Elizabeth City is located in northern North Carolina, south of Norfolk and just west of Cape Hatteras and the Outer Banks. The Pasquotank River flows through this old seaport on its way to the nearby Albemarle Sound, the body of water on the landward side of Hatteras. Many serious boaters pass through or tie up here because of its location on the Intercoastal Waterway. Elizabeth City was named a “Certified Retirement Community,” a state status recognizing the city as an active and inviting community for retirees by retirenc.com in 2018.
Elizabeth City (population 18,361, motto “Harbor of Hospitality”) has an incredible array of beautiful homes on Main Street and Church Streets points to some obvious wealth in its history. Homes here range from those restored to all their Victorian Majesty to others slowly rotting behind overgrowing shrubbery. The soaring Episcopalian, Baptist, and Methodist churches on critical intersections must have had wealthy patrons in their past. At the waterfront there are the town docks with visiting sailboats, condos, parks, historic buildings, and the giant Museum of the Albemarle. Open spaces in the landscape suggest unfinished urban renewal, presumably the sites of old mills and warehouses. Nearby is the campus of Elizabeth City State University, part of the University of North Carolina system and a historically African-American college. The College of the Albemarle is also in town.
Don't miss the profile we did on Elizabeth City in this Blog article: "Would You Take a Chance on an Up and Coming Place to Retire?" |