through any personal connection); a competing, similarly documented claim comes from Washington, Georgia, incorporated in 1780 – four years after North Carolina’s town was renamed but arguably the first to receive formal legal incorporation under that name, making the “first” title a matter of some good-natured regional debate depending on whether renaming or formal incorporation is the deciding milestone; residents today affectionately call their town “Little Washington” to distinguish it from Washington, D.C.; the town’s history includes a painful Civil War chapter as well – Union forces occupied Washington in 1862, and as Federal troops evacuated under Confederate pressure in 1864, they set fire to naval stores they were forced to abandon, and the resulting blaze destroyed much of the town’s early historic architecture; residents rebuilt, only to see much of the reconstructed downtown burn again in a second devastating fire on September 3, 1900, sparked by a faulty stove flue; despite these repeated disasters, Washington’s scenic waterfront on the Pamlico River – gateway to the Pamlico Sound, the second-largest estuary on the entire U.S. East Coast – remains the town’s defining feature today, anchoring its tourism, boating, fishing, and retirement community appeal
Notes: Washington, North Carolina’s genuine, well-documented (if gently contested) claim to being the first American town named for George Washington is a distinctive piece of national naming history, presented here evenhandedly alongside the competing Georgia claim.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Beaufort County GIS – accessible via co.beaufort.nc.us
Parcel Search: Beaufort County Tax Office
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Beaufort County Emergency Management
Services: A county-operated animal control facility with 28 dog runs and 49 cat cages, serving Washington, Chocowinity, Bath, Belhaven, Pinetown, and Aurora; handles stray intake, owner surrenders, and cruelty investigations; standard adoption fees are $75 for dogs and $55 for cats, including spay/neuter and initial vaccinations (rabies vaccination is an additional $10 for animals 4+ months old)
Notes: NC law requires stray pets be held only 72 hours before further action, so contact the shelter immediately if you’ve lost a pet.
Related: Humane Society of Beaufort County – PO Box 8, Washington, NC, a separate nonprofit organization.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) – deq.nc.gov; Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) permits for the Beaufort/Hyde/Pamlico/Tyrrell/Washington region are handled through the Washington DCM Field Office.
Notes: Contact your specific municipality directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Beaufort County’s seat, Washington, is genuinely and proudly “The Original Washington” – widely credited as the first American town named for George Washington in 1776. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, library, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Beaufort County
Beaufort County is northeastern North Carolina’s colonial heritage county – Bath’s 1705 founding as North Carolina’s oldest town and its connection to Blackbeard the pirate make it one of the most historically significant communities in the state.
Bath (population ~250) – North Carolina’s oldest incorporated town – was Blackbeard’s home port. The pirate Edward Teach (Blackbeard) used Bath Inlet as his base of operations before his 1718 death off Ocracoke. The Bath State Historic Site preserves the 18th-century structures that make it the best-preserved colonial-era community in North Carolina.
Washington (the county seat, population ~9,000) on the Pamlico River claims to be the first American community named for George Washington – a distinction it contests with Washington, Georgia.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Beaufort County Tax Office at 220 N. Market Street, Washington, NC 27889, phone 252-946-7981. NC property assessed at 100% of market value. Appeal to Board of Equalization and Review.
Courts & Legal
Beaufort County Clerk of Superior Court at 112 W. 2nd Street, Washington, NC 27889, phone 252-946-5115, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF SUPERIOR COURT
100 North Market St, Washington, NC 27889
(252) 940-4500
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Beaufort County Clerk of Superior Court, Washington (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Beaufort County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Beaufort County Clerk of Superior Court – Estates Division 112 West 2nd Street (mail: P.O. Box 1403), Washington, NC 27889 (252) 940-4000 Beaufort County is in eastern North Carolina along the Pamlico River, seated in Washington.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
North Carolina has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code. Probate is handled by the Clerk of Superior Court – an elected official who serves as the ex officio judge of probate – in the county where the decedent was domiciled, under Chapter 28A of the North Carolina General Statutes. Unlike most states, North Carolina does not have a separate probate court; the Clerk’s Estates Division handles all wills, estates, and guardianship matters.
Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property of Decedent (“collection by affidavit,” N.C. Gen. Stat. § 28A-25-1 and § 28A-25-1.1) – available when the decedent’s personal property, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $20,000, or $30,000 if the surviving spouse is the sole heir and receives all property covered by the statute. Filed at least 30 days after death, using Form AOC-E-203B. Real property CANNOT be transferred through this process. If the decedent left a will, the will must first be admitted to probate and a certified copy attached to the affidavit.
Summary Administration – an abbreviated procedure available only when the surviving spouse is the sole heir.
Full Estate Administration – required for larger or more complex estates; the personal representative (called “executor” if named in a will, “administrator” if intestate) is appointed by the Clerk and receives Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
Step 2: filing for administration
File the will (if any) and a petition with the Clerk of Superior Court, Estates Division, in the county where the decedent was domiciled.
The Clerk appoints the personal representative and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
The personal representative publishes notice to creditors; North Carolina’s creditor claim period is typically at least three months from first publication.
The personal representative inventories the estate’s assets, pays debts and expenses, and distributes the remaining assets according to the will or North Carolina’s intestacy law, reporting back to the Clerk at key stages.
The estate is closed once a final accounting is filed and approved by the Clerk.
What it costs
Filing fees for full estate administration generally follow the statewide statutory schedule, which scales with the estate’s value.
North Carolina repealed its state estate tax in 2013. There is no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax – only the federal estate tax could apply, and only to very large estates.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
210 North Market St, Washington, NC 27889
(252) 946-3980
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
121 West 3rd St, Washington, NC 27889
(252) 946-1290
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
906 West 15th St, Washington, NC 27889
(252) 946-1902
Social Services
906 West 15th St, Washington, NC 27889
(252) 940-4900
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Beaufort County Health Department – Washington, NC
Services: Immunizations, WIC, environmental health (well/septic permitting), vital records
Editorial independence: CountyOffices maintains strict editorial independence from our affiliate partners. Our content is researched from official government sources. Affiliate relationships do not influence our recommendations or the information we publish.
Editorial Trust
5 official sources cited
Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Washington
Population: 47,000
Established: 1705
Tier: 3
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Beaufort County residents.
