A European settlement near the Pamlico River in the 1690s led to the creation of Bath, North Carolina's first town, in 1705. By 1708, Bath consisted of 12 houses and about 50 people.

Trade in naval stores, furs, and tobacco was important, and Bath became the first port of entry into North Carolina.

In 1707, a grist mill and the colony's first shipyard were established in the town. A library sent to St. Thomas Parish in 1701 became the first public library in the colony.

Bath was also the haunt of Edward Teach, better known as the pirate "Blackbeard." An expedition of the British Navy killed him in a naval battle near Ocracoke in 1718.

Restoration efforts in Bath have saved the St. Thomas Church, the Palmer-Marsh House, Van Der Veer House (ca. 1790), and the Bonner House (ca. 1830). The original town limits are the boundaries for a National Register historic district.