There are currently exactly 100 counties in North Carolina. The NCGenWeb project includes sites for each of these counties, for several counties that are now defunct (Albemarle, Bath, Bute, Dobbs, Glasgow, Tryon), and for the Cherokee Indian Reservation (Qualla Boundary).
The history of formation of these counties is complicated, but is essential information for genealogists to have, since records for a specific community may be found in several different counties over time. The county formation map set may help you visualize these changes, as well as this excerpt overview from David Corbitt’s The Formation of North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943.
- If you are interested in an adoptable county, view our volunteer information here.
- If you’re using records from the NC state archives, you may find the list of numerical codes for the counties to be helpful.
- Information for the Historical Counties – check our page for resources applicable to all the historical counties.
| County | County Origins | Coordinator |
| Alamance | 1849, from Orange | Cathy von Hassel-Davies |
| Albemarle | 1664, original county (subdivided 1668 & discontinued in 1689) | Historical County |
| Alexander | 1847, from Iredell, Caldwell, and Wilkes | ADOPTABLE |
| Alleghany | 1859, from Ashe | Eireann Brooks & LaRae Halsey-Brooks |
| Anson | 1750, from Bladen | ADOPTABLE |
| Ashe | 1799, from Wilkes | Eireann Brooks & LaRae Halsey-Brooks |
| Avery | 1911, from Caldwell, Mitchell and Watauga | Mike DeLoach |
| Bath | 1696 [original county]; subdivided into 3-precincts in 1705, Archdale, Wickham, & Pamtecough; and, ceased in 1739 | Historical County |
| Beaufort | 1712, renamed from Pamtecough Precinct of Bath County; formally became a separate county in 1739. | Ron Dailey |
| Bertie | 1722, from Chowan | Virginia Crilley |
| Bladen | 1734, from New Hanover | ADOPTABLE |
| Brunswick | 1764, from New Hanover and Bladen | Natasha Miles |
| Buncombe | 1791, from Burke and Rutherford | Sylvia Hill |
| Burke | 1777, from Rowan | Robin M. Barger |
| Bute | 1764, from Granville; became Franklin and Warren in 1779 | Historical County |
| Cabarrus | 1792, from Mecklenburg | Katherine Benbow |
| Caldwell | 1841, from Burke and Wilkes | ADOPTABLE |
| Camden | 1777, from Pasquotank | Tina McBride |
| Carteret | 1722, from Craven | Joel S. Russell |
| Caswell | 1777, from Orange | Rick Frederick & Martha Spencer |
| Catawba | 1842, from Lincoln | Robin M. Barger |
| Chatham | 1771, from Orange | Sue Ashby |
| Cherokee | 1839, from Macon | Crystal French |
| Cherokee Reservation | also called Qualla Boundary | Historical County |
| Chowan | 1670, from Albemarle | Susan C. Griffin |
| Clay | 1861, from Cherokee | ADOPTABLE |
| Clarendon | 1654-1677 | Historical County |
| Cleveland | 1841, from Rutherford and Lincoln | Robin M. Barger |
| Columbus | 1808, from Bladen and Brunswick | Natasha Miles |
| Craven | 1712, renamed from Archdale Precinct of Bath County; formally became a separate county in 1739. | Edwin D. Averette |
| Cumberland | 1754, from Bladen | Myrtle Bridges |
| Currituck | 1681, from Albemarle | Kay Midgett Sheppard |
| Dare | 1870, from Currituck, Tyrrell and Hyde | Kay Midgett Sheppard |
| Davidson | 1822, from Rowan | Sylvia Hill |
| Davie | 1836, from Rowan | Marie Craig |
| Dobbs | 1758, from Johnston, became Glasgow and Lenoir in 1791 | Historical County |
| Duplin | 1750, from New Hanover | Ron Dailey |
| Durham | 1881, from Orange and Wake | Denise Griffin |
| Edgecombe | 1741, from Bertie | Dan Clark |
| Forsyth | 1849, from Stokes | Sylvia Hill |
| Franklin | 1779, from Bute | Deloris Williams |
| Gaston | 1846, from Lincoln | Robin M. Barger |
| Gates | 1779, from Chowan, Hertford and Perquimans | Malinda Miller |
| Glasgow | 1791, from Dobbs became Greene in 1799 | N/A |
| Graham | 1872, from Cherokee | Crystal French |
| Granville | 1746, from Edgecombe | Deloris Williams |
