Edenton is located in Chowan County (of which it is the county seat) between Elizabethtown and Windsor along US Hwy 17 on the banks of the Chowan River of the Albemarle Sound near Hertford.
Edenton is often called the prettiest town on the North Carolina coast and attracts approximately 35,000 tourists annually. The town was established in the late seventeenth century and was incorporated in 1722.