Perquimans County Land and Farms

Farms and land in Perquimans County are attracting a growing number of investors and residents due to it rural lifestyle and its access to US Highway 17 that leads to other transportation corridors. The 329-square-mile county includes 82 square miles of waterways and is located in the Coastal Plain. Perquimans County land is rich in natural resources and historic heritage. It has a population of 13,500, and many of those are retirees drawn to its laid-back lifestyle. Wages and cost of living are low and since the loss of its textile and manufacturing base in the late 1990s. Seventy percent of the workers leave the county for work. About 80,000 acres is farmland. Cropland makes up about 93% of that, and crops produce about 58% of agricultural sales while livestock and poultry account for 42%. Hunters stalk bear, deer and turkeys. Farmers often create impoundments to attract waterfowl. Fishermen line the banks of the Perquimans River to catch speckled trout, speckled perch and flounder. The Town of Hertford is on the National Register of Historic Places, and the nearby Newbold-White House is the oldest structure in the state open to the public. The county is bordered by Pasquotank, Chowan and Gates counties. Perquimans County Schools provides K-12 public education. Elizabeth City State University, Mid-Atlantic Christian University and College of the Albemarle in neighboring Pasquotank County offer high learning.