Elizabeth City, city (2020 pop.
18,631), seat of Pasquotank co., NE N.C., a port of entry on the Pasquotank
River (which, with the Dismal Swamp Canal, forms part of the Intracoastal Waterway); settled
mid-1600s, inc. 1793. It is the largest city in the Albemarle Sound area, a
trade and shipping center for the region's diversified farm products. There
are shipyards, lumberyards, crabmeat processing plants, and varied
manufactures. The area was first visited (1584) and mapped by a scouting
expedition from Roanoke Island. The first General Assembly of Carolina met
there in 1665. In the Civil War, Elizabeth City was occupied (1862) by Union
troops and burned. It is the seat of Elizabeth City State
Univ. and the College of the
Albemarle. A large U.S. Coast Guard air station is
nearby, as is Kitty Hawk.
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