Pasquotank County

Pasquotank County, established as a British precinct on Jan. 16, 1670, and as a county on March 6, 1739, is located on the Albemarle Sound about 165 miles northeast of Raleigh. North Carolina’s fifth smallest county by land area, it has a population of 39,743 and a total employment of 15,813 (39.8%). 

The county seat is Elizabeth City, the largest town, cultural hub and educational center of the 16-county Albemarle Historic region. The town is named for Betsy Tooley, a local tavern owner who donated most of the land for the city.

The county’s most profitable agricultural product is grains, while the largest product by acreage is soybeans.

By total number, the largest livestock produced is cattle and calves.

The largest manufacturer is JW Jones Lumber, the 21st largest employer, which manufactures lumber products. It ranks No. 21 among all the county’s employers with approximately.

The area is served by Elizabeth City State University, a historically black college that is the smallest of the 17 institutions with NC State in the University of North Carolina system. The College of the Albemarle is the oldest of the 58 institutions in the North Carolina Community College System. Private Mid-Atlantic Christian University opened in 1948 in downtown Elizabeth City. The three schools share dual-enrollment agreements with each other.

Pride of the Pack

NC State’s First Black Graduate Degree

Robert Clemons of Elizabeth City and Hardy Liston of Greensboro enrolled in NC State’s College of Engineering as the institutions first African American graduate students.

Liston was a full-time professor of engineering at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro and commuted to Raleigh for classes. He completed one year of graduate school.

Clemons was an older student who had earned high school valedictorian honors at Elizabeth City State Colored Normal School (now Elizabeth City State University) in 1928, worked as a public school teacher and private business for nearly 15 years and was drafted as a private into the U.S. Army in 1943 at the height of World War II.

After the war, Clemons enrolled at N.C. A&T and earned a bachelors degree in electrical engineering in 1952. He enrolled with Liston in the fall of 1953 and became the first African American student to earn a degree of any kind in 1957, a professional degree in electrical engineering. He spent the rest of his career working for the water department for the city of Durham until his death in 1973.

A Head for Business

James W. Owens, a native of Elizabeth City, arrived at NC State in 1964 as a general engineering major. Widespread job opportunities in the textile industry, though, pulled him in a different direction. Owens earned a bachelor’s degree in textile technology and worked a few summers in textiles as he pursued his master’s in the same field. Intrigued by the business aspect of his studies, Owens earned a third NC State degree in 1973: a Ph.D. in economics.

Owens began a 38-year career at Caterpillar Inc. in 1972 as a corporate economist. He eventually became chairman and CEO, helping to build the company into the world’s largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines.

As one of NC State’s most passionate supporters, Owens has served on the university’s Board of Trustees and given generously to many university programs. He and his wife, Katie, are members of the W.J. Peele Lifetime Giving Society and the R.S. Pullen Society, and lifetime members of the Alumni Association. They have been important donors to the Wolfpack Club, the Lambda Chi Alpha housing redevelopment fund, the new Chancellor’s Residence, the Our Three Winners Scholarships, the Caldwell Fellows and other areas at NC State. [Read more about James W. Owens.]

Flying Exhibition Casualty

Former  NC State student Thurman Morris Gregory of Elizabeth City was packing to return to North Carolina from France in March of  1919, when he was asked to participate in a flying exhibition for Gen. John J. Pershing, the leader of the American Expeditionary Forces in France.

During the air show, Gregory’s plane crashed and he was killed, one of the final of NC State’s 33 casualties during World War I.

His is one of the names in the shrine room in the NC State Memorial Tower. [Read more about the names in the Belltower.]

A Distinguished Military Leader

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William E. Ingram, Jr. received his commission as a U.S. Army officer in 1972, shortly after he graduated from NC State in 1970 with a degree in textile chemistry and the North Carolina Military Academy’s Officer Candidate School at Fort Bragg.

In a distinguished military career, the Elizabeth City native commanded U.S., United Nations and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces in Croatia, Macedonia and Kosovo during the Balkan conflict  and took leading roles in homeland security and disaster response. He was elevated to director of the U.S. Army National Guard, overseeing a force of 350,000 soldiers in 54 U.S. states, territories and the District of Columbia.

He served as the adjutant general of the N.C. National Guard for more than nine years. His last assignment before his 2012 retirement from the military was special assistant to the Army’s vice chief of staff.

His numerous awards include the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit and a meritorious service medal with three bronze oak leaf clusters.

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