HYDE COUNTY

Hyde was first called Wickham, the name being changed about 1712. It was named in honor of Edward Hyde, Governor of North Carolina and a grandson of the Earl of Clarendon. It is in the eastern section of the State and is bounded by the Pamlico Sound and Beaufort, Washington, Tyrrell and Dare counties (and on the banks by the Atlantic Ocean and Dare and Carteret counties). The present land area is 612.80 square miles. The population from the 2010 Census was 5,810. Of that population, 3,718 were white, 1,836 were black or African American, 28 were American Indian, 16 were Asian, 1 was Pacific Islander and 142 were of a different race. Another 69 were reported to be of two or more races and 411 were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The courts were held in the courthouse in Bath until 1729. In that year an act was passed separating the precincts of Beaufort and Hyde and authorizing a courthouse to be built on the land of William Webster. In 1738 a town by the name of Woodstock was laid out on Webster's land. The courthouse at Woodstock burned about 1789, and in 1790 an act was passed moving the courthouse to Bell's Bay or Jasper's Creek. The county seat was on Jasper's Creek during 1791-1792. A law was passed in 1791 establishing a town on the land belonging to Germain Bernard where the courthouse stands." This town was called German-town In 1820 the old courthouse was authorized to be sold and a new one erected at Lake Landing or within two miles of it. In 1836 commissioners were named to purchase land from Zacheriah Gibbs for a county seat, or within one-forth mile of the place called Swan Quarter, and erect a courthouse. Swan Quarter is the county seat.

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Parts of Hyde County are in the Tar-Pamlico River Basin and parts are in the Pasquotank River Basin. It is a part of the Coastal Plain 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)