Plymouth is the most populous town in Washington County, North Carolina, United States.

[4] Plymouth is located on the Roanoke River about seven miles (11 km) upriver from its mouth into the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina's Inner Banks region.

The Moratuc tribe of American Indians was living in a large settlement on Welch Creek near the current Domtar pulp mill site in 1585 when the area was explored by English settlers.

[9] Plymouth was established in 1787 by Arthur Rhodes on 100 acres (0.40 km2) of his Brick House plantation he subdivided into 172 lots.

The Confederate ironclad warship CSS Albemarle — and its eventual sinking on October 27, 1864, while moored at a dock in Plymouth — are the centerpieces of this history.

The geographical importance for the Northern forces of Plymouth's location at the mouth of the Roanoke River was the Union desire to push upriver and capture the vital Wilmington and Weldon Railroad line passing through Weldon, North Carolina, which would completely cut off the major supply line for General Robert E. Lee's army in Virginia from more southerly ports.

The fort held until April 10, 1865, one day after General Lee surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, at which point it was abandoned and its cannons were hurled into the Roanoke River.

[10] Plymouth State Normal School was established to educate African American teachers.

[11] The Port O'Plymouth History Museum, located in the circa 1923 former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad station in downtown Plymouth, has an excellent, nationally recognized collection of Civil War artifacts, including one of the most complete belt-buckle and button collections in the U.S. and a model of the ironclad ram CSS Albemarle.

In October 2009, Domtar announced the end of paper machine operations, and the mill will be converted to produce fluff pulp alone, with a 33% workforce reduction to about 360 employees.

[citation needed] The town is re-branding itself as a tourist destination to offset the reduction in paper-making employment, taking advantage of its natural environment, being surrounded by tracts of forests and swamplands.