Crisp is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Edgecombe County Edgecombe County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,900. Its county seat is Tarboro. Edgecombe County is part of the Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area ...

in eastern

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 and So ...

, United States. It is located at the intersection of

U.S. Route 258 U.S. Route 258 (US 258) is a spur of US 58 in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Virginia. The U.S. Highway runs from US 17 Business and NC 24 Business in Jacksonville, North Carolina north to Virginia State Route 143 (SR 143) at Fort Monr ...

and North Carolina Highway 124, approximately 11 miles south of

Tarboro Tarboro is a town located in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Rocky Mount Rocky Mount metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 ...

History

Various family records indicate that farmers settled in the area by the late 18th century. The community became known as "Crisp" in 1896, when it acquired a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

. Before that time, the community had been referred to as "Eagles' Store," "Eagles' Crossroads," and other variations after the store run by the Eagles family, now through five generations. In 1896, the Eagles had taken on a business partner, Sellus M. Crisp, and when the business, on behalf of the community, applied for a post office with the request that the community be named "Eagles," it was on Eagles & Crisp Mercantile business stationery. The post office department, noting that several towns throughout the state had the word "Eagles" in the name, suggested that the town be called "Crisp." There was no disagreement and the Post Office had a station in Eagles' store until the early 1990s. Eagles Baptist Church was organized in 1891. At the time it was the second

Missionary Baptist Missionary Baptists are a group of Baptists that grew out of the missionary / anti-missionary controversy that divided Baptists in the United States in the early part of the 19th century, with Missionary Baptists following the pro-missions movem ...

church in the county and is still the largest church in Crisp. Crisp Chapel Free Will Baptist Church, formerly Eagles Chapel, is the other church in the community. Historically, Eagles Baptist Church has served a white congregation and Crisp Chapel (formerly, Eagles Chapel) has served an African-American congregation. There was a private academy, Eagles Academy, in Crisp from an unknown time in the 19th century into the 20th century. It was followed by a public school on the same site. The public school was graded and replaced several

ungraded school An ungraded school is a school that does not formally organize students according to age-based grade levels. Students' achievements are assessed by teachers, and each student is individually assigned to one of several fluid groups, according to wh ...

s in the area, including Edgewood School. In around 1925 the high school grades (8-11) consolidated into South Edgecombe High School, about two miles away, being joined with

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

and Pinetops high school grades. The elementary grades(1-8) did not consolidate until around 1960. During the 1950s, Crisp Elementary School was a seven-teacher, eight-grade school. The school site was east of and adjacent to Eagles Baptist Church and the Church now owns the property.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Edgecombe County, North Carolina Unincorporated communities in North Carolina Rocky Mount metropolitan area