Page 277 - GRN18 Flip Book

4 AREA HISTORY
2018
Pitt County is a major industrial and economic center for Eastern North Carolina — a center for education, industry, medicine, and culture.
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Pitt County
Visit: www.pittcountync.gov or
greenvillenc.org
Pitt County was founded in 1760 under British Colonial government. It was named for William
Pitt, an English statesman and orator, born in London, England. Prior to 1760, there was one large county, Beaufort, which was split into five smaller counties. Pitt County is in the eastern part of North Carolina and is surrounded by Beaufort, Craven, Edgecombe, Greene, Lenoir, Martin, and Wilson counties. Courts were first held at the home of John Hardy until a courthouse could be built. The courthouse was built on Hardy’s land near Hardy’s Chapel. In 1771, Martinsboro was established, and in 1774 the courthouse was moved there. In 1787, Martinsboro’s name was changed to Greenville, which is still the county seat.
Visit: www.bethelnc.org
In 1774, a crossroad of the Tarboro–Williamston Road and the Halifax Road to Greenville was established near the Medley Chapel Methodist Church. The crossroads were the beginning
of Bethel. In 1840, the US Postal Department established a post offiffice at the crossroads in Bethel with biweekly mail service to Greenville. The Postal Department called the offiffice “Bethel“ after the Bethel United Methodist Church established in 1814. The fifirst railroad built in Pitt County came through Bethel.
People from Greenville used to have to come to Bethel to “catch the trains.“ The Town of Bethel was incorporated December 18, 1873. The first census listed the population as 127. In 1902, Bethel was the first town to vote taxes for a public school to be established.
Farmville
Visit: www.farmville-nc.com
The area surrounding the current Town of Farmville was first settled in the mid 1760s. These early settlers were almost exclusively farmers by trade. The first recorded structure inside the current
town limits was a log cabin erected about 1840. In the 1850s a church and a school were added. In 1872, the populace petitioned the North Carolina legislature to create a town named Farmville.
Prior to this time the community had no formal name and was generally referred to as New Town. The Town of Farmville was formally incorporated
on February 12, 1872. The town developed as a small commercial center supporting the agricultural expansion of the region brought about by the boom in the Brightleaf tobacco cultivation.
Work on Main Street, Farmville, 1919
Ayden
Visit: www.ayden.com
In 1891, a farmer in the southern part of what is now Pitt County decided a portion of his farm would make a great place to live if only it had a railroad depot. William Henry Harris convinced
the Atlantic Coast Line to build a depot, and
soon “Harristown“ was born. Within the next
several years, lots were sold and homes were
built. Businesses began to spring up to support
the new residents, and on February 3, 1891, the Town was incorporated as “Ayden,“ a name that area storytellers claim was discovered by a local
on a map of the world. Within a few years, the Carolina Christian College and the Free Will Baptist Seminary were established. By 1919, Ayden had full time electricity supplied by the Ayden municipal power plant. In 1922, the Mutual Building and Loan Association of Ayden was organized to help families obtain mortgages to build homes in Ayden.
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Pitt County Courthouse
AREA HISTORY