Early Land Transactions (1660–1700)

The Albemarle region, including the Yeopim River area, contains some of the earliest land deeds in North Carolina.

1660 – Nathaniel Batts Purchase

In 1660, Kiscutanewh, chief of the Yeopim Indians, granted land along the Pasquotank River to early trader Nathaniel Batts. The transaction was recorded in Virginia because the Albemarle settlements were still administered from that colony at the time.

Batts later owned land near the mouth of the Yeopim River at Albemarle Sound, including Heriots Island, which became known as Batts Island.

1662 – The Durant Deed

Another major transaction occurred in 1662 when Yeopim chief Kilcocanen granted land along the Perquimans River to George Durant.

This document, known as the Durant Deed, is widely considered the oldest surviving land deed in North Carolina.

Durant’s land became known as Durant’s Neck, and settlement quickly expanded around Albemarle Sound afterward.

Growth of the Albemarle Colony

By the late 1600s, settlers from Virginia were moving south into the Albemarle region in increasing numbers.

Colonial records show that by 1663 the Albemarle settlement had already spread from the Chowan River to Currituck Sound, forming the first permanent English communities in North Carolina.

The area that later became Chowan County was organized in 1668 as Shaftesbury Precinct and later renamed Chowan Precinct around 1681.

The 1681 James Long Grant

Historical records associated with the Snug Harbor area note that a tract along the Yeopim River was granted to James Long in 1681.

This grant occurred during a period when the Lords Proprietors of Carolina were issuing land patents to encourage settlement in the Albemarle region.

Most of these land patents were described using natural landmarks such as:

creeks
river bends
swamps
cypress stands
oak ridges

Large tracts were then divided among later landowners through inheritance and sale.

Over time, these parcels gradually became the farmland and timber tracts that covered the Yeopim River peninsula during the 1700s and 1800s.

The Yeopim Reservation (1704)

As colonial settlement expanded, the Yeopim Indians protested encroachment onto their land.

In response, the colonial government established a 10,240-acre reservation for the tribe in 1704 along the North River.

The agreement required only a symbolic payment of one ear of corn each year as quitrent to the colonial government.

Over the next decades:

1723: the tribe sold 640 acres of the reservation
1739: they petitioned to sell their remaining lands freely

By the mid-1700s the Yeopim tribe had largely disappeared from colonial records as a distinct group.

Agricultural Estates Along the Yeopim River (1700s–1800s)

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Yeopim River became lined with farms and plantations that relied on river transport.

Crops commonly grown in the Albemarle region included:

tobacco
corn
wheat
peas and beans
livestock

Small landings and docks were built along the river so that farm products could be shipped by boat to markets in nearby towns such as Edenton, one of the earliest ports in the colony.

During this period the peninsula that now contains Snug Harbor was known locally by several names:

Point Pleasant (18th century)
Mardre’s Point (19th century)
Road Landing

These names likely referred to small river landings used by local farmers.

Ownership in the 20th Century

By the early twentieth century, the land between Yeopim River and Yeopim Creek had become part of the property owned by Lester and Loraine Simpson.

The Simpsons operated a marina and waterfront property, and much of the surrounding land remained wooded or used for small farms.

Creation of Snug Harbor (1964)

In 1964, developers Ralph W. Blades and Frank Habit of Elizabeth City purchased approximately 100 acres from the Simpson family through the Yeopim Beach Corporation.

The land was subdivided into residential lots to create a waterfront community called Snug Harbor.

Initial development included:

Sections A, B, C, and D
a beach and park area
roads and utilities

Later purchases from the Nixon–Whidbee heirs allowed expansion into additional sections along the Yeopim River.

In 1975, ownership and management of the development were transferred to the Snug Harbor Property Owners Association.