GRANVILLE COUNTY

Granville was formed in 1746 from Edgecombe. It was named in honor of John Carteret, Earl of Granville, who owned the Granville District. It is in the northeastern section of the State and is bounded by Vance, Wake, Durham and Person counties and the state of Virginia. The present land area is 531.12 square miles. The population from the 2010 Census was 59,916. Of that population, 36,205 were white, 19,652 were black or African American, 338 were American Indian, 326 were Asian, 34 were Pacific Islander and 2,323 were of a different race. Another 1,038 were reported to be of two or more races and 4,482 were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The first county seat was called Granville Court House. In 1748 the location selected became unsatisfactory. Therefore, it was ordered that the courthouse be located on a branch of Tar River called Tabb's Creek. Oxford was made the county seat in 1811 and was incorporated in 1816.

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Areas of Granville County are located in one of three three river basins: Roanoke River Basin, Tar-Pamlico River Basin and Neuse River Basin. It is a part of the Piedmont region of the state.

References:

"American Factfinder." 2011. U. S. Census Bureau. Online at http://factfinder2.census.gov/. Accessed 3/3/2011.

Corbitt, David L. 2000. The Formation of the North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943. Sixth printing. Raleigh: State Department of Archives and History.

Powell, William Stevens, and Michael R. Hill. 2010. The North Carolina gazetteer: a dictionary of Tar Heel places and their history. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Additional resources:

North Carolina Digital Collections (Government & Heritage Library and NC State Archives)

NC LIVE resources

NC Natural Heritage Program database

WorldCat (Searches numerous library catalogs)