| Dirty John Creek | rises in W Macon County and flows SW into Jarrett Creek. |
| Dish Knob | NE McDowell County near the Burke County line. Alt. 1,800. |
| Dismal | community in W Sampson County served by post office, 1869-1904. |
| Dismal Bay | sand-filled bay in S Sampson County N of Keiths Bay. See also Carolina Bays. |
| Dismal Branch | rises in S Johnston County and flows SE into Johnson Swamp. |
| Dismal Branch | rises in Little Dismal Swamp, SW Johnston County, and flows SW into Mingo Swamp. |
| Dismal Cove | SW Macon County at the head of Pat Stable Branch. |
| Dismal Creek | rises in W Henderson County and flows NW into Crab Creek. |
| Dismal Mountain | E Jackson County, extends NE from Tuckasegee River to Neddie Creek. |
| Dismal Swamp | marsh, lake, and cypress-filled area approx. 30 mi. long and 10 mi. wide, largely in SE Virginia but partially in Gates, Pasquotank, Camden, and Currituck Counties. Appears on the Dudley map, 1647, as "Terra Bassa" (low land) and on the Comberford map, 1657, as "a swampy wilderness." Present name might have been known as early as 1715, when the term "dismal swamp" was applied to the Pasquotank County area by John Talbot in a letter to John Urmston, a missionary to the colony for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Shown on the Moseley map, 1733, as Great Dismal Swamp (the name it is sometimes called today) and as Dismal Swamp on the Mitchell map, 1755. George Washington initiated surveys in 1763 for a canal. The Intracoastal Waterway now passes through the swamp. Also called The Desert in North Carolina. |