#BladenCounty February 12

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

North Carolina is a basically a rural state with 70 of its 100 counties being classified as rural. That includes BLADEN County.

In 1734 BLADEN became a precinct. It was part of Bath County and actually got carved out of New Hanover precinct. In 1739 Bath County was abolished and all the precinct became a county including BLADEN. Bath County was formed in 1696 and originally had 3 precincts Pamplicough, Wyckham and Archdale. Bath is one of five counties that have been abolished or divided in the history of the state

What makes BLADEN County so interesting is that 55 of North Carolina 100 counties were once a part of BLADEN. That is why it is dubbed the “Mother County” of North Carolina.

Just eleven years after it was formed the first carve out of BLADEN took place in 1750. My county of Robeson took place in 1787 when a western portion was carved out. Despite all the numerous carve outs that occurred between 1750 and 1808 BLADEN is still the fourth largest county in North Carolina. That is pretty remarkable considering Robeson and Columbus are ranked #1 and #3 in NC land mass and they were once part of BLADEN.

BLADEN County is home to many Carolina Bays. Carolina Bays are oval-shaped depressions that can be hundreds of feet or miles wide and between 15 to 50 feet deep. BLADEN County has more of these bays than any other county in the state. Our State Magazine has done a feature on some of these lakes.

On a personal note I am grateful for the friends I have from BLADEN County. The list of people I consider friends from BLADEN would be rather long but Mac Campbell is at the top of the list.

The county also has two dynamic government leaders I admire in Sylvia Campbell (Mayor of Elizabethtown NC) and Greg Martin (Bladen County Manager).

Rural counties like BLADEN are an important part of North Carolina’s history and more importantly need to be part of its future.