On April 7, 1750 Duplin County was cut off from New Hanover. Duplin County is located in the Southeastern Coastal Plain of North Carolina. The county was named for Sir Thomas Hays, Lord Duplin, who served on the Board of Trade and Plantations for the Crown in the 1740's. The earliest immigrants to the area were the Welsh from New Castle on Delaware arriving in the early 1700's. They were followed in the 1730’s and 1740’s by German Palatines and Swiss who were from settlements in New Bern. The Scotch-Irish arrived in 1736 from Ulster, Northern Ireland with Henry McCulloch’ a wealthy London merchant, to settle on a rich and fertile 71,160-acre plot of land granted to him from the British Crown. The early settlements were primarily along the river and larger creeks, as these were the best means of transportation in the early beginnings of the county. McCulloch established the first town, Sarecta, incorporated in 1787.

The first industry in the county was the naval stores industry followed by the main industry throughout the years, agriculture. The completion of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad in 1840 gave rise to such towns as Wallace, Teachey, Rose Hill, Magnolia, Warsaw, Faison and Calypso. Duplin County has maintained its agricultural heritage and rural environment through the years while still allowing for a blending with industrial development, economic growth and an enviable lifestyle.

It is the 9th largest county in the state with 819 square miles of prime agricultural land. Duplin is bounded by Wayne County to the north; Lenoir, Jones, and Onslow Counties to the east; Pender County to the south; and Sampson County to the west. Kenansville, the county seat, is located in the center of the county. Duplin County is located approximately 80 miles from Raleigh, 55 miles from Wilmington, 65 miles from Fayetteville, and 55 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.

Duplin County has experienced a relatively stable population over the last 50 years. According to the 2000 census, the total population of Duplin County is 49,063. The county’s largest township, Island Creek, has a population of 8,542. The total number of housing units in Duplin County in 1990 was 14,925. The fastest growing municipality is Kenansville, with a 34.2% growth rate from 1990 until 2000.