Pender

Formed January 1, 1875 (95^th county)

Pender County (60,208), Burgaw (3,085)

A red brick 1937 Georgian Revival structure is the county courthouse.  It is situated at Wright, Wilmington, Walker, and Fremont streets.  United States Highway 117 Business is Walker Street.  William Henley Dietrick is the architect.  There was previously as 1885 version.  The building was renovated in 1989 and 2010.  The courthouse features a tower with veteran memorials and a gazebo on the grounds.  The county was formed on January 1, 1875 from New Hanover County as the 95^th county.  Cowan was the first county seat until 1877 when Burgaw took over.  Pender County is named for Civil War General William Dorsey Pender.  The county seat is named for Burgaw Creek. 

Pender County government consists of a manager, a register, a sheriff, an attorney, and a clerk (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Fourteen Superior Court Judges serve Pender, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Duplin, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Robeson, Sampson, and Wayne counties, Three District Court Judges serve Pender and New Hanover counties and a court clerk serves Pender County (judicial.)  The county is in the southeast part of North Carolina.  Fayetteville, North Carolina is west and Raleigh, North Carolina is northwest of the county.  The county center is 8 miles Southeast of Burgaw nearer St. Helena.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Duplin and Onslow counties and the Atlantic Ocean and New Hanover, Brunswick, Columbus, Bladen, and Sampson counties. 

The area of the county is 934 square miles.  It is 9 out of 100 in the state.  It ranks 46 out of 100 in population in the state.  It has a density of 64.5 persons per square mile making it 67 out of 100 in the state.  Pender County has 13.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 40 travels through the county north to south from Duplin County to New Hanover County.  United States Highway 17 crosses northeast to southwest from Onslow County to New Hanover County.  United States Highway 117 parallels Interstate Highway 40 from Duplin to New Hanover counties.  United States Highway 421 comes from Sampson County, northwest, goes to New Hanover County, south.  The county resembles a flattened pile of leaves.  Burgaw is located near the center of the county.  Burgaw is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 5.1% of the county population.  This county is in the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Wallace