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Hooper County - The County That Never Was


North Carolina has 100 counties. From Alamance to Yancey County and every one in between, each of the 100 counties has its unique history and story.  There are also historic counties like Tryon or Dobbs.  Or counties that became part of Tennessee.  But what about the counties that never came to be?  In North Carolina's history, there is at least one county proposed that never came to be.  That county is Hooper County.

Hooper County was born in legislation on January 27, 1851.  The new county would be carved out of Richmond and Robeson Counties.  Hooper County would be named after William Hooper, one of the three North Carolinians that signed the Declaration of Independence.

Map of North Carolina's Counties in 1850.  Hooper County would consist of Richmond and Robeson Counties from the Cumberland/Robeson County Line south to the State Line.

The day following the legislation to create Hooper County passed another piece of legislation in regards to the creation of Hooper County passed.  If voters in Richmond and Robeson Counties voted in favor of it, Hooper County would be created.  The voters of both counties rejected the measure, and Hooper County never came to be.

Hooper County would include much of what is now Hoke and Scotland Counties.  Although the location of a county seat was not established in the legislation, it is possible that Raeford, Laurinburg, or Wagram could have ended up as the location.

It wouldn't be long after the demise of Hooper County that Richmond and Robeson County's size would be reduced.  Scotland County would be created out of Richmond in 1899.  Hoke County would become North Carolina's 100th and currently final new county in 1911.  Hoke was created out of Robeson and Cumberland Counties.

While Hooper County never came to be - it is still a small part of North Carolina history not often told.

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