BY MILES LAYTON

A round-up of all things Tyrrell County…

Received a kind note from Charles Ogletree that made my day. Thanks!

I’ll say it again – it’s not the size of the town you live in, it’s the size of the person’s dreams and ambition that matters most. 

How about this news — Tyrrell County is rebounding with a high percentage of new residents moving to the area, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

The county’s population was around 3,242 people in 2020, according to the census, but added 275 residents to make its population at 3,517 as of March of 2024. 

That said, the county’s population was 4,407 in 2010.  

The county’s population increased 4 out of the 12 years between 2010 and 2022, according to the census. Its largest annual population increase was 4.3% between 2020 and 2021. The county’s largest decline was between 2019 and 2020 when the population dropped 15.1%, maybe because of the state’s meddling with the prison and/or misguided economic policies associated with covid closures. Between 2010 and 2022, the county shrank by an average of 2.1% per year.

The county’s population has begun to rebound within the last few years because I think folks are discovering that Tyrrell County and Eastern NC are great places to live. 

If I had the money, I’d buy/fix up that old two-story wooden white house at the corner of South Road and Main Street in Columbia that’s close to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church – which has a great sanctuary for worship.  

A recent mainstream media story suggests that lagging infrastructure hinders growth in the county. However, the county commission has been making strides to improve infrastructure such as the $5 million sewer project for Alligator and the $3.1 million Gumneck water project. 

As Eastern North Carolina’s biggest cheerleader – I’ll say this,  first, Tyrrell County and Columbia offer a lower cost of living same as a lot of other places in our region such as Hertford, Edenton, Washington, Creswell, Plymouth and Gatesville.  

Tyrrell County gets a BestPlaces Cost of Living score of 76.9, which means the total cost of housing, food, childcare, transportation, healthcare, taxes, and other necessities is 23.1% lower than the U.S. average.  While I don’t always trust statistics, I will say that I can buy a bottle of Pepsi a bit cheaper in Columbia than I can in many places.

Second, I think the Alligator River Bridge replacement project will bring construction workers to the area. Moreover, when the bridge opens to traffic in 2029, I think that will increase the number of tourists who travel US 64 – that could mean folks stop in Columbia to buy gas, maybe lunch or dinner, perhaps pick up more affordably priced groceries before heading to the Outer Banks.  

Let’s not forget that there are long-range plans to widen US 64 in Tyrrell and Dare counties to four lanes, however, the project is currently unfunded and not in the 2020-2029 State Transportation Improvement Plan, meaning it could be restarted in the future if funding becomes available. 

Let’s stay on top of our legislators for that – Representative Ed Goodwin, R-Chowan, and State Senator Bobby Hanig, R-Currituck.  

Speaking of Republicans, Tyrrell County’s Republican Party will hold its annual convention starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 21, at Stick Burnin’ BBQ, 203 Main Street, Columbia. Meal is about $15 – good food!  

If Tyrrell County’s Democrats have an annual convention, send me a note, and that’ll be included in a future news report.  

In other matters, when the Tyrrell County Commission shared the news about the state’s proposed limits on commercial crabbing, that story echoed loudly across our region. Monday night, the Chowan County Commission adopted the Tyrrell Commission’s resolution opposing the limits on crabbing as did Hyde County. Other counties are sure to follow suit.  

If the proposed limits are set in place, at least a third — roughly 200 people of Columbia’s 600+ residents — will be out of work and that will affect not only the local seafood industry, but obliterate the local economy – grocery stores, gas stations, etc. 

To let the folks in Raleigh know what you’re thinking, the public may also submit written comments via the following methods:

• An online form accessible through the Marine Fisheries Commission Meetings webpage.
• Mail to Marine Fisheries Commission Meeting Comments, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, N.C. 28557.
• Dropped off at the Division of Marine Fisheries’ Morehead City Headquarters Office at 3441 Arendell St., Morehead City. 

Since it’s not the first time that the state has screwed with Tyrrell County, sometimes I get the impression that Raleigh would be happier if the county didn’t exist at all because of its small population with a large portion, a very large portion, of 53% of its land owned by the state – land that the county can’t earn tax revenue from. As I view it, state investment in local infrastructure in rural areas paves the way toward economic growth more so than pork projects for suburbia.

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In other news, per Michael L. Davenport, President Of The Genealogical And Historical Society, the Society will hold its March meeting on Sunday, March 23 at 2:30 p.m. Kip Tabb will be the speaker.

Tabb is a freelance journalist living on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Over his thirty-year career, he has written about the environment, politics, education, and much more. As he dug deeper into the fabric of everyday life in northeastern North Carolina, he became increasingly fascinated by the region’s history and the story that history tells about modern times.

Tabb’s presentation will look at how he conducts online research on the history pieces he has written. This is the most recently published history article he has written. It was written for the Coastal Review, the online publication of the North Carolina Coastal Federation.

If you wish to participate in the meeting via Zoom but haven’t yet had a chance to do so, please send a note to us at tyrrellcogenealogy@gmail.com with your preferred e-mail for your invitation to join the Zoom meeting. We need to have your request no later than the Saturday prior to the meeting.

To participate remotely in the Tyrrell County Genealogical and Historical Society meeting on 23 March, 2025 at 2:30 via Zoom, contact Joan Revell at tyrrellcogenealogy@gmail.com

The Tyrrell County Genealogical and Historical Society meets at the Senior Citizen’s Center, located at 406 Bridge Street, Columbia, NC. at 2:30 on the fourth Sunday of each month, except for November and December, All meetings are free and open to the public.

Last thing – a Tyrrell County history moment from the NC History Project: One prominent citizen from Tyrrell County was Edward Warren (1828-1893).  Warren was the son of an Edenton physician, and his parents cultivated within him a love for education and for medicine.  During the Civil War, Warren served as medical officer for the Confederate Navy only later to become the Surgeon General of North Carolina from 1862 until 1865.  In 1875, Warren moved to Egypt to become the personal doctor for an Egyptian khedive (a governor of a province).  After performing many surgeries for the Egyptian prince, Warren contracted an infection in his eyes, so he traveled to Paris, France for treatment.  While there, he established a practice. He never recovered from his eye sickness, however.  The Tyrell County native died in the City of Light on September 16, 1893.