 Bath, the oldest town in North Carolina, was the first nominal capital from 1705 until 1722, when Edenton took over the role, but the colony had no permanent institutions of government until their establishment in the new capital New Bern in 1743.Raleigh became capital of North Carolina in 1792.The colony grew rapidly from a population of 100,000 in 1752 to 200,000 in 1765.