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Important Dates for Genealogists The links to counties will provide a general idea of the county's location within the state. Most of the maps show today's boundaries. To see county boundaries at the time the county was founded see 'County Evolution Maps.'
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| 1663 | Carolina Charter granted by King Charles II to the eight Lords Proprietor | |||||||||||||||
| 1664 | Albemarle, Clarendon, Craven counties formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1667 | Clarendon County abandoned | |||||||||||||||
| 1668 | Chowan, Currituck, Pasquotank and Perquimans precincts (of Albemarle) formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1670 | Settlement of Craven Co. (on the Ashley River in SC) begins Colony-wide General Court established |
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| 1690 | French colony from VA settle on Pamlico River | |||||||||||||||
| 1696 | Bath County formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1705 | Archdale (Craven), Pamptecough (Beaufort), Wickham (Hyde) precincts formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1706 | Bath (town) becomes first incorporated town in NC | |||||||||||||||
| 1710 | New Bern founded by DeGraffenreid, Swiss and German colonists | |||||||||||||||
| 1711-1715 | Tuscarora War | |||||||||||||||
| 1712 | Beaufort, Craven, Hyde counties names changed from Pamptecough, Archdale and Wickham Craven County records destroyed by Indians |
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| 1722 | Bertie, Carteret counties formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1725 | Patents issued to settle lower Cape Fear | |||||||||||||||
| 1729 | Seven of the eight Lords Proprietors sell their shares to King George II, making North Carolina a royal colony New Hanover, Tyrrell counties formed |
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| 1734 | Bladen, Onslow counties formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1739-1748 | Spanish Alarm | |||||||||||||||
| 1739 | Highland Scots settle Cape Fear Valley Bath and Albemarle counties discontinued |
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| 1741 | Edgecombe and Northampton counties formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1743 | Granville district boundary established | |||||||||||||||
| 1746 | Granville and Johnston counties formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1750 | Anson and Duplin counties formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1752 | Orange County formed Onslow County records destroyed by storm |
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| 1753 | Rowan County formed Moravians from PA settle in piedmont at Wachovia |
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| 1754 | Cumberland County formed District courts established in Edenton, Enfield, New Bern, Wilmington and Salisbury |
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| 1755 | Onslow County records destroyed by storm | |||||||||||||||
| 1755-1763 | French and Indian War | |||||||||||||||
| 1758 | Dobbs and Halifax counties formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1759 | Hertford County formed Halifax district court replaces Enfield |
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| 1760 | Pitt County formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1762 | Mecklenburg County formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1764 | Brunswick and Bute counties formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1768 | Hillsborough District court established Tryon County formed |
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| 1768-1771 | War of the Regulation | |||||||||||||||
| 1770 | Bladen County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1771 | Guilford, Surry, Chatham and Wake counties formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1774 | Martin County formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1775 | Governor disbands court system | |||||||||||||||
| 1776-1783 | Revolutionary War | |||||||||||||||
| 1776 | Granville district lands confiscated | |||||||||||||||
| 1777 | Burke, Camden, Caswell, Nash, and Wilkes counties formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1779 | Tryon and Bute counties discontinued Franklin, Gates, Jones, Lincoln, Montgomery, Rutherford, Randolph, Richmond, Warren, and Wayne counties formed |
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| 1781 | Guilford County courthouse fire, Orange County records destroyed when buried in woods to avoid capture or destruction by Cornwallis, Wayne County records may have been destroyed in courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1782 | Morganton District court established | |||||||||||||||
| 1784 | Moore and Sampson counties formed State of Franklin formed in Tennessee |
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| 1785 | Rockingham County formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1786 | Onslow County records destroyed by storm | |||||||||||||||
| 1787 | Robeson County formed Fayetteville District court established |
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| 1788 | State of Franklin discontinued Site chosen for new capital Iredell County formed |
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| 1789 | North Carolina ratified the Constitution North Carolina ceded western lands to federal government Stokes County formed Hyde County courthouse fire |
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| 1791 | Buncombe, Glasgow, Lenoir and Person counties formed Raleigh becomes state capital Dobbs County discontinued |
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| 1792 | State capitol building in Raleigh completed Cabarrus County formed |
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| 1795 | Daughters begin to inherit equally with sons | |||||||||||||||
| 1797 | Lincoln County records may have been destroyed by fire in private home | |||||||||||||||
| 1798 | New Hanover County courthouse fire may have destroyed some records | |||||||||||||||
