Bolton is a town in Columbus County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 519 at the 2020 census.
History
Bolton was established in 1899 and named for the Bolton Lumber Company. It became an incorporated community in 1915.
In 1981 undercover agents of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation were investigating corruption in Columbus County as part of the Colcor investigation. As part of their inquiry into election fraud, the agents pretended to be interest in opening a bar in Bolton. They pushed for a referendum to legalize liquor-by-the-drink in the town and paid local politician Herbert Riggins to buy votes in their favor, the first time the FBI had ever attempted to manipulate a public election. The referendum was held on April 30, 1982, with a majority of local residents in favor of legalizing liquor-by-the-drink, though Riggins mostly avoided involving himself in the vote.
Geography
Bolton is located in eastern Columbus County. The town is bypassed to the north by combined U.S. Routes 74 and 76, a four-lane divided highway. US 74/76 leads east to Wilmington and west to Whiteville, the Columbus County seat.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.
Demographics
2020 census
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|+Bolton racial composition
!scope="col"| Race
!scope="col"| Number
!scope="col"| Percentage
|-
!scope="row"| White (non-Hispanic)
| 124
| 23.89%
|-
!scope="row"| Black or African American (non-Hispanic)
| 297
| 57.23%
|-
!scope="row"| Native American
| 35
| 6.74%
|-
!scope="row"| Asian
| 4
| 0.77%
|-
!scope="row"| Other/Mixed
| 31
| 5.97%
|-
!scope="row"| Hispanic or Latino
| 28
| 5.39%
|}
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 519 people, 254 households, and 160 families residing in the town.
2000 census
As of the census