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North Carolina · Cape Fear Coast · #759
Pender County, North Carolina
North of Wilmington on North Carolina's coastal plain, Pender County has become one of the state's fastest-growing counties as Wilmington's residential reach expanded northward - a county where longleaf pine savannas, surf fishing on Topsail Island, and affordable coastal-adjacent housing have attracted steady migration from the crowded Wilmington core.
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Services: Coordinates disaster preparedness/response for the county’s 857 square miles; maintains a Pender County EM app for real-time alerts
Related: Pender EMS and Fire Inc. – provides fire, EMS, crash rescue, and search-and-rescue across the county, which sees a seasonal influx of more than 300,000 tourists on top of 50,000 year-round residents.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-40, US-117, and NC-53 serve Burgaw, the county seat, in southeastern coastal North Carolina; Hampstead is the county’s largest community, part of the Wilmington metro area
Transit: Limited; primarily auto-dependent – confirm current regional options directly with the county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Pender County Inspections & Permitting – offices in Burgaw and Hampstead; applications via the Pender Online Resource Tool (PORT) online portal
Services: Building permits and inspections; Fire Marshal’s Office reviews commercial construction, fire suppression/alarm systems, and subdivision plans for hydrant placement/emergency access; environmental health water/sewer intention documentation required with applications; inspection requests: (910) 259-9934
Notes: The Town of Burgaw handles its own separate building inspections within town limits.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Pender County Veterans Services Office – Burgaw, NC
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Pender County Library – branches in Burgaw and Hampstead – confirm current hours directly
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Pender County – and its county seat, Burgaw, in particular – is genuinely and affectionately known throughout the region as “BLUEBERRYTOWN,” a nickname earned through generations of family blueberry farming that remains deeply woven into local identity; Burgaw’s fields sit in the heart of North Carolina’s coastal-plain blueberry country, where sandy Coastal Plain soil proves ideal for cultivating the crop, and the town’s pride in its signature harvest shows up everywhere – from Burgaw’s official town logo, which itself features the fruit, to blue ribbons tied around downtown streetlamps every June, to blueberry-inspired dishes served at local restaurants throughout the growing season; area farms like Shaken Creek Farms typically begin their harvest around May 15 and continue through late June; this deep agricultural heritage is celebrated each year at the North Carolina Blueberry Festival, a beloved community tradition featuring live beach music, a blueberry recipe contest, a whole-hog barbecue cook-off, the “Tour de Blueberry” cycling event, and a 5K road race, along with free educational tours of a nearby NC State Cooperative Extension research farm in Castle Hayne where visitors can learn about the blueberry-growing process firsthand; Burgaw’s agricultural history, alongside its railroad-town origins dating to 1879, is also preserved at the Pender County Historical Museum in the heart of downtown; the town’s well-preserved historic district – encompassing Queen Anne and Gothic Revival architecture and listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1999 – is also home to what is often cited as the oldest surviving train depot in North Carolina, the Burgaw Depot, a lasting reminder of the railroad that first put this “Good Town Year Round” (per its official motto) on the map
Notes: Burgaw’s genuine, affectionately-earned “Blueberrytown” identity – rooted in generations of family blueberry farming and celebrated annually at the North Carolina Blueberry Festival – is presented here as one of the most charming local heritage traditions found anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Pender County GIS Parcel Viewer – newly redesigned as of 2026, accessible via pendercountync.gov
Parcel Search: Pender County Tax Office
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Pender County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Pender County Animal Shelter – 3280 New Savannah Road, Burgaw, NC 28425 | (910) 259-1484 | Email: [email protected] | Hours: Open 7 days a week except holidays
Services: A government open-intake shelter serving Pender County Animal Control – accepts animals belonging to Pender County residents or found within the county only (does NOT accept out-of-county animals); strays without proof of ownership are held 72 hours per state law before becoming county property; rabies vaccinations available on-site, $5 for county residents / $10 for out-of-county residents
Related: Pender County Humane Society – 1407 Hwy 53 W, Burgaw, NC 28425, (910) 259-7022, Hours: Mon–Fri 9 AM–12 PM (Sat by appointment); a separate no-kill nonprofit NOT affiliated with the county shelter, re-chartered in 1997, receiving no government funding; adoption fees $200 for dogs, $100 for cats, including spay/neuter, vaccinations, and deworming.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) – deq.nc.gov
Notes: North Carolina has recently seen an increase in cyclosporiasis cases statewide (307 cases and 13 hospitalizations reported May 1–July 14, 2026) – contact the Pender County Health Department for current local guidance.