| 1799 | Glasgow County discontinued Ashe, Greene, Washington counties formed |
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| 1800 | Bladen County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1806 | County Superior Courts formed and District Court abolished | |||||||||||||||
| 1808 | Columbus and Haywood counties formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1812-1814 | War of 1812 | |||||||||||||||
| 1819 | New Hanover County courthouse fire may have damaged some records | |||||||||||||||
| 1822 | Davidson County formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1827 | Hyde County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1828 | Macon County formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1830 | Buncombe and Hertford courthouse fires | |||||||||||||||
| 1832 | Wake County register's office fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1833 | Yancey County formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1835 | Montgomery County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1836 | Davie County formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1838 | Henderson County formed |
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| 1839 | Cherokee County formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1840 | Montgomery County courthouse fire, New Hanover County courthouse fire may have damaged some records | |||||||||||||||
| 1841 | Cleveland, Caldwell, and Stanly counties formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1842 | Catawba, McDowell, and Union counties formed Currituck County fire |
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| 1846 | Gaston County formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1846-1848 | War with Mexico | |||||||||||||||
| 1847 | Alexander County formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1848 | Chowan County court records destroyed by acting clerk | |||||||||||||||
| 1849 | Alamance, Forsyth, and Watauga counties formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1850 | Yadkin County formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1851 | Madison and Jackson counties formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1854 | Iredell County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1855 | Polk, Harnett, Wilson counties formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1857 | Pitt County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1859 | Alleghany County formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1861-1865 | Civil War | |||||||||||||||
| 1861 | North Carolina secedes from the union Clay, Mitchell, and Transylvania counties formed |
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| 1862 | Hertford and Jones courthouse fires, Washington County records destroyed by bombardment | |||||||||||||||
| 1865 | Ashe, Buncombe, Cherokee courthouse fires, Alexander, Brunswick, Burke, Rowan records destroyed | |||||||||||||||
| 1866 | Davidson County courthouse fire, cohabitation records begin for freedmen | |||||||||||||||
| 1868 | North Carolina readmitted to the union upon adopting a new constitution Many of the state's laws changed radically. New court system established Marriage bonds discontinued Anson County courthouse fire |
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| 1869 | Washington County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1870 | Dare County formed Clay County records destroyed by fire |
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| 1871 | Swain County formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1872 | Graham and Pamlico counties formed Guilford County courthouse fire |
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| 1873 | Watauga County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1874 | Gaston County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1875 | Pender County formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1876 | Cabarrus and Greene courthouse fires | |||||||||||||||
| 1878 | Lenoir County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1879 | Swain County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1880 | Lenoir County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1881 | Durham and Vance counties formed Washington County courthouse fire |
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| 1884 | Martin County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1886 | Montgomery County may have suffered record loss from courthouse fire. The clerk said that he saved the records but that they were "in a state of great confusion." | |||||||||||||||
| 1889 | Moore County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1892 | Harnett County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1893 | Bladen County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1894 | Harnett County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1895 | Cherokee County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1898-1899 | Spanish-American War | |||||||||||||||
| 1899 | Scotland County formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1903 | North Carolina Historical Commission formed (now Division of Archives and History) | |||||||||||||||
| 1907 | Lee County formed Mitchell County records destroyed in move to new courthouse Rutherford County courthouse fire |
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| 1911 | Avery and Hoke counties formed | |||||||||||||||
| 1913 | State law requires vital records registration Jackson County records lost when county seat moved |
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| 1921 | Sampson County clerk's office fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1926 | Cherokee County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1932 | Alleghany County courthouse fire, Haywood County records destroyed in move to new courthouse | |||||||||||||||
| 1935 | Some Warren County records may have been destroyed | |||||||||||||||
| 1957 | Brunswick County clerk's office fire | |||||||||||||||
| 1967 | Alexander County courthouse fire | |||||||||||||||
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