Pender County

Pender 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.

The county is in the southeastern section of the State and is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and New Hanover, Brunswick, Columbus, Bladen, Sampson, Duplin and Onslow counties.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 933 square miles (2,416 km²), of which, 871 square miles (2,255 km²) of it is land and 62 square miles (160 km²) of it (6.64%) is water.

The county is divided into ten townships: Burgaw, Canetuck, Caswell, Columbia, Grady, Holly, Long Creek, Rocky Point, Topsail, and Union.

As of the census of 2000, there were 41,082 people, 16,054 households, and 11,719 families residing in the county.