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New Hanover County, North Carolina
Seal of New Hanover County, North Carolina
Seal
Map of North Carolina highlighting New Hanover County
Location in the state of North Carolina
Map of the U.S
North Carolina's location in the U.S.
Founded 1729
Seat Wilmington
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

328 sq mi (850 km²)
199 sq mi (515 km²)
129 sq mi (334 km²), 39.33%
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

225,702
805/sq mi (311/km²)
Website www.nhcgov.com

New Hanover County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2020, the population was 225,702. Its county seat is Wilmington[1].

The county is included in the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which also includes neighboring Brunswick and Pender counties.

History[]

The county was formed in 1729 as New Hanover Precinct of Bath County, from Craven Precinct. It was named for the House of Hanover, which was 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. Some of the closing battles of the American Civil War happened in the county with the Second Battle of Fort Fisher (the last major coastal stronghold of the Confederacy) and the Battle of Wilmington. The Wilmington Insurrection of 1898 and its establishment of Jim Crow laws closed out the 19th-Century with civil rights injustices which would last until the African-American Civil Rights Movement through the second half of the 20th century, three generations later. The insurrection was planned by a group of nine conspirators which included Hugh MacRae. He later donated land to New Hanover County for a park which was named for him. In the park still stands a plaque in his honor that does not mention his role in the 1898 insurrection.

Politics[]

Following the Civil War, New Hanover County was relatively Republican leaning, with it voting for the Republican candidate in all but one election from 1868 to 1896. However, it transitioned into a typical "Solid South" county between 1900 and 1968 with the exception of 1928, when Herbert Hoover carried it due to anti-Catholic sentiment against Democratic nominee Al Smith. However, Democratic strength began to erode in the 1950s: Adlai Stevenson carried it in 1952 by only 5.08%, again in 1956 by 3.94%, John F. Kennedy in 1960 by 14.84%, and Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 by 1.8%, before flipping to Richard Nixon in 1968. Between 1968 and 2016, only one Democrat – fellow Southerner Jimmy Carter in 1976 – would win the county until 2020 when it was narrowly carried by Joe Biden. In the lead-up to the 2020 election, it was considered a bellwether and swing county due to its high population of elderly and African American voters.[2]

United States presidential election results for New Hanover County, North Carolina[3]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 63,331 48.04% 66,138 50.17% 2,361 1.79%
2016 55,344 49.46% 50,979 45.56% 5,582 4.99%
2012 53,385 51.52% 48,668 46.96% 1,575 1.52%
2008 50,544 50.21% 49,145 48.82% 976 0.97%
2004 45,351 55.82% 35,572 43.78% 324 0.40%
2000 36,503 55.04% 29,292 44.17% 524 0.79%
1996 27,889 50.92% 22,839 41.70% 4,041 7.38%
1992 24,338 46.67% 20,291 38.91% 7,525 14.43%
1988 23,807 60.56% 15,401 39.18% 105 0.27%
1984 23,771 65.21% 12,591 34.54% 90 0.25%
1980 17,243 53.48% 13,670 42.40% 1,331 4.13%
1976 13,687 48.06% 14,504 50.93% 286 1.00%
1972 19,060 74.41% 5,894 23.01% 661 2.58%
1968 10,020 37.03% 7,750 28.64% 9,291 34.33%
1964 12,140 49.10% 12,584 50.90% 0 0.00%
1960 9,775 42.58% 13,182 57.42% 0 0.00%
1956 9,470 48.03% 10,247 51.97% 0 0.00%
1952 9,330 47.46% 10,330 52.54% 0 0.00%
1948 3,162 28.25% 5,364 47.92% 2,667 23.83%
1944 2,829 23.01% 9,467 76.99% 0 0.00%
1940 1,635 15.97% 8,600 84.03% 0 0.00%
1936 1,306 15.04% 7,379 84.96% 0 0.00%
1932 1,430 18.81% 6,030 79.33% 141 1.86%
1928 4,248 60.62% 2,760 39.38% 0 0.00%
1924 1,190 18.80% 4,735 74.80% 405 6.40%
1920 712 14.79% 4,102 85.21% 0 0.00%
1916 492 17.28% 2,355 82.72% 0 0.00%
1912 140 6.17% 2,021 89.11% 107 4.72%
1908 511 21.58% 1,857 78.42% 0 0.00%
1904 91 6.77% 1,254 93.23% 0 0.00%
1900 60 2.60% 2,247 97.40% 0 0.00%
1896 3,183 58.17% 2,100 38.38% 189 3.45%
1892 1,500 38.01% 2,408 61.02% 38 0.96%
1888 2,856 60.43% 1,870 39.57% 0 0.00%
1884 2,894 62.38% 1,745 37.62% 0 0.00%
1880 2,200 55.88% 1,438 36.53% 299 7.59%



Geography[]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 328 square miles (849 km²), of which, 199 square miles (515 km²) of it is land and 129 square miles (334 km²) of it (39.33%) is water.

Townships[]

The county is divided into five townships: Cape Fear, Federal Point, Harnett, Masonboro, and Wilmington.

Adjacent counties[]

Demographics[]

As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 160,307 people, 68,183 households, and 41,591 families residing in the county. The population density was 806 people per square mile (311/km²). There were 79,616 housing units at an average density of 400 per square mile (155/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 79.91% White, 16.97% Black or African American, 0.39% Native American, 0.83% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.79% from other races, and 1.05% from two or more races. 2.04% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 14.3% were of English, 13.0% United States or American, 10.6% German and 10.2% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 68,183 households out of which 26.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.50% were married couples living together, 11.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.00% were non-families. 28.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the county the population was spread out with 21.00% under the age of 18, 12.00% from 18 to 24, 30.50% from 25 to 44, 23.70% from 45 to 64, and 12.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $40,172, and the median income for a family was $50,861. Males had a median income of $35,801 versus $25,305 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,123. About 8.30% of families and 13.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.70% of those under age 18 and 9.00% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns[]

Map of New Hanover County North Carolina With Municipal and Township Labels

Map of New Hanover County, North Carolina With Municipal and Township Labels

Census-designated places[]

  • Bayshore
  • Castle Hayne
  • Hightsville
  • Kings Grant
  • Kirkland
  • Masonboro
  • Murraysville
  • Myrtle Grove
  • Ogden
  • Sea Breeze
  • Seagate
  • Silver Lake
  • Skippers Corner
  • Wrightsville Beach
  • Wrightsboro

Community[]

Island[]

  • Pleasure Island

Major Highways[]

Interstates[]

  • Future plate blue
    I-20 I-20 (Future)
  • I-40 I-40
    • I-140 I-140

U.S. Routes[]

  • US 17 US 17
  • Business plate
    US 17 US 17 Bus.
  • US 74 US 74
  • US 76 US 76
  • US 117 US 117
  • US 421 US 421

State Highways[]

  • NC 132 NC 132
  • NC 133 NC 133

See also[]

  • National Register of Historic Places listings in New Hanover County, North Carolina

References[]

External links[]

Coordinates: 34°11′N 77°52′W / 34.18, -77.86


This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at New Hanover County, North Carolina. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.
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