Onslow

Formed January 1, 1734 (13^th county)

Onslow County (204,585), Jacksonville (72,735)

The new 2019 Modern brown brick courthouse is augmented by the 1978 tan brick Justice Center.  There was a 1905 Georgian Revival courthouse also in Jacksonville.  It is on Anne Street at Old Bridge Street.  United States Highway 17 is two blocks north of the location.  Smith Sinnett Architecture provided the new courthouse designs.  Onslow County was founded on January 1, 1734 from parts of Carteret and New Hanover counties as the 13^th county.  It is named for the Speaker of the British House of Commons Arthur Onslow.  The county seat is named for United States President Andrew Jackson.  He is also the namesake of Jackson County and the county seat of Northampton County.  New River (1734 & 1737), Joseph Howard (1735), Johnston (1744), Wantland Ferry’s (1757), and Jacksonville (1849) have all served as county seat.  Onslow County was the birthplace for 1 North Carolina Governor, Edward B. Dudley. 

Onslow County government consists of a manager, a register, a sheriff, an attorney, and a clerk (executive).  It has 7 Commissioners (legislative.)  Fourteen Superior Court Judges serve Onslow, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Duplin, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, New Hanover, Pamlico, Pender, Robeson, Sampson, and Wayne counties, Eight District Court Judges serve Onslow, Duplin, Jones, and Sampson counties and a court clerk serves Onslow County (judicial.)  Onslow County is on the eastern coast of the state.  Raleigh, North Carolina is northwest and Fayetteville, North Carolina is west of the county.  The county center is in Jacksonville 7.5 miles Southeast of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Jones and Carteret counties and the Atlantic Ocean and Pender and Duplin counties. 

The area of the county is 905 square miles.  It is 10 out of 100 in the state.  It ranks 13 out of 100 in population in the state.  It has a density of 226.1 persons per square mile making it 23 out of 100 in the state.  Onslow County has 41.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 17 crosses the county from northeast to southwest from Jones County to Pender County.  United States Highway 258 enters from the north, Jones County, and terminates.  The county looks like a Pac Man eating toward the south.  Jacksonville is located slightly north of center in the county.  Jacksonville is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 35.6% of the county population.  The county is pronounced ON-SLOE.  This county is in the Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area.