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North Carolina County
Edgecombe County, North Carolina
Tarboro's National Historic District and Princeville's African American heritage - from Tarboro's extraordinary National Historic District (one of the finest collections of antebellum and Federal-period architecture in eastern North Carolina - the Tarboro Historic District includes over 100 contributing structures from the 18th and 19th centuries, and the Town Common is one of the few remaining original commons in the United States, established in the colonial period) to Princeville's distinction as the oldest municipality in the United States incorporated by African Americans (Princeville was established in 1885 by freed slaves on land they had settled after emancipation - the town has suffered catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and other storms but has persistently rebuilt and maintained its extraordinary historical identity).
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Office: Edgecombe County Office of Emergency Services – four primary functions: Emergency Management, EMS, Fire Protection, and the Fire Marshal’s Office
Related: Emergency Services Coordinator Daniel Webb – (252) 641-7806; EMS Manager Chad Eason – (252) 641-7842; EMS operates from 4 stations (Tarboro, northern, southern, and western posts) covering Tarboro, Princeville, Speed, Whitakers, Battleboro, Pinetops, Rocky Mount, and surrounding communities.
Services: Coordinated volunteer/career emergency response before, during, and after emergencies
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-64 and NC-33/111 serve Tarboro, the county seat, in eastern North Carolina along the Tar River
Transit: Limited; primarily auto-dependent – confirm current regional options directly with the county. Tarboro–Edgecombe Airport (KETC) is a public, city-owned general aviation airport 2 miles north of downtown Tarboro.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Edgecombe County Inspections Office – 201 Saint Andrew Street, Tarboro, NC 27886 | (252) 641-7802
Services: Issues building permits and inspects new construction (including manufactured homes), renovations, and re-inspections of vacant buildings for rural Edgecombe County plus the Towns of Leggett, Princeville, Conetoe, Speed, Macclesfield, and Pinetops; has authority to condemn unsafe buildings; enforces the County Zoning Ordinance, Junk Vehicle Ordinance, and Subdivision Regulations (complaint-based)
Related: Tarboro Building Department – 500 North Main Street, Tarboro, NC, (252) 641-4236, handles permits within Tarboro city limits.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Edgecombe County Veterans Services Office – Tarboro, NC
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Edgecombe County Memorial Library
Main Branch: 909 N Main Street, Tarboro, NC 27886 | (252) 823-1141 | Fax: (252) 823-7699 | Hours: Mon–Thu 9 AM–9 PM, Fri 9 AM–6 PM, Sat 9/9:30 AM–5 PM (closed Sun)
Services: Wheelchair accessible; contributes historic local newspapers, yearbooks, and WWII homefront records to the DigitalNC project
Related: Braswell Memorial Library – Rocky Mount, NC, established 1922, jointly funded by the City of Rocky Mount, Nash County, and Edgecombe County, provides administrative support to several local libraries and participates in the NC Cardinal consortium.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Edgecombe County is genuinely and remarkably home to PRINCEVILLE, the OLDEST TOWN INCORPORATED BY AFRICAN AMERICANS in the entire United States – a claim rivaled only by Eatonville, Florida; the town’s origin traces to the very end of the Civil War in 1865, when Union troops occupied the area around Tarboro and formerly enslaved people from surrounding counties began flocking to the Federal encampment seeking freedom and protection; although Union soldiers initially advised the freedmen to return to their former plantations, a substantial number chose to remain, settling on a modest knoll on land belonging to white planters John Lloyd and Lafayette Dancy, just south of Tarboro across the Tar River; the new settlers named their fledgling community “Freedom Hill,” honoring the very rise from which a Union soldier had read aloud the Emancipation Proclamation and announced their freedom; the settlement’s location was, by the community’s own founders’ later account, “absolutely worthless” swampland along the Tar River floodplain – but it was the only land available for purchase by people of color in the 1860s, and against considerable odds, the community thrived, growing from a population of 379 in 1880 to 552 by the turn of the 20th century, complete with its own school, churches, and businesses; on February 20, 1885 – 22 years after Emancipation – the freedmen formally incorporated their town, renaming it Princeville in honor of Turner Prince, an African American carpenter who had been born enslaved and became one of the community’s earliest and most respected leaders; for generations of descendants, Princeville has represented a genuine experiment in African American self-determination, and the town has survived numerous historical attempts by neighboring white communities to have its charter revoked; its precarious location on the Tar River floodplain, however, has repeatedly tested the town’s resilience, with catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016 both devastating the community – residents still recount harrowing stories of cemeteries disturbed by floodwaters and homes torn from their foundations – yet Princeville has rebuilt each time, and its residents describe the ground itself as “sacred African American grounds,” continuing to celebrate an annual Founders Day commemorating their community’s extraordinary origin story
