Granville County was formed in 1746 from Edgecombe County and was named in honor of John Carteret, Earl of Granville, who owned the Granville District. The county is in the northeastern section of the state and is bounded by Vance, Wake, Durham, and Person counties in North Carolina and the state of Virginia forms its northern border. The present land area is 537 square miles and the 2010 census reported a population of 59,916. The first county seat was called Granville Court House; however, in 1748 the location selected became unsatisfactory and the courthouse was ordered to be located on a branch of Tar River called Tabbs Creek. In 1811, Oxford became the county seat and it was incorporated in 1816. More information about the county’s history is available on the Granville County Historical Society’s web site here.
The year 2021 marks Granville County’s 275th Anniversary. County staff and volunteers have been working since early 2020 to plan appropriate festivities to mark this special occasion. To learn more about the planning process and the commemorative book commissioned from Lewis Bowling, visit the celebration’s information page at www.granvillecounty.org/275YearCelebration.
More detailed information on the history of Granville County is available on the Granville County Historical Society’s web site at this link.