Bladen County () is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,606. The county was created in 1734 as Bladen Precinct and gained county status in 1739.

History

Bladen County was formed in 1734 as Bladen Precinct of Bath County, from New Hanover Precinct. It was named for Martin Bladen, a member of the Board of Trade. With the abolition of Bath County in 1739, all of its constituent precincts became counties.

Bladen's original residents included the Waccamaw people. It is the fourth-largest county in North Carolina by land area.

State and local protected areas

  • Bakers Lake State Natural Area
  • Bay Tree Lake State Natural Area
  • Bladen Lakes State Forest
  • Bladen Lakes State Forest Game Land
  • Jones Lake State Park
  • Singletary Lake State Park
  • Suggs Mill Pond Game Land (part)
  • Cape Fear River
  • Jones Lake
  • Little Singletary Lake
  • Salters Lake
  • Singletary Lake
  • South River
  • Waccamaw River
  • White Lake

Adjacent counties

  • Cumberland County – north
  • Sampson County – northeast
  • Pender County – east
  • Columbus County – south
  • Robeson County – west

Major highways

Major infrastructure

  • Curtis L. Brown Jr. Field
  • Elwell Ferry, river ferry across the Cape Fear River

Climate

Bladen County is located in the humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) zone, with mostly moderate temperatures year round. Winters are mild across Bladen, with the warmest winter temperatures found in the southeastern portion of the county due to the influence of the nearby Atlantic Ocean. The average high temperature in January is around 55 °F (13 °C). Summers are hot and humid, with the hottest summer temperatures found in the northern and western areas of Bladen County. The average high temperature in July is around 90 °F (32 °C).

The USDA hardiness zones for Bladen County are Zone 8A (10 °F to 15 °F or −12 °C to −9 °C) and Zone 8B (15 °F to 20 °F or −9 °C to −6 °C).

Extreme temperatures

Although uncommon, extreme temperatures can occur in Bladen County.

  • In December 1989, Elizabethtown recorded a new record low temperature of −3 °F (−19 °C).
  • In August 2007, Elizabethtown recorded a new record high temperature of 105 °F (41 °C).

Snow

Like much of eastern North Carolina, snow is rare in Bladen County. On average, light snowfall occurs once or twice every 10 years.

Demographics

thumb|2020 population density of Bladen County NC by census block

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 29,606. The median age was 44.7 years, 20.9% of residents were under the age of 18, and 22.0% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 91.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 89.3 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 54.4% White, 32.3% Black or African American, 2.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 6.1% from some other race, and 4.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 8.6% of the population.

Less than 0.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 12,410 households in the county, of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 41.4% were married-couple households, 20.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 33.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

!Pop 1990

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" | Pop 2020

!% 1980

!% 1990

!% 2000

!% 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020

|-

|White alone (NH)

|18,195

|16,860

|18,035

|19,242

|style='background: #ffffe6; |15,830

|59.67%

|58.82%

|55.87%

|54.68%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |53.47%

|-

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|11,616

|11,167

|12,170

|12,202

|style='background: #ffffe6; |9,505

|38.10%

|38.96%

|37.70%

|34.67%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |32.10%

|-

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|321

|461

|618

|712

|style='background: #ffffe6; |701

|1.05%

|1.61%

|1.91%

|2.02%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.37%

|-

|Asian alone (NH)

|33

|21

|26

|67

|style='background: #ffffe6; |47

|0.11%

|0.07%

|0.08%

|0.19%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.16%

|-

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|x

|x

|11

|5

|style='background: #ffffe6; |8

|x

|x

|0.03%

|0.01%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.03%

|-

|Other race alone (NH)

|14

|4

|31

|29

|style='background: #ffffe6; |67

|0.05%

|0.01%

|0.10%

|0.08%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.23%

|-

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|x

|x

|189

|431

|style='background: #ffffe6; |902

|x

|x

|0.59%

|1.22%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.05%

|-

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|312

|150

|1,198

|2,502

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,546

|1.02%

|0.52%

|3.71%

|7.11%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |8.60%

|-

|Total

|30,491

|28,663

|32,278

|35,190

|style='background: #ffffe6; |29,606

|100.00%

|100.00%

|100.00%

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

|}

Demographic change

{| role="presentation" class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"

| <strong>Historical population</strong>

|-

|

|}

Between 2010 and 2020, Bladen County experienced a population decline of 15.9 percent, losing 5,584 residents.