Notes: Princeville’s genuine, extensively documented status as the oldest town incorporated by African Americans in the United States – founded by freedmen in the immediate aftermath of Emancipation and still standing today despite repeated catastrophic flooding – is one of the most historically significant sites found anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Edgecombe County GIS – accessible via edgecombecountync.gov
Parcel Search: Edgecombe County Tax Office
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Edgecombe County Office of Emergency Services
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Edgecombe County Animal Services / Animal Shelter – 2909 N Main St, Tarboro, NC 27886 (behind the old Edgecombe County Health Department) | (252) 641-4112 | Hours: Mon–Fri 1:30–4:30 PM | For calls for service: (252) 641-7911
Services: A division of the Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office with 3 animal control officers patrolling the county Monday–Friday and on-call nights/weekends/holidays for emergencies; provides animal welfare checks, rabies vaccine clinics, cruelty investigations, and stray pickup; low-to-no-cost spay/neuter available for residents receiving food stamps, Medicaid, or with limited income
Related: Edgecombe-Nash Humane Society – PO Box 1783, Rocky Mount, NC, a separate nonprofit; Tarboro TNR – volunteer trap-neuter-return program for feral cats.
Notes: Tarboro city limits have a leash law; all adopted animals must be spayed or neutered.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) – deq.nc.gov
Notes: Contact your specific municipality directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Edgecombe County is genuinely home to Princeville, the oldest town incorporated by African Americans in the United States, founded by freedmen in 1865 and formally chartered in 1885. 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 Edgecombe County
Edgecombe County is northeastern North Carolina’s historic architecture and African American heritage county – Tarboro’s antebellum district and Princeville’s founding story as the oldest African American municipality in the United States give the county exceptional historical significance.
Tarboro (the county seat, population ~11,000) has one of eastern North Carolina’s finest collections of Federal and antebellum architecture. The Town Common – established in colonial times and preserved ever since – is among the few surviving original commons in the United States.
Princeville – across the Tar River from Tarboro – was incorporated in 1885 by freed slaves, making it the oldest municipality in the United States incorporated by African Americans. The town has survived repeated devastating floods but has consistently chosen to rebuild rather than relocate.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Edgecombe County Tax Office at 301 St. Andrew Street, Tarboro, NC 27886, phone 252-641-7855. NC property assessed at 100% of market value. Appeal to Board of Equalization and Review.
Courts & Legal
Edgecombe County Clerk of Superior Court at 301 St. Andrew Street, Tarboro, NC 27886, phone 252-641-7700, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF SUPERIOR COURT
301 St Andrew St, Tarboro, NC 27886
(252) 641-7900
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Edgecombe County Clerk of Superior Court, Tarboro (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
The Tarboro Historic District, NRHP-listed with 364 contributing buildings, is a significant local landmark.
Local societies
No dedicated Edgecombe 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
Edgecombe County Clerk of Superior Court – Estates Division 301 St. Andrews Street (mail: P.O. Drawer 9), Tarboro, NC 27886 (252) 823-2056
Edgecombe County was founded in 1741, named for Richard Edgcumbe, in eastern North Carolina, seated in Tarboro (though Rocky Mount is the county’s largest community). Much of downtown Tarboro is part of the Tarboro Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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
201 St Andrew St, Tarboro, NC 27886
(252) 641-7911
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
201 St Andrew St, Tarboro, NC 27886
(252) 641-7810
Office
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
Edgecombe County Health Department, 909 Trade St, Tarboro, NC 27886
(252) 641-7511
Social Services
Edgecombe County Department of Social Services, 909 Trade St, Tarboro, NC 27886
(252) 641-7500
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Edgecombe County Health Department – Tarboro, NC
Services: Immunizations, WIC, environmental health, vital records
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Tarboro
Population: 50,000
Established: 1741
Tier: 3
Public Records
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