Albemarle County

North Carolina Beginnings

During the 1650s, settlers began to overflow out of the tidewater area of southeastern Virginia into the Albemarle region.  In 1663, Charles II granted a charter to eight English gentlemen who had helped him regain his throne.  These eight Lords Proprietors were granted the land that became known as Carolina in honor of King Charles the First.  Between 1663 and 1729 what was later to become North Carolina was under the control of these Lords Proprietors and their descendants.

The Albemarle region was the first area of Carolina to be settled.  Albemarle County at this time was divided into precincts - three initially, Berkley, Carteret, and Shaftesbury, and more were added as the region expanded south and west.  By 1729 there were six precincts in Albemarle County and five more in Bath County which had been created in 1696.  In 1738 the Legislature passed an Act changing the names of precincts to counties & Albemarle County ceased to exist.

In Ancient Albemarle
By Catherine S. Albertson

A book published by the NORTH CAROLINA SOCIETY DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION , all about Albemarle County. This book is in it's entirety.  (Posted with Permission)

The Colonial Records of North Carolina

An online readable Google book by William Laurence Saunders

Y^e Countie of Albemarle in Carolina

Various documents pertaining to Albemarle County

Upheaval in Albemarle: The Story of Culpeper's Rebellion

Culpeper’s Rebellion might well be termed “The Rise and Fall of ‘Y^e Antient County of Albemarle.” The causes, the rebellion itself, and the lingering aftereffects are visible throughout Albemarle’s history as a separate political entity.

The Colonial & State Records of NC

The digital collection containing 30 volumes of “The Colonial & State Records of North Carolina.”

Can search collection by volume, date, or an alphabetical index.

 The documents in The Colonial and State Records date from the 1620s to the early 1900s. The majority of the documents are from the 1750s-1780s. In addition to the contemporary primary source materials, the collection also includes documents that were written after 1790, but which describe North Carolina during the colonial and early state periods.

Biographies (an index)

Governors of North Carolina

Governors of Albemarle

Chronological list of Albemarle Governors & Biographical Information on each of them.

Albemarle History Timeline

Historical information about Albemarle County

A Digital History from the UNC school of  education.  

• The Charter of Carolina
• The Lords Proprietors
•  1663 Declarations & Proposals of the Lords Proprietors
• A Brief Description of the Province of Carolina
• The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina 1669