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Early Religious and Educational Development (1.2.4)

The religious life in Elizabeth City during its frrst years was loosely organized. On March 16, 1804, the Methodist bishop Francis Asbury preached at the courthouse and recorded that "Many heard, but few felt." It is believed, nonetheless, that a Methodist Society was organized to some degree at this time (Saunders 1982, 4-5). The congregation of Knobbscrook Baptist Church became Elizabeth City's first formally organized church when it relocated to their present West Main Street site in 1805-1806; the name was changed to Elizabeth City Baptist Church in 1815 (Outlaw 1961, 17).

The only other known religious activity in the Elizabeth City vicinity during this period concerned the Society of Friends, or Quakers. While the Quakers were the earliest and most prominent religious denomination in Pasquotank County, their strength lay in the southern part of the county and not near Elizabeth City. In 1795 a meeting, later known as the Narrows Meeting, was established near the mill of Abel Trueblood on Charles Creek. Additional land was acquired in 1832 for a cemetery at what is now the southeast corner of Peartree Road and Tatem Lane, which is situated across from Hollywood Cemetery about six-tenths of a mile south of the courthouse. The Narrows Meeting ceased in 1839, and in 1844 the church property, except for the enclosed graveyard, was sold to the school committee for District 5 (Butchko 1989, 5-6, 15; Deed Book N, p. 450; Deed Book AA, p.84; Deed Book EE, p. 456).

The private academy movement that gained momentum in North Carolina early in the nineteenth century resulted in the chartering of the Elizabeth City Academy in 1807. Ten men, each one a prominent area resident, were named by the General Assembly as trustees for the school. However, there is no further record of this school and it may never have held classes.(Griffin 1970, 110).