the true story of the virginia/nc line

William Bryd Diaries of the Dividing Line Reveals the Truth About 18th Century Society.

What really happened in 1728 when North Carolina and Virginia created the colonial boundary we still use is a story filled with insight into the world of the 18th Century. The staid, repressed society that is sometimes depicted didn’t exist in this account. Kip Tabb writing for the Coastal Review Online digs into the dirt.

Map prepared by William Byrd for the Lords Proprietors showing the 1828 boundary through Currituck.
Map prepared by William Byrd for the Lords Proprietors showing the 1828 boundary through Currituck.

“At the turn of the 18th century, there was no love lost between the North Carolina and Virginia colonies.

Blackbeard was the scourge of the seas, and although he operated in North Carolina waters, somehow North Carolina authorities could never lay their hands on him. The enmity was exasperated in 1718 when Virginia Gov. Alexander Spotswood dispatched the Royal Navy to deal with the problem.”

[box type=”bio”] The rivalry was deep and the stakes high when Virginia and North Carolina established their borders. Read about the true tale of what happened in this article from the Coastal Review Online.[/box]