Albemarle Sound with the northern Outer Banks. Orbital photo courtesy of NASA.

Albemarle Sound is a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina in the United States located at the confluence of a group of rivers, including the Chowan and Roanoke. An estuary is a semi-enclosed Coastal body of Water with one or more Rivers or Streams flowing into it and with a free connection to the open North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Chowan River is a Blackwater river formed with the merging of Virginia's Blackwater and Nottoway rivers near the stateline between Virginia The Roanoke River is a river in southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States, 410 mi (660 km long It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Outer Banks, a long barrier peninsula upon which the town of Kitty Hawk is located, at the eastern edge of the sound. The Outer Banks is a 200-mile (320-km long string of narrow Barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina, on the east coast of the United States. Kitty Hawk is a town in Dare County, North Carolina, United States. Roanoke Island is situated at the southeastern corner of the sound, where it connects to Pamlico Sound. Roanoke Island is an island in Dare County near the coast of North Carolina, United States. Pamlico Sound (PAM-lik-o in North Carolina, is the largest Lagoon along the U Much of the water in the Albemarle Sound is brackish or fresh, as opposed to the saltwater of the ocean, as a result of river water pouring into the sound.

Some small portions of the Albemarle have been given their own "sound" names to distinguish these bodies of water from other parts of the large estuary. The Croatan Sound, for instance, lies between mainland Dare County and Roanoke Island. Croatan Sound is an Inlet in Dare County, North Carolina. It connects Pamlico Sound with Albemarle Sound, and is bordered to the east Dare County is a County located in the US state of North Carolina. The eastern shore of the island to the Outer Banks is commonly referred to as the Roanoke Sound. The Roanoke Sound is a sound that separates Roanoke Island from Bodie Island of the Outer Banks. The long stretch of water from near the Virginia state line south to around the Currituck County southern boundary is known as the Currituck Sound. The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state Currituck County is a County located in the US state of North Carolina. Currituck Sound is a protected Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in northeastern part of North Carolina.

The sound forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. In Geography a sound or seaway is a large sea or ocean Inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight, wider than a Fjord The Intracoastal Waterway is a 4800-km (3000-mile Waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. Its coast saw the first permanent English settlements in what became North Carolina, the Albemarle Settlements. The Albemarle Settlements were the first permanent English settlements in what is now North Carolina, made in the Albemarle Sound and Roanoke River regions Many inland tidewater communities along the Albemarle today are part of the Inner Banks region of the state. The Inner Banks is the inland coastal region of eastern North Carolina, an area on the East Coast of the United States that is 22227 square-miles (57568-km²

Norfolk Southern Railroad passenger train crosses the Albemarle Sound trestle in 1918

History

Before Europeans came to the Albemarle Sound, the Algonquian Indians lived in the region. This article is about the smaller railroad prior to 1981 For the present system which includes the old one see Norfolk Southern Railway. Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Algonquian (also Algonkian, and pronounced both and) languages are a subfamily of Native American languages that includes most of the languages in the Algic They traveled the sound in dugout canoes, and trapped fish. A dugout is a Boat which is basically a hollowed tree trunk Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. A fish trap is a Trap used for fishing Fish traps resembling a Fishing weir or a Lobster trap.

In 1586 the first European explorers sailed up the fifty-five mile length of the Albemarle Sound. Half a century later, the first European settlers came south from Virginia, establishing agricultural and trading colonies along the shores of the Sound. The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state The Albemarle Sound soon became a very important thoroughfare, with small trading ships called Coasters carrying cargo to and from other colonies, and larger merchant ships bringing spices, silks, and sugars from the West Indies in exchange for products such as tobacco (a major export of the southern colonies), herring, and lumber. The San Diego Coast Express Rail, or COASTER, is a Regional rail service that operates in the Central and Northern coastal regions of San Diego County California The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting Tobacco is an Agricultural product recognized as an addictive drug processed from the fresh Leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. Herring are small Oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the shallow temperate waters of the North Atlantic, the Baltic Sea, the North

Ferries were a common method of transportation through the swamps surrounding the Albemarle Sound throughout the history of the region. See also Merchant ship A ferry is a form of transport usually a Boat or Ship, used to carry (or ferry) passengers and One ferry that linked the towns of Edenton and Mackeys, North Carolina, continued in service from 1734 to 1938, when a bridge was built across the Sound. Edenton is a town in Chowan County, North Carolina, United States. Mackeys is a community in Washington County, North Carolina, United States. Year 1734 ( MDCCXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Another longer bridge of more than 3 miles in length was built in 1990. Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar)

Fishing was a major industry in the Albemarle Sound. In late spring, plantation farmers would fish for shad, striped bass, and herring. The shads or river herrings comprise the Genus Alosa, Fishes related to Herring in the family Clupeidae The striped bass ( Morone saxatilis, also called rock or rockfish is the state fish of Maryland, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Herring are small Oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the shallow temperate waters of the North Atlantic, the Baltic Sea, the North Nets used by these fishermen were sometimes enormous, with some more than a mile long, and were frequently manned 24 hours a day. Herring was cut and salted for export to Europe, while shad was packed in ice and shipped up the Chowan River to be sold in northern colonies. The Chowan River is a Blackwater river formed with the merging of Virginia's Blackwater and Nottoway rivers near the stateline between Virginia Regional striped bass tournaments attracted sport fishermen to the area, and it was considered by many to be the greatest striped bass fishery in the world.

Overfishing in recent years has depleted the fisheries of the Albemarle Sound by seventy percent.

See also

• USS Albemarle (AV-5)

External links

• Elizabeth City Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Elizabeth City Area CVB's Blog
• [1]

36°03′55″N 76°03′52″W / 36.06520, -76.06453