YOU MIGHT JUST STAY AWHILE: Local officials are confident expanding manufacturing jobs and a changing downtown area will better expose Tarboro to newcomers.

The town of Tarboro has two slogans, each with a message about the city's metamorphosis into an energetic settlement for families, visitors, new industry and private business.

"Our History Is Just the Beginning," the greeting on the town website, alludes to Tarboro's first inhabitants in 1733, its visit from George Washington in 1791, the role it held as a Civil War river port and its recognition by the National Park Service in 1977, when its historic district landed on the National Register of Historic Places.

But Tarboro, on the banks of the Tar River and 95 miles from the Atlantic, has had its struggles. Hurricane Floyd flooded the region and washed out roads in 1999, and Hurricane Matthew reciprocated in 2016 with rising tides pushing in from the Pamlico Sound. Census data shows Tarboro's population dropped by about 500 from 2010 to 2018, leaving the Edgecombe County seat with 10,844 residents. Initiatives seem vital.

"Our history since the 1760s is really important, and we have some phenomenal architecture and things that have been really interesting for us in the past, and we're expanding from that," says Catherine Grimm, Tarboro's planning director. "You have to give a lot of credit to businesses that have been longstanding in the area. They've stuck with it through hard economic times, they're in for the long run, and the town is appreciative of what they've sacrificed personally to keep going. And that's been an inspiration to new businesses trying to open up."

The second slogan, "You Might Just Stay Awhile," ushers in new optimism--an engaging interest in downtown, the promise of new jobs, and a perpetual calendar of concerts, parades and celebrations.

Last May, the N.C. Department of Commerce Rural Economic Development Division, with the North Carolina Main Street & Rural Planning Center, assisted Tarboro in devising a five-year economic-development strategic plan through 2023. Residents, business owners, town staff members, commissioners and others joined voices to look at the city's weaknesses, strengths, goals and opportunities.

Tarboro native Tina Parker, former director of Edgecombe Community College's Small Business Center, was hired by Tarboro in 2018 as the commercial development and Main Street coordinator to fulfill the city's obligations as part of the Main Street America program, which encourages economic development. Sept. 15 will mark the city's 40th year with the program, and a downtown celebration is planned.

"One...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT