History

The county was formed in 1759 from parts of Bertie County, Chowan County, and Northampton County. It was named for Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Earl of Hertford, later 1st Marquess of Hertford.
In 1779 the northeastern part of Hertford County was combined with parts of Chowan County and Perquimans County to form Gates County.
Hertford County is home of the Meherrin Indian Tribe. The Tribe once had a six mile square Reservation at Parker's Ferry and another six mile square Reservation in the Union/Beechwood Country Club/Little California area. The Tribe today has an enrollment of aproximently 900 members, and is State Recognized. They are also seeking Federal Recognition.
The Meherrin Tribe has an Annual Pow Wow at the end of October.

Business and industry
Several large employers are located in Hertford County, including a privately run federal prison,Chowan University, a Nucor steel mill, several Perdue facilities, an aluminum extrusion facility in Winton, and a lumber processing facility in Ahoskie. These industries, combined with a fairly typical range of local retail, restaurant and service businesses, combine to give Hertford County one of the lowest unemployment rates in Northeastern North Carolina - an area which has historically lagged behind the rest of the state in terms of economic development.
It is served by the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald Newspaper.

Law and government
Hertford County is a member of the Mid-East Commission regional council of governments.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 360 square miles (933 km²), of which, 353 square miles (915 km²) of it is land and 7 square miles (19 km²) of it (1.99%) is water

Townships
The county is divided into six townships: Ahoskie, Como, Harrellsville, Murfreesboro, St. Johns and Winton.

Towns

• Ahoskie
• Cofield
• Como
• Harrellsville
• Murfreesboro
• Winton