Elizabeth City, city (2020 pop. 18,631), seat of Pasquotank co., NE N.C., a port of entry on the Pasquotank River (which, with the Dismal Swamp Canal, forms part of the Intracoastal Waterway); settled mid-1600s, inc. 1793. It is the largest city in the Albemarle Sound area, a trade and shipping center for the region's diversified farm products. There are shipyards, lumberyards, crabmeat processing plants, and varied manufactures. The area was first visited (1584) and mapped by a scouting expedition from Roanoke Island. The first General Assembly of Carolina met there in 1665. In the Civil War, Elizabeth City was occupied (1862) by Union troops and burned. It is the seat of Elizabeth City State Univ. and the College of the Albemarle. A large U.S. Coast Guard air station is nearby, as is Kitty Hawk.
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