Edenton-Windsor Loop

Overview

The Edenton-Windsor Loop is a figure-eight loop that begins and ends in Edenton, North Carolina’s first provincial capital. Throughout the route, travelers will visit many of the towns where North Carolina history was born from the establishment of the early settlers to the legend of the infamous Blackbeard. Along the way, motorists will cross the Chowan River. Named around 1657 for the Algonquin people who lived in the area, the river is nearly two miles wide at the crossing point. While crossing the bridge, if the water is low enough, travelers may notice regularly spaced poles in the water near the shoreline, which were used during the early days of the seine fishing industry (a type of net fishing that employs weights and buoys). Halfway through the route, motorists will have to cross the Cashie River on the Sans Souci Cable Ferry, one of the last two-car, cable-operated ferries in the state. Sans Souci, French for “without care or worry,” was the name of a plantation located nearby. The Cashie River, like most rivers in this area, empties into the Albemarle Sound. Europeans explored the Albemarle Sound as early as 1586, when it was called the Sea of Roanoke. Named for George Monck, the Duke of Albemarle, most of North Carolina’s earliest settlements may be found along its shores.