Halifax: The Town That Called for Independence First

The town of Halifax was chartered in seventeen fifty-seven on the Roanoke River and quickly became the political heart of colonial North Carolina. On April twelfth, seventeen seventy-six, the Fourth Provincial Congress met here and unanimously adopted a resolution that made North Carolina the first colony to formally authorize its delegates to vote for independence from England. The Halifax Resolves, as that document is known, predated the Declaration of Independence by nearly three months.

North Carolina's state flag still bears the date April twelve seventeen seventy-six in its honor. The town itself is a compact historic district where colonial-era buildings and the site of that congress still stand along quiet streets.