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The Tar-Pamlico River is one of only four river basins that are completely contained within the state on North Carolina and is the fourth largest river in the state. The main stem of the river is 180 miles long and contains 2,335 stream miles. The river basin takes up 5571 square miles and includes portions of 16 counties: Person, Granville, Vance, Warren, Franklin, Halifax, Wilson, Nash, Edgecombe, Martin, Pitt, Beaufort, Washington, Pamlico, Hyde and Dare. Of these only Franklin, Edgecombe and Beaufort counties are almost completely contained within the Tar-Pam watershed.
The Tar-Pamlico River is made up of two ecologically and geographically distinct portions with different names. The upper portion, the Tar River, originates in Person County as a freshwater spring and flows southeast about 140 miles to Washington, NC. The Tar River is generally believed to be named so because the pine forest of the area were once an important source of tar and other naval stores. The Tar’s basin makes up about 75% of the watershed and drains over 3750 square miles of mostly agricultural land. The main stem of the upper river flows through Louisburg, Rocky Mount, Tarboro and Greenville and provide drinking water for these communities. Its major tributaries are Swift, Fishing and Tranters creeks and Cokey Swamp.
At Washington the name changes to the Pamlico River, a name apparently derived from the tribal name of local Native Americans, the Pamticoughs. As the river flows past Washington it becomes an estuary and is characterized by a wide, shallow bed and brackish water. Here salt water from the ocean mixes with fresh, inland water flowing down the Tar. The Pamlico drains a watershed of about 1250 square miles and include the 30-mile long Pungo River, its main tributary. Pamlico waters do not have a constant flow; its current is driven by the wind and, to a lesser degree, lunar tides. So, at times the water is moving east toward the Pamlico Sound and at others it is heading westerly towards the Tar River. From Washington the Pamlico flows 40 miles to its confluence with the Pamlico Sound. The Pamlico Sound is the largest body of water behind barrier islands in the world and along with the Albemarle Sound to its north makes up the second largest estuary in the United States.
