Murfreesboro, NC is located the old Albemarle region of North Carolina on the south side of the Meherrin River on a high bluff about 80 feet above the river. It was at head of navigation for sea-going vessels on the Albermarle Sound. Prior to incorporation, it was known as Murfree’s Landing. William Murfree donated the land for the town. The town of Murfressboro, TN was founded by another member of the same family, Col. Hardy Murfree and named for him. The Fleming family (my mother's side) and related families lived there for several generations and were there during the Civil War. Murfreesboro, NC was designated by Congress in 1790 as an official port of entry, and the customs records indicate a profitable three-cornered trade with New England and the West Indies. The vessels and their cargoes were mostly owned by captains from New England, many of whom put down roots here and impressed their outlook on the new town in ways that have not entirely vanished to this day.
The Murfreesboro area was first settled during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when the principal inhabitants were several Indian tribes such as the Chowanokes. Murfreesboro, NC is the home of Chowan College where my grandfather Albert Ives taught from 1905 to 1909. This is where he met Gladys Sharp. In 1825 Marquis de La Fayette, general in the revolution, visited the town and was given a large reception. During the Civil War, Union soldiers invaded the town on several occasions. They destroyed considerable property, carried any many of the valuables from town families, and burned many of the town records. Murfreesboro's Historic District contains many examples of houses and commercial buildings constructed in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries.
On the town web site on the historic district there is the Winborne Law Office/Country Store. Built in the late 1870’s, this building was used as a law office by several generations of the Winborne family, including B.B. Winborne, author of History of Hertford County. Originally located on the town’s Main Street, the building was moved to the Historic District in 1976. The first floor is furnished as a "country store" featuring items found in a store of this vintage.
Chowan College continues to do well. From college web site: Chowan College is a four-year co-educational institution in Murfreesboro, the second oldest of North Carolina’s seven Baptist colleges. It opened in 1848 as a four-year college for women, Chowan Baptist Female Institute. The Chowan Baptist Female Institute was renamed Chowan College in 1910, and began admitting male students in 1931. As one of the effects of the Great Depression, the college became a two-year institution in 1937. In 1992 the college returned to four-year status when it admitted a junior class