New Hanover County, North Carolina


New Hanover County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 225,702. The county seat is Wilmington. Though the second-smallest county in North Carolina by land area, it is one of the most populous counties, as Wilmington is one of the largest communities in the state. The county was created in 1729 as New Hanover Precinct and gained county status in 1739. New Hanover County is included in the Wilmington, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which also includes neighboring Pender and Brunswick counties.

History

Early history

Prior to European settlement, New Hanover county was populated by two Native American tribes, namely the Cape Fear Indians and the Waccamaw Siouan Indians. Proof of settlement dates back to roughly 8000 BC, and Natives resided intermittently in the area throughout the first millennium. The first European to visit the area was the Italian-born French explorer Giovanni da Verrazano in 1524, who reported his findings back to France, which took no further action. In 1526, Spaniard Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón led an expedition to the area, wrecking a ship in the process but also moving on from the area. In 1662, a New England expedition led by captain William Hilton traveled to the area, seeking to find a more temperate climate to establish a Puritan colony. After reporting favorable findings, a group of settlers arrived in the area, naming it "Cape Fear," but they too departed shortly for unknown reasons. Repeated failures to establish a settlement led to the area being left uninhabited for another century, and even the Cape Fear Indians, decimated by war and tribal infighting, were eventually forced to leave.
Finally being permanently settled in 1726, the county was formed in 1729 as New Hanover Precinct of Bath County, from Craven Precinct. It was named for the House of Hanover, a German royal family then ruling Great Britain. In 1734, parts of New Hanover Precinct became Bladen Precinct and Onslow Precinct. With the abolition of Bath County in 1739, all of its constituent precincts became counties. In 1750, the northern part of New Hanover County became Duplin County. In 1764, another part of New Hanover County was combined with part of Bladen County to form Brunswick County. Finally, in 1875, the separation of northern New Hanover County to form Pender County reduced it to its present dimensions. Originally designated as one of North Carolina's five ports, the Port of Brunswick quickly developed into the state's most important port. During this time, the city of Wilmington was formed, quickly surpassing Brunswick as the dominant city in the county and becoming the county seat. During this time, the county developed plantations, largely for the cultivation of tobacco and other commodity crops by enslaved African Americans. Despite this, the maritime nature of the county and relatively poor agricultural conditions meant that the plantation economy never managed to eclipse the trade economy.

Revolutionary War and Antebellum Period

Following the French and Indian War, the English government instituted the Stamp Act in order to pay for additional security measures. Enraged, locals marched to Brunswick and placed governor William Tryon under virtual house arrest, marking one of the first major protests against the crown. In 1776, Continental Army colonel James Moore crushed Loyalist forces at the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, and the United States Declaration of Independence followed five months later. The British only managed to recapture Wilmington five years later, only to be bloodlessly recaptured by Americans following the surrender of General Charles Cornwallis.
During the Antebellum Period, New Hanover County steadily grew in importance as the growth of interior North Carolina and the opening of trade with the Caribbean led to a surge in trade, mainly conducted from the Port of Wilmington, which had been renamed after Brunswick was depopulated. Improvements were done to the Cape Fear River in order to allow easier navigability, and the arrival of the steamboat in 1817 and the railroad in 1840 led to the explosive growth of Wilmington. By 1860, Wilmington had 4 of the 36 banks in the state.

Civil War and Reconstruction

By 1860, the county seat and county were majority-black in population, with most of those people enslaved. Wilmington was of crucial importance to the Confederacy as a blockade-running center, as its port allowed supplies to be sent directly via the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad to resupply Confederate troops in the north. Confederates established Fort Fisher, which was seen by both sides as second in importance only to Richmond. Some of the closing battles of the American Civil War took place in this county, including the Second Battle of Fort Fisher and the Battle of Wilmington, and the fall of Wilmington marked the last days of the Confederacy.
Following the end of the war, Wilmington was placed under military rule. A new constitution granting the vote to freedmen was established in 1868, and White Democrats were resentful when freedmen were given the vote. Democrats quickly regained control of state government, and Wilmington was gerrymandered to ensure Democratic mayoralties. Following the Reconstruction era, white Democrats regained control of the state legislature. Violence by whites against blacks increased in the late 19th century, with 22 lynching deaths of African Americans recorded before the mid-20th century.
Racial terrorism on a larger scale took place in the Wilmington Insurrection of 1898, when a group of white Democrats rejected a duly elected, biracial city government. After overthrowing the Fusionist government, the mayor and city council, they led mobs that rioted and attacked the city's black neighborhoods and residents. A total of 60 to 300 blacks are believed to have been killed in the rioting, leaders were driven out of the city, and the presses of a black-owned newspaper were destroyed, along with many houses and businesses. Soon after, the state passed a new constitution raising barriers to voter registration: this effectively disenfranchised most blacks and imposed Jim Crow laws, destroying the political relevance of both the Black population and the Republican Party.

Modern times

Wilmington's economy was decimated during Reconstruction due to the declining importance of the cotton trade, for which Wilmington had been a major port. During World War I, Wilmington got some brief respite due to the shipbuilding industry, although this was short-lived. Wilmington's economy continued to stutter through the Great Depression, and World War II saw a rebound for the city's economy. The North Carolina Shipbuilding Company was established in 1941, and Wilmington became one of the nation's most crucial shipyards during the war, with its economy continuing to grow after the war had ended.
The growth of America's interstate freeways and the onset of the trucking industry continued to benefit New Hanover County, and during the post-war period the large number of returning soldiers joined the newfound labor force in suburbanizing and growing the county. By the 1960s, New Hanover County had a diversified economy, and historic preservation movements led to the revitalization of the county. The USS North Carolina was berthed in Wilmington as a museum ship in 1961, which led to a downtown revitalization effort and supercharged the city's tourist economy. The University of North Carolina Wilmington was granted university status in 1969, and is estimated to contribute billions yearly to the county's economy.
Beginning in the 1980s, the city saw an explosion in population due to the rapidly growing film industry. The establishment of De Laurentiis Entertainment Group led to a major studio presence in the county, and the area is now known as "Hollywood East." This growth was compounded by the construction of Interstate 40, which connected the city and its port to the rest of the country via interstate for the first time. This growth has continued into the 21st century, and was even further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, after which the county saw an influx of remote workers and retirees, while UNC Wilmington is the fastest growing campus in the UNC system. New Hanover County is now nearly completely developed, and continues to rank in the top 10 North Carolinian counties for GDP growth.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. It is the second-smallest county in North Carolina by land area.

State and local protected areas/sites