Roanoke River
Early channel of trade, its valley long an area of plantations. Frequent floods until 1952, since controlled by Kerr Dam. Old name was "Moratuck."
This historical marker is located on US 13/17 at Roanoke River bridge in Williamston in Martin County. It was originally erected in 1954. The current marker is dated 1982.
The North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources has an essay on the Roanoke River, from which the following is excerpted:
Beginning in Montgomery County, Virginia, at the junction of North and South Fork, the Roanoke River enters North Carolina in Warren County and flows through Halifax, Northampton, Bertie, Martin, Washington Counties, before emptying into Batchelor’s Bay of Albemarle Sound. The Roanoke River is one of the five largest rivers in the Southeast that flows from the foothills of the Appalachian into the Atlantic. For North Carolina’s earliest settlers it was a channel of trade. Settlers were attracted to the Roanoke River Valley because of the fertile soil. Along the river in Halifax County, the Coastal Plain and the Piedmont Region meet in a fall line, creating rapids and waterfalls on the Roanoke River.
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