In 1664, King Charles II designated Carolina as a Royal Colony and this colony was divided into three counties: Albemarle, Clarendon, and Craven. Albemarle was in the northern part of Carolina, Clarendon in the middle, and Craven taking up most of what is present day South Carolina. Clarendon County was abandoned in 1667 and replaced with Bath County circa 1696 - not much happening in the area between 1667 and 1700.

The original English name of the Cape Fear River was the Charles River, soon to be renamed the Clarendon River, which stuck until the early 1700s. In what is present-day New Hanover County, there were no earnest attempts at settlement by colonials until the early 1720s. It should be noted here that the Spanish had named the Cape Fear River the Rio Jordan in the late 1500s, long before the English ever showed up in the area.

A brief history of the settlement of New Hanover County must begin with the end of the reign of terror by pirates. Edward Teach --Blackbeard, lived in Bath and sometimes sailed in and out of the inlets near the Cape Fear often hiding behind Topsail Island. Teach was captured and returned to Bath with his head on the bow sprite of the ship in 1718. The pirate Stede Bonnet was hanged in Charleston in 1718 after being captured in the Cape Fear river by Captain Ravenell of Charleston. The demise of these pirates left the Cape Fear area safe for settlement.

By 1725, population of this area had begun in earnest.

New counties formed from New Hanover County were Onslow and Bladen Counties created in 1735, and Duplin in 1750. In 1764 Brunswick was separated from New Hanover. In 1875, Pender was broken off. Since that time New Hanover has kept its present boundaries. It is essentially an urban area.

In 1726, Maurice Moore founded the town of Brunswick. It became the county seat when New Hanover was created in 1729.

In April of 1733, James Wimble, John Watson, Joshua Grainger and Michael Higgins founded a new town on the other side of the river. It was called first, New Carthage, and then New Liverpool. It became known as New Town or Newton. In 1739, Newton was designated the location of court sessions for the southern judicial district of North Carolina.

In February 25, 1740 the North Carolina General Assembly incorporated Newton as the Town of Wilmington. Wilmington became the county seat. The town was named for Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington. He later became the prime minister of England.