Perquimans River
By: Katie Stevens & Ava Geiger
Culture
Indian word Perquimans means Land
of Beautiful Women. But the native Algonquins, few in number and
loosely organized, were quickly displaced by white settlers. By 1661
Kilcocanen, King of the Yeopim Indians, for a valuable consideration
of satisfaction, and with the consent of his tribe, had deeded
to George Durant the land known today as Durants Neck.
This was the first recorded deed in North Carolina. Hunters, trappers
and traders had explored earlier; now an era of permanent settlement
began. Early colonists found a forbidding terrain crisscrossed by
streams and swamps and isolated by the Great Dismal Swamp to the north.
Roads were almost impossible to maintain, so the river became a thoroughfare,
bustling with an assortment of canoes, rowboats and sloops.
Until 1716 it served as the
state's first capital, with the first public buildings: prison, storehouse
and pillory. Legislative and court sessions took place in private
homes along the river, and today the Newbold-White House, open to
the public, stands as sentinel to those historic times.
Hertford's first bridge across the Perquimans was built in
1798. Twenty feet wide and floating on empty whiskey barrels, the
privately owned drawbridge was eventually purchased by the county
for $5786 and tolls for residents were abolished.
Several times during the Civil War Union troops sailed up the Perquimans
destroying bridges to stem the circuitous flow of smuggled goods from
Norfolk to Lee's army in Virginia. Hertford, founded a century earlier,
remained relatively unscathed, though its float bridge was destroyed
and one plantation on the river was pillaged.
physical features / wildlife
The Perquimans is a “lazy, liquid ribbon” that winds from one end of the county to the other.
Red maples, black gum, and cypress trees covered in Spanish moss line the shores.
wildlife: deer, beaver, muskrat, otter, nutria, mink, squirrels, rabbits and even an occasional black bear.
Birds, such as the prothonotary warbler and the great crested flycatcher
Herring and shad lay their eggs in the river each spring, which also provide a permanent home to white and yellow perch, catfish, flounder, largemouth bass, and sunfish.
Turtles are also very common, especially the Eastern painted turtle, yellow bellied sliders and common snapping turtles.
The river is a tidal estuary and normally flows very, very lazily because the surrounding area is so flat.
drains into the Albemarle Sound ecotourism is
the designation of a twelve-mile canoe route along the upper Perquimans.
Many of the river banks are cypress swamps.
The Perquimans is a “lazy, liquid ribbon” that winds from one end of the county to the other.
Red maples, black gum, and cypress trees covered in Spanish moss line the shores.
wildlife: deer, beaver, muskrat, otter, nutria, mink, squirrels, rabbits and even an occasional black bear.
Birds, such as the prothonotary warbler and the great crested flycatcher
Herring and shad lay their eggs in the river each spring, which also provide a permanent home to white and yellow perch, catfish, flounder, largemouth bass, and sunfish.
Turtles are also very common, especially the Eastern painted turtle, yellow bellied sliders and common snapping turtles.
The river is a tidal estuary and normally flows very, very lazily because the surrounding area is so flat.
drains into the Albemarle Sound
Many of the river banks are cypress swamps.
Runoff from paved areas must
be controlled and effective methods of waste water treatment must be
maintained.
Expanded use of Best Management Practices will help prevent runoff
of sediment and nutrients from farm and woodlot. The use of Integrated
Pest Management will mean fewer chemicals used on crops, less chance
of contaminating waters.
commerce
Mild winters and a fertile soil beyond expectation fostered
family farming. Indian corn fed people and livestock and made good
liquor. By 1770, 65 percent of corn grown was exported, along with
livestock, furs, and shingles.
For almost a century, steamboats were the link to the outside world.
Biweekly trips between Norfolk and Hertford dispatched circuses, passengers,
lumber and cotton. To assure unrestricted passage, the county ordered
road overseers to keep streams clear, and state law prohibited felling
trees into the river.
Most cargoes were bound for New England and mid-Atlantic states, slipping
through Currituck Inlet until it closed in 1828. Molasses, sugar and
liquor came in from the West Indies. During the Revolutionary War,
when Boston was hard pressed, Perquimans farmers donated a handsome
cargo of corn, flour and pork to their northern allies.
Regular ferry service linked communities, but after ferry-goers repeatedly
complained of great delays and danger from high seas during southeast
winds, Hertford's first bridge across the Perquimans was built in
1798.
How you can help
we can manage
our fisheries to encourage a modest population. Ecotourism that protects
the natural resources of an area and promotes passive recreational
pursuits, such as bicycling and canoeing, can boost the economy yet
preserve environmental integrity. One fine example of ecotourism is
the designation of a twelve-mile canoe route along the upper Perquimans.
Maintaining a healthy river will depend on people people who
care enough to become informed, make their voices heard, and work
together to protect our precious natural heritage.