| Greene | 1799, renamed from Glasgow | Guy Potts |
| Guilford | 1771, from Rowan and Orange | Katherine Benbow |
| Halifax | 1758, from Edgecombe | Deloris Williams & Rebecca Dozier |
| Harnett | 1855, from Cumberland | Myrtle Bridges |
| Haywood | 1808, from Buncombe | ADOPTABLE |
| Henderson | 1838, from Buncombe | Barbara Beauregard |
| Hertford | 1759, from Bertie, Chowan, and Northampton | ADOPTABLE |
| Hoke | 1911, from Cumberland and Robeson | Myrtle Bridges |
| Hyde | 1712, renamed from Wickham Precinct of Bath County; formally became a separate county in 1739. | Kay Midgett Sheppard |
| Iredell | 1788, from Rowan | Tom Winslow |
| Jackson | 1851, from Haywood and Macon | ADOPTABLE |
| Johnston | 1746, from Craven | Michael Kay |
| Jones | 1778, from Craven | Taneya Koonce |
| Lee | 1907, from Chatham and Moore | Sue Ashby |
| Lenoir | 1791, from Dobbs | Lisa Weddle |
| Lincoln | 1779, from Tryon | Robin M. Barger |
| Macon | 1828, from Haywood | Claudia Aquilar Romaca |
| Madison | 1851, from Buncombe and Yancey | Elle Collard |
| Martin | 1774, from Halifax and Tyrrell | Taneya Koonce |
| McDowell | 1842, from Burke and Rutherford | Jane Gouge |
| Mecklenburg | 1762, from Anson | Lisa Frank |
| Mitchell | 1861, from Burke, Caldwell, McDowell, Watauga and Yancey | Beth Bradford-Pytel |
| Montgomery | 1779, from Anson | Sue Ashby |
| Moore | 1784, from Cumberland | Sue Ashby |
| Nash | 1777, from Edgecombe | Earl Bell |
| New Hanover | 1729, from Craven | Natasha Miles |
| Northhampton | 1741, from Bertie | ADOPTABLE |
| Onslow | 1734, from New Hanover | Taneya Koonce |
| Orange | 1752, from Bladen, Granville, and Johnston | ADOPTABLE |
| Pamlico | 1872, from Beaufort and Craven | Ron Dailey |
| Pasquotank | 1681, from Albemarle | Susan C. Griffin |
| Pender | 1875, from New Hanover | ADOPTABLE |
| Perquimans | 1679, from Albemarle | Susan C. Griffin |
| Person | 1791, from Caswell | Sue Ashby & Deloris Williams |
| Pitt | 1760, from Beaufort | Brian Nichols |
| Polk | 1855, from Henderson and Rutherford | ADOPTABLE |
| Randolph | 1779, from Guilford | Brittany Jenkins |
| Richmond | 1779, from Anson | Myrtle Bridges |
| Robeson | 1787, from Bladen | ADOPTABLE |
| Rockingham | 1785, from Guilford | ADOPTABLE |
| Rowan | 1753, from Anson | Katherine Benbow |
| Rutherford | 1779, from Burke and Tryon | Jeff Kemp |
| Sampson | 1784, from Duplin | ADOPTABLE |
| Scotland | 1899, from Richmond | June Power |
| Stanly | 1841, from Montgomery | ADOPTABLE |
| Stokes | 1789, from Surry | Sylvia Hill |
| Surry | 1771, from Rowan | Eireann Brooks & LaRae Halsey-Brooks |
| Swain | 1871, from Jackson and Macon | Crystal French |
| Transylvania | 1861, from Henderson and Jackson | David & Linda Anders |
| Tryon | 1769, from Mecklenburgbecame Lincoln and Rutherford in 1779 | Historical County |
| Tyrrell | 1729, from Bertie, Chowan, Currituck and Pasquotank | Charles Barnes & Gordon Basnight |
| Union | 1842, from Anson and Mecklenburg | Linda Vert |
| Vance | 1881, from Franklin, Granville, and Warren | Deloris Williams |
| Wake | 1771, from Cumberland, Johnston and Orange | Taneya Koonce |
| Warren | 1779, from Bute | Ginger Christmas -Beattie & Deloris Williams |
| Washington | 1799, from Tyrrell | Taneya Koonce |
| Watauga | 1849, from Ashe, Caldwell, Wilkes, and Yancey | ADOPTABLE |
| Wayne | 1779, from Dobbs | Guy Potts |
| Wilkes | 1778, from Surry | Deloris Williams |
| Wilson | 1855, from Edgecombe, Johnston, Nash and Wayne | ADOPTABLE |
| Yadkin | 1850, from Surry | Sylvia Hill |
| Yancey | 1833, from Buncombe and Burke | Beth Bradford-Pytel |
Sources for county data
- Powell, William Stevens. The North Carolina Gazetteer. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1968. [Find in a Library]
- Schweitzer, George Keene. North Carolina Genealogical Research. Knoxville, TN (7914 Gleason, C-1136, Knoxville 37919): G.K. Schweitzer, 1984. [Find in a Library]