NOTES
Pender County’s seat, Burgaw, is genuinely and affectionately known as “Blueberrytown,” home to generations of family blueberry farms and the annual North Carolina Blueberry Festival. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, library, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Pender County
Pender County’s growth story is Wilmington’s story told from the outside – families priced out of New Hanover County have moved up US-17 and US-421 into Pender, where Holly Ridge, Hampstead, and the unincorporated communities along the Wilmington collar have absorbed residential development at a rate that the county’s infrastructure has struggled to keep pace with. Topsail Island, which straddles the Pender-Onslow county line, provides beach access that the rest of the county lacks but that draws buyers throughout the region.
The county’s longleaf pine flatwoods – some of the most extensive remaining longleaf savanna habitat on the North Carolina coastal plain – provide significant ecological value and some hunting and outdoor recreation access. Burgaw, the county seat, is a small courthouse town with a historic downtown and a preserved rail depot. New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington serves the regional healthcare market.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
North Carolina assesses property at 100% of market value. Property owners may appeal to the County Board of Equalization and Review. North Carolina offers elderly and disabled exclusions for qualifying homeowners. North Carolina has no estate or inheritance tax.
Courts & Legal
CLERK OF SUPERIOR COURT
Address: 300 East Fremont St, Burgaw, NC 28425
Phone: (910) 259-1200
Services: Estates, guardianships, civil case filings
SUPERIOR COURT
Address: 300 East Fremont St, Burgaw, NC 28425
Phone: (910) 259-1200
Website: nccourts.gov/counties/pender
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF SUPERIOR COURT
300 East Fremont St, Burgaw, NC 28425
(910) 259-1200
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Pender County Clerk of Superior Court, Burgaw (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Pender County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Pender County Clerk of Superior Court – Estates Division 805 South Walker Street (mail: P.O. Box 5), Burgaw, NC 28425 (910) 259-1200 Pender County is in southeastern coastal North Carolina, seated in Burgaw.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
North Carolina has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code. Probate is handled by the Clerk of Superior Court – an elected official who serves as the ex officio judge of probate – in the county where the decedent was domiciled, under Chapter 28A of the North Carolina General Statutes. Unlike most states, North Carolina does not have a separate probate court; the Clerk’s Estates Division handles all wills, estates, and guardianship matters.
Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property of Decedent (“collection by affidavit,” N.C. Gen. Stat. § 28A-25-1 and § 28A-25-1.1) – available when the decedent’s personal property, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $20,000, or $30,000 if the surviving spouse is the sole heir and receives all property covered by the statute. Filed at least 30 days after death, using Form AOC-E-203B. Real property CANNOT be transferred through this process. If the decedent left a will, the will must first be admitted to probate and a certified copy attached to the affidavit.
Summary Administration – an abbreviated procedure available only when the surviving spouse is the sole heir.
Full Estate Administration – required for larger or more complex estates; the personal representative (called “executor” if named in a will, “administrator” if intestate) is appointed by the Clerk and receives Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
Step 2: filing for administration
File the will (if any) and a petition with the Clerk of Superior Court, Estates Division, in the county where the decedent was domiciled.
The Clerk appoints the personal representative and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
The personal representative publishes notice to creditors; North Carolina’s creditor claim period is typically at least three months from first publication.
The personal representative inventories the estate’s assets, pays debts and expenses, and distributes the remaining assets according to the will or North Carolina’s intestacy law, reporting back to the Clerk at key stages.
The estate is closed once a final accounting is filed and approved by the Clerk.
What it costs
Filing fees for full estate administration generally follow the statewide statutory schedule, which scales with the estate’s value.
North Carolina repealed its state estate tax in 2013. There is no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax – only the federal estate tax could apply, and only to very large estates.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
805 South Walker St, Burgaw, NC 28425
(910) 259-1212
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
805 South Walker St, Burgaw, NC 28425
(910) 259-1237
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
805 South Walker St, Burgaw, NC 28425
(910) 259-1230
Social Services
103 West Fremont St, Burgaw, NC 28425
(910) 259-1240
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Pender County Health and Human Services – 298 Progress Drive, Burgaw, NC (new building, ribbon-cutting May 2026)
Services: Immunizations, WIC, environmental health, vital records
Notes: Following 2026 water damage, the Pender County Register of Deeds and Tax Office temporarily relocated to 803 South Walker Street, Burgaw – confirm current office locations directly given recent moves.
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County Facts
County Seat: Burgaw
Population: 68,000
Tier: 4
Inmate Services
Care Packages
Send care packages to inmates in Pender County facilities via Amazon.
