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County · code 37017

Bladen CountyNorth Carolina

Bladen County is a county in North Carolina, with its seat in Elizabethtown. It was formed in 1734 and named after Martin Bladen.

  • Founded1734
  • County seatElizabethtown
  • Named forMartin Bladen
  • Land area875 sq mi + 13 sq mi water
  • Population29,606 2020 Census
  • Parcels mapped33,335 checked 16 October 2026
Open the free map Click any parcel in Bladen County: acreage, parcel id, address and who publishes the map. No sign-in.

Updated

ColumbusSampsonCumberlandRobesonPender Elizabethtown Census outline · seat marked

Where it is

Bladen on the map of North Carolina

North Carolina has 100 counties and county equivalents, each with its own records office. Shapes with a page are links.

Alamance CountyAlexander CountyAlleghany CountyAnson CountyAshe CountyAvery CountyBeaufort CountyBertie CountyBrunswick CountyBuncombe CountyBurke CountyCabarrus CountyCaldwell CountyCamden CountyCarteret CountyCaswell CountyCatawba CountyChatham CountyCherokee CountyChowan CountyClay CountyCleveland CountyColumbus CountyCraven CountyCumberland CountyCurrituck CountyDare CountyDavidson CountyDavie CountyDuplin CountyDurham CountyEdgecombe CountyForsyth CountyFranklin CountyGaston CountyGates CountyGraham CountyGranville CountyGreene CountyGuilford CountyHalifax CountyHarnett CountyHaywood CountyHenderson CountyHertford CountyHoke CountyHyde CountyIredell CountyJackson CountyJohnston CountyJones CountyLee CountyLenoir CountyLincoln CountyMcDowell CountyMacon CountyMadison CountyMartin CountyMecklenburg CountyMitchell CountyMontgomery CountyMoore CountyNash CountyNew Hanover CountyNorthampton CountyOnslow CountyOrange CountyPamlico CountyPasquotank CountyPender CountyPerquimans CountyPerson CountyPitt CountyPolk CountyRandolph CountyRichmond CountyRobeson CountyRockingham CountyRowan CountyRutherford CountySampson CountyScotland CountyStanly CountyStokes CountySurry CountySwain CountyTransylvania CountyTyrrell CountyUnion CountyVance CountyWake CountyWarren CountyWashington CountyWatauga CountyWayne CountyWilkes CountyWilson CountyYadkin CountyYancey CountyBladen County Bladen
Counties of North Carolina · Bladen highlighted

History

Founded in 1734

An old deed may name a county that no longer exists, or a boundary that has since moved.

Bladen Precinct was created in 1734 from New Hanover Precinct and became Bladen County in 1739. Over its early history, Bladen County lost territory to the creation of Anson, Orange, Cumberland, Brunswick, and Robeson counties, with the most recent loss to Robeson in 1788.

Boundary changes from the Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries; the 5 that matter most are shown first.

