Blog · October 14, 2026 · North Carolina
Gates County Plat Book (North Carolina)
What a Gates County plat book is, where to find one around Sunbury, and the free map that covers the gaps.
Main page: Gates County, NC GIS & Parcel Viewer (official map link, Gates County facts and neighboring maps).
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The printed Gates County plat book and the online parcel map answer the same question, who owns the land near Sunbury, in different ways. We'll cover what's in one, where Gates County copies turn up, and how the county's free map fills the gaps.
What a Gates County plat book is
Think of the Gates County plat book as a bound, printed version of ownership: township pages, owner names on each tract, and road maps for places like Gatesville. It's different from a recorded plat, which is the official survey drawing for a subdivision in Sunbury filed with the county.
Step one: the free Gates County viewer
For land around Sunbury, open the Gates County ArcGIS parcel map (an Esri ArcGIS web map); it's the map Gates County itself publishes. Most people find their Gates County tract fastest by searching an address in Sunbury, then clicking the outline. Our Gates County, NC page keeps the official link and the maps next door to Sunbury in one place.
Where Gates County plat books turn up
Private publishers have printed plat books for many rural counties, but editions for Gates County come and go; ask at the courthouse, the extension office or a farm supply store in Sunbury. Older editions are useful for family history around Gatesville, showing who held a farm decades ago.
Reading a Gates County atlas page
A typical atlas page for a township near Gatesville displays sections, roads and streams, with each ownership block labeled. Owner names in an older Gates County edition may be decades out of date, so confirm on the county map before contacting anyone near Eure. If you use a plat book for hunting permission near Gatesville, recheck the landowner on the county map first.
Editions, deeds and printouts
Farm families near Buckland often keep successive editions of the Gates County plat book, which together display how ownership shifted over decades. If you can't find a printed edition, a screenshot of each township from the county map works as a decent homemade atlas for the area around Buckland.
The Gates County economy in brief
County Business Patterns counted 122 business establishments in Gates County for 2022, led by other services, retail trade, and professional and technical services. Truck transportation and repair and maintenance make up an above-average share of Gates County businesses, a clue to how land around Gatesville gets used.
Gates County at a glance
Gatesville is the seat of Gates County and the hub for its land records. Unincorporated communities in the county, including Sunbury, Buckland, and Eason Crossroads, display up as small groups of parcels along the roads. Roughly 341 square miles of land and about 10,343 residents (2023 estimate) make up Gates County. Outside Buckland, most of the county map is farm, ranch or timber ground with large, irregular tracts.
Neighboring maps around Gates County
Gates County borders Camden County, Chowan County, Hertford County, Pasquotank County, and Perquimans County, and each keeps its own parcel map and records. Our North Carolina page links each map neighboring Gates County.
Deeds and plats behind the Gates County map
For a tract around Sunbury, the recorded documents sit with the Register of Deeds; the parcel map is built from them for taxes. For a lot near Buckland, the recorded plat and deed are with the Gates County Register of Deeds. A deed book and page or instrument number on the county record is the quickest route to request the document for a lot in Sunbury.
Current owners without a printed book
The Gates County ArcGIS parcel map works as a living Gates County plat book, with owner names and parcel lines over aerial photos of Gates County. Pair the county map with a road atlas for the back roads near Gatesville.
Quick answers for Gates County
Can I buy a new plat book for Gates County, North Carolina?
Editions come and go; ask at the courthouse, extension office or farm supply stores in Gatesville.
What is the difference between a plat book and a plat in Gates County?
No; a lot in Gatesville answers to its recorded plat, and the county atlas is a reference, nothing more.
Where can I find old plat books for Gates County, North Carolina?
Check the library in Gatesville, local historical groups and estate sales for older Gates County editions.
Should I use the Gates County, North Carolina parcel map instead of a plat book?
For current owners near Sunbury, yes; the Gates County ArcGIS parcel map updates as deeds are processed.
Can I use a plat book to find lot lines near Gatesville?
Only roughly; a Gates County plat book is a reference, so a boundary survey decides the real line.
Open the official Gates County, NC parcel map Gates County in the Platbookmapper directory
Not a survey. County GIS and tax parcel maps are assessment and planning layers. They are not a substitute for a recorded plat, deed, or licensed survey, especially for fences, setbacks, or boundary disputes.