Government and politics

Government

Bladen County is a member of the Lumber River Council of Governments, a regional planning board representing five counties.

It lies within the bounds of North Carolina's 15th Prosecutorial District, the 13A Superior Court District, and the 13th District Court District.

Politics

{| role="presentation"

|

|-

|

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|}

Following the 2018 United States Midterm Elections, an investigation was opened into accusations of an absentee ballot fraud scheme directed by McCrae Dowless in Bladen County, within North Carolina's 9th Congressional District. Accusations were based around the Republican Primary election, in which Mark Harris defeated incumbent Robert Pittenger, and around the general election, in which Harris initially appeared to defeat Democrat Dan McCready. , the investigation is currently ongoing. Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman, Democrat, said it was possible over 1,000 ballots had been destroyed. According to District Attorney Jon David, Republican, the county has a "troubled history of political groups exploiting the use of absentee ballots." The scandal brought national media attention to Bladen.

Education

Colleges

  • Bladen Community College (Dublin)

Public schools

Public schools within Bladen County are operated by Bladen County Schools.

Healthcare

Bladen County is served by a single hospital, Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, based in Elizabethtown. According to the 2022 County Health Rankings produced by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, Bladen County ranked 85th in health outcomes of North Carolina's 100 counties, an improvement of 10 ranks over the previous five years. Per the ranking, 26 percent of adults say they are in poor or fair health, the average life expectancy is 75 years, and 16 percent of people under the age of 65 lack health insurance. It has one primary care physician per 4,670 residents.

Economy

Agriculture constitutes a major part of Bladen County's economy. It employs 5,800 workers, making it the county's largest employer. The county is the largest producer of blueberries in the state. Area farmers also grow soybeans, peanuts, corn, wheat, and cotton. The county suffers from a large poverty rate and is one of the most economically distressed counties in the state.

Communities

thumb|300px|Map of Bladen County with municipal and township labels

thumb|right|Elizabethtown Presbyterian Church, Elizabethtown

Towns

  • Bladenboro
  • Clarkton
  • Dublin
  • East Arcadia
  • Elizabethtown (county seat and largest community)
  • Tar Heel
  • White Lake

Census-designated places

  • Butters
  • Kelly
  • White Oak

Unincorporated communities

  • Abbottsburg
  • Ammon
  • Ammon Ford
  • Carvers
  • Colly
  • Council
  • Emerson
  • Rosindale
  • Rowan
  • Sparkleberry Landing
  • Westbrook
  • Zara

Townships

  • Abbottsburg
  • Bethel
  • Bladenboro
  • Brown Marsh
  • Carvers Creek
  • Central
  • Clarkton
  • Colly
  • Cypress Creek
  • Elizabethtown
  • East Arcadia
  • Frenches Creek
  • Hollow
  • Lake Creek
  • Tarheel
  • Turnbull
  • White Oak
  • Dublin
  • Whites Creek

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Bladen County.

† = county seat

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Rank

! Name

! Type

! Population<br/>(2020 census)

|- style="background-color:#F0F8FF;"

| 1

|† Elizabethtown

| Town

| 3,296

|- style="background-color:#F0F8FF;"

| 2

|Bladenboro

| Town

| 1,648

|- style="background-color:#F0F8FF;"

| 3

|White Lake

| Town

| 843

|- style="background-color:#F0F8FF;"

| 4

|Clarkton

| Town

| 614

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 5

|Kelly

| CDP

| 446

|- style="background-color:#F0F8FF;"

| 6

|East Arcadia

| Town

| 418

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 7

|White Oak

| CDP

| 346

|- style="background-color:#F0F8FF;"

| 8

|Dublin

| Town

| 267

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 9

|Butters

| CDP

| 250

|- style="background-color:#F0F8FF;"

| 10

|Tar Heel

| Town

| 90

|}

See also

  • List of counties in North Carolina
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Bladen County, North Carolina
  • Waccamaw Siouan Indians, state-recognized tribe that resides in the county
  • Colcor, political corruption investigation on government officials in neighboring Columbus County
  • GenX, chemical compound found in the Cape Fear River, south of Fayetteville

References

  • Bladen Journal, Google news archive. <small>— PDFs of 2,696 issues, dating from 1929 to 1985.</small>