Elizabeth City Shire was one of eight shires created in colonial Virginia in 1634. The shire and the Elizabeth River were named for Elizabeth of Bohemia, daughter of King James I.
During the 17th century, shortly after establishment of Jamestown in 1607, English settlers and explored and began settling the areas adjacent to Hampton Roads. By 1610, the English colonists had established a permanent settlement in the Kecoughtan area of what was to become Elizabeth River Shire. Now located with the corporate limits of the independent city of Hampton, Virginia, it is the oldest known continuously occupied English settlement in North America.
On, November 18, 1618, the Virginia Company of London, proprietor of the colony, gave instructions on the formation of a laudable government for the Colony to Sir George Yeardley when he departed from London to become full governor of Virginia. As directed, in 1619, Governor Yeardly established four large corporations, termed citties (sic), which were designated to encompass the developed portion of the colony. These were Kecoughtan (later renamed Elizabeth Cittie), James Cittie, Charles Cittie, and Henrico Cittie.
Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, in the United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 18,683. Elizabeth City is the county seat and largest city of Pasquotank County. It is the cultural, economic and educational hub of the sixteen-county Historic Albemarle region of northeastern North Carolina.
Elizabeth City is the center of the Elizabeth City Micropolitan Statistical Area, with a population of 64,094 as of 2010, and is part of the larger Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC Combined Statistical Area. The city is the economic center of the region, as well as home to many historic sites and cultural traditions.
Marketed as the "Harbor of Hospitality", Elizabeth City has had a long history of shipping due to its location at a narrowed bend of the Pasquotank River. Founded in 1794, Elizabeth City prospered early on from the Dismal Swamp Canal as a mercantile city, before later shifting into a varied industrial and commercial focus. While Elizabeth City still retains its extensive waterfront property, it is linked to neighboring counties and cities by highways and bridges and serves as the site of the largest US Coast Guard base in the nation.
Elizabeth City (or Elizabeth Cittie as it was then called) was one of four incorporations established in the Virginia Colony in 1619 by the proprietor, the Virginia Company of London, acting in accordance with instructions issued by Sir George Yeardley, Governor.
The plantations and developments were divided into four political divisions, called "incorporations", "burroughs", or "cities". These were James City, Charles City, Henrico City, and Kiccowtan or Kecoughtan (later Elizabeth City). Each of the four "citties" (sic) extended across the James River, the main conduit of transportation of the era.
In 1634, under the authority of Charles I of England, Virginia was divided into eight counties, or shires. One of them was Elizabeth City Shire, later Elizabeth City County. Elizabeth City County existed until 1952, when it was incorporated as the independent city of Hampton, Virginia.