Pender County, North Carolina
Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.
At a glance
SummaryThe National Register of Historic Places includes 17 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1966. Most listings are in or near Burgaw, Topsail Beach, Wilmington.
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
Newspapers
Library of CongressNewspaper directory data for North Carolina is not yet loaded on this site. Browse Pender titles at the Library of Congress.
National Register of Historic Places
NPS NRHP9 of 17 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
17 listed properties
| Property | City | Listed |
|---|---|---|
| Ashe, Gov. Samuel, Grave | Rocky Point | 2001 |
| Bannerman House | Burgaw | 1974 |
| Belvidere Plantation House | Hampstead | 1982 |
| Burgaw Depot | Burgaw | 1986 |
| Burgaw Historic District | Burgaw | 1999 |
| Canetuck School | Currie | 2018 |
| Moore's Creek National Military Park (Boundary Increase) | Wilmington | 1987 |
| Moores Creek National Battlefield | Wilmington | 1966 |
| Pender County Courthouse | Burgaw | 1979 |
| Penderlea Homesteads Historic District | Willard | 2013 |
| Poplar Grove | Scotts Hill | 1979 |
| SS. Peter and Paul's Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church | St. Helena | 2017 |
| Shelter Neck Historic District | Burgaw | 2024 |
| Sloop Point | Vista | 1972 |
| US Naval Ordnance Testing Facility Assembly Building | Topsail Beach | 1993 |
| US Naval Ordnance Testing Facility Control Tower | Topsail Beach | 1993 |
| US Naval Ordnance Testing Facility Observation Tower No. 2 | Topsail Beach | 1993 |
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBPender was formed in 1875 (1875-02-16) from New Hanover.
PENDER created from NEW HANOVER.
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusPender County population from 1880 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12,468 | 13,381 | 14,788 | 17,710 | 18,423 | 18,508 | 22,215 | 41,082 | 60,203 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
National Park Service sites nearby
NPSPark units within about 40 km of the county centroid (from NPS Public POIs; no API key).
| Site | Type | Dist. |
|---|---|---|
| Moores Creek National Battlefield | Park unit | 21.3 km |
Source: NPS National Datasets / Public POIs. The NPS Developer API requires a free key and was not used.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS48 cemeteries and 1 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 48 of 48 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Alderman Cemetery |
| Ashe Cemetery |
| Atkinson Cemetery |
| Bell Cemetery |
| Brinson Cemetery |
| Browning Cemetery |
| Chadwick Cemetery |
| Croom Cemetery |
| Dew Cemetery |
| Flynn Cemetery |
| Garrisons Cemetery |
| Gurganus Cemetery |
| Hawes Cemetery |
| Henry Cemetery |
| Herring Cemetery |
| Herring Cemetery |
| Hocutt Cemetery |
| Hunt Cemetery |
| Isom Cemetery |
| Lamb Cemetery |
| Larkins Cemetery |
| Larkins Cemetery |
| Lewis Cemetery |
| Long Bluff Cemetery |
| Long Cemetery |
| Malpass Cemetery |
| Malpass Cemetery |
| Malpass Cemetery |
| Malpass Cemetery |
| Marshburn Cemetery |
| Miller Cemetery |
| Moore Cemetery |
| Newtown Cemetery |
| Page Cemetery |
| Parker Cemetery |
| Poplar Grove Plantation Cemetery |
| Rhyne Grave |
| Rileys Creek Cemetery |
| Riverview Memorial Park |
| Sheman Cemetery |
| Simpson Cemetery |
| Smith Cemetery |
| Walker Cemetery |
| Walker Cemetery |
| White Cemetery |
| White Cemetery |
| Wilton Cemetery |
| Woodcock Cemetery |
Historical populated places — 1 of 1
| Name |
|---|
| Exeter |
Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.
Civil War battlefields nearby
ABPPAmerican Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) Civil War study areas near this county.
| Battlefield | Study acres | Dist. |
|---|---|---|
| Wilmington | 9,862 | 34.3 km |
Source: NPS American Battlefield Protection Program Civil War Study Areas (public ArcGIS feature service).
Historical markers
HMdb linkMarker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.
Search HMdb for Pender County, North Carolina
Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.