# Eastern North Carolina Encyclopedia/Edgecombe County

EDGECOMBE COUNTY
Lying Near the Center of the North Temperate Zone, It Has an Ideal Climate and Assures Four Distinct Seasons
* Settled in 1719.
* Created in 1741 as a county.
* 515 square miles.
* 306,756 acres.
* Population, 37,995—1920 census.
| Real property | $23,256,618.00 |
| Personal property | 6,562,192.00 |
| Other property | 3,703,333.00 |
| Total | $33,522,143.00 |
COUNTY OFFICERS
* Commissioners
** J. V. Cobb, Chairman
** H. G. Brown
** D. B. Gaskill
** W. H. Home
** E. Y. Lovelace
* Board of Education
** M. G. Mann, Chairman
** Dr. R. H. Speight
** H. L. Brake
* Road Commission
** B. F. Shelton, Chairman
** H. P. Foxhall
** J. A. Forbes
** T. A. Wiggins
** Arthur Fountain
| State Senator | Paul Jones |
| Representative | R. T. Fountain |
| Clerk of Court | A. T. Walston |
| Register of Deeds | Miss M. B. Bunn |
| Sheriff | J. W. Thomas |
| Supt. Public Instruction | R. E. Sentelle |
| County Auditor | J. A. Weddell |
| Farm Dem. Agent | Zeno Moore |
| Public Health Officer | Dr. R. C. Gyles |
| Welfare Officer | Mrs. Ann H. Ditto |
| Home Dem. Agent | Miss Dorothy Dean |
| Red Cross Nurse | Miss Ella Mae Fryar |
INDUSTRIAL
Edgecombe County, while principally and potentially an agricultural county, has made great progress along industrial lines, and its manufacturing industries form a considerable part of its gross wealth.
Being one of the largest producers of both cotton and tobacco, local capital has naturally been attracted to the erection and operation of tobacco sales and storage warehouses, located in the principal towns of the county, and every town in the county has its local cotton market, with facilities for storing large quantities of cotton in standard warehouses. There are also organizations for the handling and storage of peanuts and sweet potatoes.
Edgecombe is the home and headquarters for the East Carolina Railway and the Carolina Telephone and Telegraph Company; has cotton, yarn and hosiery mills, fertilizer factories, cotton seed oil mills, lumber manufacturing plants, veneer plants, all of which add greatly to the material wealth of the county, and furnish steady work and income for its citizens.
The banks, building and loan associations, and wholesale and retail mercantile establishments are organized and operated, not only on a profitable business basis, but also with the view of supplying every need to the citizens of the county from home institutions.
Not only are the local markets easily accessible, but being on the main line of the railroad, foreign markets can be reached without delay.
Edgecombe County welcomes home builders and home workers within her borders. She does not invite speculators or promoters.
AGRICULTURE
When North America was first settled, Edgecombe County was chosen by a fine class of citizenship for their homes, and to-day a large number of the population are descendants of those first settlers and home builders. Edgecombe County is sufficiently inland, and has sufficient altitude to make agriculture home building and community life very inviting.
Edgecombe is strictly a Coastal Plain county, although its boundaries extend to the foot of the Hill Country. Our fields are level, we have no rocks or heavy clay soils, and the streams that rise in the hills flow through the county, following the general incline of the surface, northwest to southeast, and have worn themselves deep streams beds, thus giving an excellent natural drainage, and reducing overflow lands to a minimum. The rainfall is perhaps as nearly ideal as in any land upon which ​the sun shines; the annual average being 53 inches, well distributed throughout the year.
The dominating soils are of the Norfolk fine sandy loam type, than which there is none better anywhere. It has been established by experiments and experience that a greater number of leguminous plants thrive in Edgecombe County than in any other area of like size in the United States. The number of field crops that can be successfully grown, including vegetables, grapes and nuts, is almost only limited by the known varieties. The farmers have organized a seed breedings association, which insures the highest type of seed, and those best suited to the soil and climate. Live stock, principally hogs, cattle and sheep are easily and successfully raised and marketed.
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Secretary
Chamber of Commerce
Tarboro, N. C.