Dobbins Heights is a town in Richmond County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Dobbins Heights had a population of 687.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.
History
Dobbins Heights was originally known as North Yard. It began as a largely black community in an unincorporated part of Richmond County near the city of Hamlet, with fewer than 1,000 residents. A black school, the Pee Dee Institute, was built in North Yard in 1908. Through the 1960s, many of the homes in the community were rented, and existed in poor condition with outdoor plumbing. Many streets remained unpaved through the 1980s. Due to its unincorporated status, North Yard's residents received fewer government services than other municipal residents and lacked direct political representation. They usually paid taxes directly to Richmond County government, though occasionally levies were paid to Hamlet. There was little cohesive community identity in the area; collective social life, such as it existed, was centered around several churches.
thumb|left|A home in Dobbins Heights, 1972
In the mid-1960s, a local minister founded the North Yard Improvement Association, which raised money to install streetlights along some of the main roads in the community. From 1971 to 1972 United States Army engineers built a recreational area in the community. Lack of adequate coverage from neighboring fire departments led the community to create a volunteer fire department in 1974. Two years later residents appealed for the city of Hamlet to annex the community, but the municipal government rejected the proposal, citing the economically depressed nature of the area.
2020 census
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|+Dobbins Heights racial composition
!scope="col"| Race
!scope="col"| Number
!scope="col"| Percentage
|-
!scope="row"| White (non-Hispanic)
| 73
| 10.63%
|-
!scope="row"| Black or African American (non-Hispanic)
| 545
| 79.33%
|-
!scope="row"| Native American
| 6
| 0.87%
|-
!scope="row"| Asian
| 1
| 0.15%
|-
!scope="row"| Other/Mixed
| 45
| 6.55%
|-
!scope="row"| Hispanic or Latino
| 17
| 2.47%
|}
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 687 people, 404 households, and 218 families residing in the town.