10 | October | 2009 | In Search of Mayberry

“Columbia, Tyrrell County is home to tens of thousands of acres of protected lands, 85% of the entire county, just waiting for you to explore! The ancient maritime forests remind us of time before human encroachment. You may be rewarded with an awe inspiring glimpse of soaring bald eagles or hear the cries of the parent ospreys protecting their huge nest perch precariously high in the overhead boughs. Wetlands provide critical habitat for more than 20 endangered, rare and threatened species including free roaming Red Wolves. So leave your car and put your feet on the earth. Turn off your phone and listen to the chatter of the birds. Dock your motor boat, Jet Ski and wave runner, put in a canoe and paddle the water to a slower pace and listen to the rhythms of your heart and breath.

Columbia on the Scuppernong features one of North Carolina’s most picturesque waterfronts and offers protected, deep-water anchorages along the town docks and marinas. In addition to the beautiful Scuppernong River, Tyrrell County is bordered on the north by the Albemarle Sound, the East Coast’s largest estuary and to the east by the Alligator River and sunsets to die for. Tyrrell County was formed in 1729 from Chowan, Bertie, Currituck and Pasquotank counties. Named for Sir John Tyrrell, one of the Lords Proprietors of the Carolina colony. Tyrrell County’s boundaries originally stretched westward from Roanoke Island to near present-day Tarboro.
In 1870 the territory was divided and resulted in what is now known as Tyrrell, Martin, Washington, and Dare counties. Elizabethtown, later renamed Columbia, was established on the banks of the Scuppernong River in 1793 and became the Tyrrell County seat in 1799.