Originally named Freedom Hill, this town was settled by formerly enslaved Africans freed after the Civil War seeking self-determination and empowerment. Incorporated in 1885 and renamed Princeville, the city remains the oldest incorporated African American town in the United States. The town almost disappeared during the Great Migration of the early 1900s and its vulnerable ecological location on the Tar River has led to its near destruction from the Tar River floods from Hurricanes Floyd (1999) and Matthew (2016). The town also has resisted white-supremacist efforts to suppress its political voice. Given this history and vulnerability, grassroots efforts, as well as state-level efforts, are currently being garnered to revive a place where the residents have a strong commitment to community heritage and collectively remember their ongoing struggle to keep the town alive. However, there are challenges: resources for this monumental task are scarce; significant artifacts and documents have been lost; oral histories of the town need to be preserved; and the general public is not informed of this town’s significance, and are therefore not invested in its preservation, recovery, and inclusion into the broader North Carolina and American stories.
Historic Town Census 1870-1900
Information taken from Edgecombe County Census of 1880