Pender County, North Carolina: History
The county was formed in 1875 from New Hanover County. It was named for William Dorsey Pender of Edgecombe County, a Confederate general mortally wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. Pender County is located in the southeastern portion of the state and shares borders with Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, New Hanover, Onslow, and Sampson Counties. The county's eastern border is the Atlantic Ocean. The present land area is 870.76 square miles (2,255.3 km2) and the 2020 population was 60,203, doubling since 1990. The estimated county population in 2023 had increased to 68,521. The county commissioners were ordered to hold their first meeting at Rocky Point. The act provided for the establishment of the town of Cowan as the county seat. In 1877, an act was passed repealing that section of the law relative to the town, and another law was enacted, whereby the qualified voters were to vote on the question of moving the county seat to South Washington or any other place, which the majority of the voters designated. Whatever place was selected, the town should be called Stanford. In 1879, Stanford was changed to Burgaw, which was by that law incorporated. It is the county seat.
A slave cemetery that was used by the community of Cardinal Acres until around 1950 was disturbed by a developer grading a site in 2021.