Before it Was - Tarboro Town Common

If you’ve spent time in Tarboro, chances are you’ve passed beneath the trees of the Town Common. Today, it’s one of the town’s most recognizable green spaces—but its history stretches back more than 260 years, to the very beginning of Tarboro itself.

When Tarboro, originally incorporated as Tarborough, was established in 1760, the Town Common was already part of the plan. Joseph Howell sold 150 acres for the establishment of the town, with 50 acres designated for public use as a common.

That means the Town Common wasn’t created as Tarboro grew. It was created with Tarboro.

In its early years, the Common served practical purposes for the community, including livestock grazing, military practice and general public use. It was also much larger than the green space residents recognize today, with early maps showing common land along the north, south and west sides of the original town.

As Tarboro developed, portions of those original 50 acres were used for other purposes, gradually changing the Common’s boundaries. Over time, the remaining space also became home to monuments, memorials and pieces of local history.

One of those is the Norfleet Cotton Press, dating to around 1840. Originally used for pressing fruit and later converted for cotton use, the historic press eventually found a home on the Town Common and remains a connection to Edgecombe County’s agricultural past.

In 1970, the Tarboro Town Common was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, recognizing the significance of a public space that had been part of the community since its founding.

Today, the Common may look different than it did in 1760, but its original purpose hasn't disappeared. More than two and a half centuries later, it remains what it was intended to be from the beginning: a space for the community.

Before it was the Town Common we recognize today, it was part of the original vision for Tarboro—and more than 260 years later, it remains part of the town’s story.