Organized as the Bath Precinct under the English Crown in 1696, this precinct extended from Albemarle County to the Cape Fear River and beyond. In 1729, New Hanover County was formed and this area fell under its jurisdiction. In 1734, Bladen County was created out of part of New Hanover County, and in 1764 Brunswick County was formed out of parts of New Hanover County and Bladen County. Then, in 1808 Columbus County was created out of part of Bladen County and part of Brunswick County.

The very first written record about Columbus County is about William Bartram, a well educated Colonial planter, who was the brother of John Bartram, the first scientist to form a botanic garden for American plants in America. John Bartram traveled wide and far collecting plants for his garden, and he documented his travels to the Columbus County area in 1734 while visiting his brother. In this documentary, John Bartram describes Lake Waccamaw in great detail, including some Indian mounds near the lake.

We know that Indians once roamed the area. When the first settlers came up the Cape Fear River, they were here. The settlers called them the Cape Fear Indians, the Waccamaw Indians, and the Saponas. The Waccamaws were a peaceful tribe and when the whites began to show up they voluntarily withdrew and joined the Catawbas further west, and some, at least, joined the Seminoles in Florida. It is said that the celebrated chief of the Seminoles, Osceola, was born on the Waccamaw River, and tradition says that his father was John Powell, a white man living in present-day Columbus County.

Col. Alfred Moore Waddell, in his history of the Revolutionary War in New Hanover County, states that Gen. Francis Marion, the Horrys, and Gen. Huger, all of South Carolina, met in Brompton, country seat of Governor Gabriel Johnston in Brunswick, to reorganize Marion's men, and that a large portion of these men came from Bladen and Brunswick Counties. Therefore, it can be reasonably concluded that these men were from present-day Columbus County. Additionally, several battles/skirmishes with the British were fought at Brown Marsh - about five miles from present-day Clarkton, NC.

Whiteville and Fair Bluff probably divide honors as the oldest towns in Columbus County. Originally known as White's Crossing, the town was laid out in 1810 on James B. White's land, and after he served as the first state senator from the county the name was changed to Whiteville and it was named the county seat. The town was chartered in 1873, and J.A. Maultsby was its first mayor.

The city of Chadbourn was started in 1882 and incorporated in 1886. The first charter stipulated that there should be no legalized sale of whiskey in the town, and Chadbourn has the distinction of never having had liquor stores in it.

Many other towns and cities sprang up along the way. Tabor City is world famous for producing yams along the South Carolina border. On the other side of the county, Riegelwood is famous for its paper mill. Folks from Crusoe Island claim to be descendents of Sir Walter Raleigh's "lost colony of Roanoke," and they definitely have a unique accent to perhaps prove it.