North Carolina was originally a naval stores colony—that is, the blanket of longleaf pines that covered the coastal plain was used by the British Navy for ships' masts and the pine pitch was used to manufacture tar caulking for vessels.

The river derives its name from its historic use as a major route for tar-laden barges as they headed to the sea.

Recent research conducted by East Carolina University, Greenville and Pitt County historians has uncovered documentation noting that before the Civil War, the North Carolina Legislature had appropriated funds to construct dams and locks on the Tar River in an attempt to facilitate almost year-round navigation for the farm products and naval stores shipping plus passenger boats which were travelling between Tarboro, Greenville, and Washington.

As the Confederates prepared to evacuate Washington, NC, in March 1862, they sent squads up and down the Tar River to destroy all the stocks of cotton and naval stores which had been prepared by the small farms along the river, to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Union soldiers.

Sound Rivers, an environmental organization dedicated to the protection of the Tar and Neuse watersheds, maintains fifteen camping platforms and campsites for recreation along the course of the Tar-Pamlico Water Trail.