BRUNSWICK COUNTY

Brunswick was formed in 1764 from New Hanover and Bladen. It was named in honor of the town of Brunswick, which was named for King George I, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenberg. It is in the southeastern section of the State and is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the Cape Fear River, the state of South Carolina, and Columbus, Pender and New Hanover counties. The present land area is 854.79 square miles. The population from the 2010 Census was 107,431. Of that population, 89,193 were white, 12,291 were black or African American, 761 were American Indian, 579 were Asian, 38 were Pacific Islander and 2634 were of a different race. Another 1,935 were reported to be of two or more races and 5,549 were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Brunswick, established in 1745, was made a borough town in 1754, and when Brunswick County was established in 1764 it was made the county seat. In 1779 the county seat was authorized to be moved to the plantation of John Bell near Lockwood's Folly Bridge. In 1784 Walkersburg, named in honor of John Walker on whose land it was situated, was established. Provisions were made in the act for a courthouse and other public buildings to be established there. It was located near Deep Water Point. This act specified that the courts were to be held at the most convenient place until the courthouse was completed. It is doubtful that the act was put into effect because in 1808 an act was passed authorizing the removal of the courthouse from Lockwood's Folly to Smithville. Court was held at the courthouse from 1805-1858. The record does not indicate where the courthouse was. This town, established in 1792, was named in honor of Benjamin Smith, Governor of North Carolina, 1810-1811. In 1879 an effort to move the courthouse failed. In 1887 Smithville was changed to Southport. Southport served as the county seat until 1977 when the county seat was moved to Bolivia, following a referendum on the question.

Do you have digital photographs of Brunswick County to add to this slideshow?
To view this slideshow, Javascript must be enabled and Adobe Flash Player must be installed.

Parts of Brunswick County are in the Lumber River Basin and parts are in the Cape Fear River Basin. It is in the Coastal Plain region.

References:

"American Factfinder." 2011. U. S. Census Bureau. Online at http://factfinder2.census.gov/. Accessed 3/3/2011.

Corbitt, David L. 2000. The Formation of the North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943. Sixth printing. Raleigh: State Department of Archives and History.

Powell, William Stevens, and Michael R. Hill. 2010. The North Carolina gazetteer: a dictionary of Tar Heel places and their history. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Additional resources:

North Carolina Digital Collections. (Government & Heritage Library & NC State Archives)

NC LIVE resources

NC Natural Heritage Program database

WorldCat (Searches numerous library catalogs)