Hertford is the hometown of baseball pitcher Catfish Hunter. Local lore claims its shape is unique in the US, but the Blaine Hill 'S' Bridge predates it by over a century. An swing bridge with S-shaped approaches is in use today. When the boat had passed, lines were used to haul the free end of the bridge in and reconnect it. When a boat came near and wanted passage, the bridge would be unhooked from one bank and allowed to float out of the way. The bridge that spanned the river was a floating bridge, made of steel and wood. Through the first part of the 20th century, Hertford thrived as a lumber town, making good use of the nearby river.

The area was settled soon afterwards, and a brick house on the site, the Newbold-White House, has been dated by dendrochronology to 1730 it is the oldest known brick structure in the state. County records show that the Yeopim chief Kalcacenin sold land to George Durant at the river mouth in March 1662, adjacent to land he had already sold to Samuel Pricklove. Hertford was originally incorporated in 1758 as the county seat for Perquimans County, first inhabited by the Yeopim Indians.

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