A Brief History of Craven County

Named for William, Earl of Craven, the county was established in 1739 when Bath County dissolved after which the existing precincts gained county status. At the geographic center lies the town of New Bern. It was established by Palatine and Swiss settlers brought by Baron DeGraffenried in 1710 and subsequently destroyed by Tuscarora natives shortly afterwards.

Today the county is bordered by Beaufort, Pamlico, Carteret, Jones, Lenoir, and Pitt counties.

This site operates under the bylaws of USGenWeb and NCGenWeb as one of the hundreds of county-specific websites dedicated to genealogical resources and research. Contributions of genealogical and historical information from people like you help the NCGenWeb and USGenWeb.

The new Coordinator for the NCGenWeb Craven County site is Edwin Averette. To get in contact with me, please use the contact widget on the side of the webpage across this site. We run on genealogical and historical contributions.