  1. c. 1734
    Bladen County created Bladen Precinct (now Bladen) created from New Hanover Precinct (now New Hanover); northern boundary limit was indefinite. Bladen Precinct was overlapped by Prince George-Winyaw Parish (South Carolina). There is no evidence that South Carolina exercised effective control in the Cape Fear region, and the overlap ended when Prince George-Winyaw Parish was eliminated from present North Carolina after commissioners from the two colonies established the present state boundary in 1735.
    from New Hanoverfrom S.c.
    · N.C. Recs., ch. 8, secs. 1, 3/23:119-120
  2. 1752
    Lost territory Bladen lost to creation of Orange.
    to Orange
    · N.C. Recs., ch. 6, secs. 1-2/23:383-384
  3. 1754
    Lost territory Bladen lost to creation of Cumberland.
    to Cumberland
    · N.C. Recs., ch. 8/23:399; N.C. Recs., ch. 8, secs. 1-2/25:267-268
  4. c. 1756
    Bladen County created Bladen re-created by the legislature in response to the Crown Instructions of 1 July 1755 (authorizing reenactment of the creations repealed on 8 April 1754). · N.C. Recs., ch. 9, sec. 2/23:446
  5. 1764
    Lost territory Bladen lost to creation of Brunswick and exchanged with Cumberland.
    to Brunswickto Cumberland
    · N.C. Recs., ch. 14, secs. 1-3/23:622-627; ch. 18, secs. 1-2/23:630; ch. 19, secs. 1-2/23:630-631
Show all 22 changes (17 more)
  1. c. 1734
    Bladen County created Bladen Precinct (now Bladen) created from New Hanover Precinct (now New Hanover); northern boundary limit was indefinite. Bladen Precinct was overlapped by Prince George-Winyaw Parish (South Carolina). There is no evidence that South Carolina exercised effective control in the Cape Fear region, and the overlap ended when Prince George-Winyaw Parish was eliminated from present North Carolina after commissioners from the two colonies established the present state boundary in 1735.
    from New Hanoverfrom S.c.
    · N.C. Recs., ch. 8, secs. 1, 3/23:119-120
  2. c. 1739
    Changed Bladen Precinct became Bladen County by legislative act. · N.C. Recs., ch. 3, sec. 22/23: 122-127
  3. c. 1750
    Lost territory Bladen lost to creation of Anson; northwestern boundary limit remained indefinite.
    to Anson
    · N.C. Recs., ch. 2, secs. 1-2/33:343-344
  4. 1752
    Lost territory Bladen lost to creation of Orange.
    to Orange
    · N.C. Recs., ch. 6, secs. 1-2/23:383-384
  5. 1754
    Lost territory Bladen lost to creation of Cumberland.
    to Cumberland
    · N.C. Recs., ch. 8/23:399; N.C. Recs., ch. 8, secs. 1-2/25:267-268
  6. 1754
    Changed Creation of Bladen Precinct (subsequently Bladen County) repealed by King George Ii, in Privy Council.
    Ii
    · N.C. Recs., ch. 9, sec. 1/23:445-446
  7. c. 1756
    Bladen County created Bladen re-created by the legislature in response to the Crown Instructions of 1 July 1755 (authorizing reenactment of the creations repealed on 8 April 1754). · N.C. Recs., ch. 9, sec. 2/23:446
  8. 1762
    Lost territory Bladen lost small area to Cumberland.
    to Cumberland
    · N.C. Recs., ch. 14, 23:592; N.C. Recs., ch. 14, secs. 7-8/25:470-472
  9. 1764
    Lost territory Bladen lost to creation of Brunswick and exchanged with Cumberland.
    to Brunswickto Cumberland
    · N.C. Recs., ch. 14, secs. 1-3/23:622-627; ch. 18, secs. 1-2/23:630; ch. 19, secs. 1-2/23:630-631
  10. 1777
    Gained territory Bladen gained from Anson and exchanged with Brunswick.
    from Ansonfrom Brunswick
    · N.C. Recs., ch. 42, secs. 1-2/24:151; ch. 38, secs. 1-2/24:148
  11. 1787
    Lost territory Bladen lost to creation of Robeson.
    to Robeson
    · N.C. Recs., ch. 40, sec. 1/24:838-840
  12. 1788
    Lost territory Bladen lost to Robeson.
    to Robeson
    · N.C. Recs., ch. 44, sec. 1/24:988-989
  13. 1789
    Lost territory Bladen lost to Cumberland.
    to Cumberland
    · N.C. Recs., ch. 36, sec. 1/25:38
  14. 1808
    Lost territory Bladen lost to creation of Columbus.
    to Columbus
    · N.C. Sess. Laws 1808, ch. 1, secs. 1, 10/pp. 1-4
  15. 1809
    Lost territory Bladen lost to Columbus.
    to Columbus
    · N.C. Sess. Laws 1809, ch. 23, sec. 1/p. 10
  16. 1821
    Lost territory Bladen lost to Columbus.
    to Columbus
    · N.C. Sess. Laws 1821, ch. 34, sec. 1/pp. 32-33
  17. 1829
    Lost territory Bladen lost to Columbus.
    to Columbus
    · N.C. Sess. Laws 1828, ch. 145, sec. 1/p. 81
  18. 1873
    Lost territory Bladen lost to Columbus.
    to Columbus
    · N.C. Sess. Laws 1872-1873, pub., ch. 97, sec. 1/pp. 143-144
  19. 1874
    Lost territory Bladen lost to Cumberland.
    to Cumberland
    · N.C. Sess. Laws 1873-1874, pub., ch. 131, secs. 1, 3/pp. 168-169
  20. 1879
    Changed Boundary between Bladen and Columbus defined (no change).
    Columbus
    · N.C. Sess. Laws 1879, pub., ch. 318, sec. 1/pp. 492-493; N.C. Sess. Laws 1883, pub., ch. 107, sec. 1/p. 158
  21. 1883
    Gained territory Bladen gained small area from Columbus.
    from Columbus
    · N.C. Sess. Laws 1883, pub., ch. 251, sec. 1/p. 410
  22. 1905
    Changed Boundary between Bladen and Cumberland defined (no change).
    Cumberland
    · N.C. Sess. Laws 1905, pub., ch. 623, sec. 1/p. 749

Land and parcels

What the maps cover in Bladen

Who publishes each layer, how good it is, and when we last checked.

Official
from the office that keeps the record
Good enough
a reliable statewide or national copy
Fallback
a guide only; check the official record
Missing
nothing public found yet

People and land

Bladen by the Census

Population
29,606 2020 Census count
Housing units
15,131 2020 Census count
Land area
875 square miles
Water area
13 square miles
People per sq mi
34 population ÷ land area

Source: US Census Bureau, 2020 Census; US Census Bureau, 2020 Gazetteer Files. Not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Rules and offices

Who to ask before you build, dig or sell

Official county pages only. We link to them; we do not copy them, because they change.

Inside a city or town, permits usually come from that city rather than the county.

Zoning and code

County government

See your own lot on these maps

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Questions

Common questions about Bladen County

When was Bladen County founded?
Bladen County was founded in 1734, and named after Martin Bladen.
What is the county seat of Bladen County?
The county seat of Bladen County is Elizabethtown.
Is there an online parcel map for Bladen County?
Yes. Bladen County publishes a parcel map of 33,335 parcels, rated good enough here. You can click any parcel on it in Parcel Chart's free map, no sign-in needed.
Has Bladen County's boundary or name changed?
Bladen County was created in 1734. Since then the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries records 19 later changes, chiefly involving Columbus County, Cumberland County and Anson County.
Is my lot in a flood zone?
We do not have flood maps for Bladen County yet. Look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, which shows the effective flood map for any lot.

Nearby

Counties next door