county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
located in the U.S. state of
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...
. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,652. Its
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...
is Washington. The county was founded in 1705 as Pamptecough Precinct. Originally included in Bath County, it was renamed Beaufort Precinct in 1712 and became Beaufort County in 1739.
History
Beaufort County was first called Pamptecough. The name was changed about 1712 to Beaufort, named for
Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort
Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort, Knight of the Garter, KG Privy Council of Great Britain, PC (2 April 1684 – 24 May 1714) was an English peer and politician. He was the only son of Charles Somerset, Marquess of Worcester, and Rebecca ...
(1684–1714), who became one of Carolina's Lords Proprietor around 1709.
Geography
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (14%) is water. It is the fifth-largest county in North Carolina by total area. It is split in half by the Pamlico River and the mouth of the Pamlico River.
Goose Creek State Park
Goose Creek State Park is a North Carolina state park near Washington, Beaufort County, North Carolina in the United States. It covers just off of Pamlico Sound, in North Carolina's Coastal Plain. Goose Creek State Park is home to a wide varie ...
Intracoastal Waterway
The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, then following t ...
*
Pamlico River
The Pamlico , from the North Carolina Collection's website at the
Pungo River
The Pungo River is a river in eastern North Carolina, United States. It originally began in the Great Dismal Swamp in Washington County, North Carolina; the upper part of the river has since been supplanted by the Pungo River Canal, dug in the 19 ...
Tar River
The Tar River is a river that is approximately long, in northeast North Carolina flowing generally southeast to an estuary of Pamlico Sound. The Tar River becomes the tidal Pamlico River once it underpasses the U.S. Route 17, U.S. Highway 17 B ...
Pitt County
Pitt County is a county located in the inner banks (northeastern part) of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 170,243, making it the fourteenth-most populous county in North Carolina. Its county seat is ...
Washington - Warren Field Airport (OCW)
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
Combined Statistical Area
Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and the territory of Puerto Ric ...
.
2020 census
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 44,652 people, 19,701 households, and 12,638 families residing in the county.
2000 census
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 2000, there were 44,958 people, 18,319 households, and 12,951 families residing in the county. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
was 54 people per square mile (21/km2). There were 22,139 housing units at an average density of 27 per square mile (10/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 68.44%
White
White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...
, 29.03%
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...
or
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...
, 1.42% from other races, and 0.71% from two or more races. 3.24% of the population were
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or Latino of any race.
There were 18,319 households, out of which 28.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.60% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 13.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.30% were non-families. 25.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.89.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.40% under the age of 18, 7.70% from 18 to 24, 26.10% from 25 to 44, 26.90% from 45 to 64, and 15.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 91.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.50 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $31,066, and the median income for a family was $37,893. Males had a median income of $30,483 versus $21,339 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the county was $16,722. About 15.20% of families and 19.50% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 27.60% of those under age 18 and 19.30% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2010 the largest self-reported ancestry groups in Beaufort County, North Carolina were:
* English - 14.4%
* "American" - 11.9%
* German - 6.6%
* Irish - 6.0%
* Scottish - 2.5%
* French - 1.6%
* Italian - 1.5%
Government and politics
Beaufort is a typical “
Solid South
The Solid South or Southern bloc was the electoral voting bloc of the states of the Southern United States for issues that were regarded as particularly important to the interests of Democratic Party (United States), Democrats in those states. T ...
” county in its voting patterns. It voted Democratic consistently up through 1964, even resisting the lure of voting against
Al Smith
Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928.
The son of an Irish-American mother and a ...
’s Catholic faith and opposition to
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
in 1928 when North Carolina went Republican for the only time between 1876 and 1964. However, the increasing social and racial liberalism of the Democratic Party turned its electorate to
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist an ...
in 1968 and overwhelmingly to
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was t ...
against
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian and South Dakota politician who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 pre ...
four years later. Since then, Beaufort has been a strongly Republican county, with the last Democrat to carry it being
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 19 ...
in 1976.
Beaufort County is a member of the Mid-East Commission regional council of governments.
Beaufort County was the site of a proposed
Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...
outlying landing field. This practice airfield would allow pilots to simulate landings on an aircraft carrier. Construction, which has not yet begun, is controversial due to its potential
ecological
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their biophysical environment, physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosy ...
Aurora
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
*
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
Bayview
Bayview may refer to:
Places Australia
* Bayview, New South Wales
* Bayview, Northern Territory
Canada
* Bayview, Calgary, a neighborhood in Alberta
* Bayview, Newfoundland and Labrador
* Bayview Avenue, a road in Toronto, Ontario
** Bayview ...
Pinetown
Pinetown is a large area that is part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, inland from Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Pinetown is situated 16 km west of Durban at an elevation of 1,000 to 1,300 feet (305 to 395 m).
History
Pin ...
Edward
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
Population ranking
The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2022 estimate of Beaufort County.
† ''county seat''
See also
*
List of counties in North Carolina
__NOTOC__
The U.S. state of North Carolina is divided into 100 counties. North Carolina ranks 28th in size by area, but has the seventh-highest number of counties in the country.
Following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, King Charles ...
North Carolina Ferry System
The North Carolina Department of Transportation Ferry Division is a branch of NCDOT that is responsible for the operation of over two dozen ferry services that transport passengers and vehicles to several islands along the Outer Banks of North Ca ...
Bath, North Carolina
Bath is a town in Beaufort County, North Carolina, United States. Located on the Pamlico River, it developed a trade in naval stores, furs, and tobacco. The population was 249 as of 2010. North Carolina’s first town and port of entry, it was ...