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Welcome to the Duplin County NCGenWeb Website

The goal of this site is to provide you with FREE resources & information to support Duplin County genealogical research.

Duplin County was created in 1750 from the northern part of New Hanover County and is named for Thomas Hay, Viscount Dupplin, later 9th Earl of Kinnoull.  The earliest immigrants were Welsh, who arrived in the 1700’s, and soon followed by German Palatines and the Swiss in the 1730’s and 1740’s.  The Scotch-Irish arrived in 1736 with Henry McCulloch, a wealthy London merchant, to settle on a rich and fertile 71,160-acre land granted to him from the British Crown.  The French Huguenots and English, who migrated from Virginia along with Scottish Highlanders who came from the upper Cape Fear region, also were among the earliest settlers to the area along with African-Americans.  The early settlements were primarily along the river and larger creeks as these were the best means of transportation.  Henry McCulloch established several settlements.  One on the east bank of the Northeast Cape Fear River named Sarecta, became Duplin’s first incorporated town in 1787.  Another settlement was established on the west side of the river on Goshen Swamp, and a third at a place referred to as Golden Grove, later to become the Town of Kenansville.  (Source: Duplin County History).

Duplin county’s neighbors are Pender, Onslow, Jones, Lenoir, Wayne,  & Sampson.  This site is made possible by your contributions!  We welcome any contributions relevant to county genealogical & historical interests.


Header photo credits: Duplin County Veterans Memorial Museum, Historic Kenansville sign, and Duplin County Courthouse.