Bladen

Formed January 1, 1734 (12^th county)

Bladen County (29,617), Elizabethtown (3,307)                

The red brick and concrete Modern structure was completed in 1966.  It sits on Court House Drive between Broad and Poplar Streets.  United States Highway 701 is Poplar Street.  J. L. Williams is the architect.  There was an 1893 courthouse earlier.  Elizabeth and Elizabethtown have both been the county seat.  The courthouse grounds have eagles and veteran memorials.  The county was created on January 1, 1734 from New Hanover County as the 12^th county.  The county is named for Board of Trade member, Martin Bladen.  Elizabethtown is named for Queen Elizabeth I.  She is also the namesake of the county seat of Pasquotank County.  Bladen County was the birthplace for 1 North Carolina Governor, John Owen. 

Bladen County government consists of a manager, a register, a sheriff, an attorney, and a clerk (executive).  It has 9 Commissioners (legislative.)  Fourteen Superior Court Judges serve Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Duplin, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender, Robeson, Sampson, and Wayne counties, Five District Court Judges serve Bladen, Brunswick, and Columbus countiesand a court clerk serves Bladen County (judicial.) Bladen County is in the southeast part of the state.  Fayetteville, North Carolina is northwest and Raleigh, North Carolina is north of the county.  The county center is 3.8 miles Southeast of Elizabethtown.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Cumberland, Sampson, Pender, Columbus, and Robeson counties. 

The area of the county is 888 square miles.  It is 11 out of 100 in the state.  It ranks 70 out of 100 in population in the state.  It has a density of 33.4 persons per square mile making it 89 out of 100 in the state.  Bladen County has 24.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 701 travels north to south in the county from Sampson County to Columbus County.  The county resembles the State of Illinois bent toward the southeast.  Elizabethtown is located in the western third of the county.  Elizabethtown is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 11.2% of the county population.

White Lake