The etymology of the word Ahoskie, which was originally spelled "Ahotsky", was from the Wyanoke Indians, who entered the Hertford County area at the beginning of European settlement.

The first passenger train passed through town on the newly opened tracks of the Norfolk and Carolina line in 1890.

By the time of its incorporation on January 24, 1893, Ahoskie had grown to include several stores, a saw mill and gin, a one-room school and a Baptist church.

Other industries that flourished in the town's early days included an ice plant, a laundry operated by a wandering Chinese man, and a number of horse and mule exchanges and sales stables.

The county gave an acre of land on which the first Black school in Ahoskie was built, three years after the Civil War.

By 1939, the town had grown to include a number of Black-owned businesses including five grocery stores, three barber shops, three cafes, a dry goods store, a millinery shop, three hairdressers, three seamstresses, a doctor, a stenographer, two funeral homes and a garage.

The Atlantic District Fair Association represented the economic interests of the town's Black community.

The leading citizens of the town hosted a breakfast at the Manhattan hotel for Col. William F. Cody, who expressed his deep appreciation for the hospitality accorded to him.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 4.35 square miles, all land.

In the late 1990s, the town of Ahoskie donated a former elementary school to Shaw University, based in Raleigh.

center, to help improve and enhance the vocational and educational skills of individuals in lower-class communities in the surrounding area.