The Founding of Onslow County: From Colonial Wilderness to Carolina Settlement

A County Born of Colonial Expansion

Onslow County was officially established in 1734, carved from the sprawling territory of New Hanover County as English settlers pushed deeper into the coastal plains of North Carolina. The county was named in honor of Arthur Onslow, who served as Speaker of the British House of Commons from 1728 to 1761 — the longest-serving Speaker in British parliamentary history.

The Land Before Settlement

Long before European colonists arrived, the land that would become Onslow County was home to the Tuscarora and other Algonquian-speaking peoples. These Native Americans had lived along the New River, White Oak River, and coastal marshlands for thousands of years, subsisting on fishing, hunting, and agriculture. The Tuscarora War of 1711–1715 devastated the indigenous population, and most survivors migrated north to join the Iroquois Confederacy in New York, leaving the land open to colonial expansion.

Early Settlers

The earliest European settlers were primarily English colonists who arrived by way of the Cape Fear region and the Albemarle settlements to the north. They were drawn to the area by the rich coastal soil, abundant timber, and waterways teeming with fish. The New River, which cuts through the heart of the county, became the lifeline of early settlement — providing transportation, food, and water.

Naval Stores and the Colonial Economy

Like much of eastern North Carolina, Onslow County's early economy revolved around naval stores — tar, pitch, and turpentine extracted from the region's vast longleaf pine forests. These products were essential for maintaining the British Royal Navy, and North Carolina was the empire's primary supplier. The county's waterways made it possible to transport these goods to coastal ports for shipment to England.

The County Seat

The original county seat was established at a small settlement called Wantland's Ferry on the New River. As the county grew, the seat eventually moved to what is now the city of Jacksonville, which would not be formally incorporated until much later. Those early decades were marked by the slow but steady transformation of wilderness into farmland, as settlers cleared forests, built homes, and established the institutions of colonial government.

Nearly three centuries later, the county Arthur Onslow never visited still bears his name — a lasting mark of the colonial era that shaped the Carolina coast.