Shepard-Pruden Memorial Library

Shepard-Pruden Memorial Library was founded in 1921 by descendents of William Blount Shepard and William Dossey Pruden, prominent Edenton citizens in the latter part of the nineteenth century. The library was housed in the historic Cupola House.

In the 1950s, this library joined the Washington County and Tyrrell County libraries to form the Pettigrew Regional Library, part of North Carolina’s state-wide network of libraries. Over the last fifty years each of the libraries has grown significantly. Perquimans County Library joined the regional system in 1977 and Pettigrew Regional Library remains a four-county system. In the 1960s, town and county funding, local donations and a combination of state and federal grants made construction of the current building at 106 W. Water Street possible.

In the fall of 2006, ground was broken for a major expansion and renovation of Shepard-Pruden Memorial Library, which was completed in August 2008.