New Hanover County Genealogy
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The county was formed in 1729 as New Hanover Precinct of Bath County, from Craven Precinct. It was named for the House of Hanover, which was then ruling Great Britain.
In 1734 parts of New Hanover Precinct became Bladen Precinct and Onslow Precinct. With the abolition of Bath County in 1739, all of its constituent precincts became counties.
In 1750 the northern part of New Hanover County became Duplin County. In 1764 another part of New Hanover County was combined with part of Bladen County to form Brunswick County. Finally, in 1875 the separation of northern New Hanover County to form Pender County reduced it to its present dimensions. Some of the closing battles of the American Civil War happened in the county with the Second Battle of Fort Fisher (the last major coastal stronghold of the Confederacy) and the Battle of Wilmington. The Wilmington Insurrection of 1898 and its establishment of Jim Crow laws closes out the 19th-Century with civil rights conditions which would last until the African-American Civil Rights Movement through the second half of the 20th century, three generations later.
The county seat of New Hanover County is Wilmington. New Hanover county is divided into the following townships: Cape Fear, Federal Point, Harnett, Masonboro, and Wilmington.
Source: Wikipedia.
One of the notable sites in New Hanover County is Poplar Grove Plantation. It was built in 1850.
New Hanover County Genealogy Resources
Old New Hanover Genealogical Society
P.O. Box 2536
Wilmington, NC 28402-2536
(covers Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, and Sampson Counties)
Lower Cape Fear Historical Society
P.O. Box 813
Wilmington, NC 28402
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New Hanover County Government
New Hanover County Government – Official Site
New Hanover County Public Libraries
Main Branch
201 Chestnut Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 798-6305 Local History Room
Monday & Tuesday 9AM – 8PM
Wednesday & Thursday 9AM – 6PM
Friday & Saturday 9AM – 5 PM
Sunday Closed
Vital Records
New Hanover County Vital Records
Census
1800 Federal Census Index – New Hanover County
1800 Federal Census Transcription – Partial (2 pages?)
Cemeteries
USGS listing of cemeteries in New Hanover County
Query Forums
New Hanover County, NC Query Forum
Latest North Carolina Genealogy Query posts for New Hanover County from the Forum:
New Hanover County, NC at Genforum
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