Randall Kirkpatrick

Roughly 100 years ago, well before the counties of Brunswick and Pender were the fast-growing locales they’ve become in the past 25 years, they were sleepy areas dotted mainly with farms, small towns and almost no doctors. In fact, Brunswick County was served by two physicians, William Goley of Shallotte and J. Arthur Dosher of Southport, who typically set out on horse-and-buggy, 200-mile-a-week treks to treat patients.

The state of North Carolina has been experiencing rapid growth for more than 50 years. In the Cape Fear region, for Brunswick and Pender counties, the trend is even faster and shows few signs of slowing. Brunswick County grew by 4.7% between 2024 and 2025, making it the fastest-growing county in the state, according to new Census population estimates released this spring. Pender County's population, meanwhile, grew by about 3%, the second-fastest in the state.

Some say the latest threat to the Cape Fear River is a proposal by the town of Fuquay-Varina, which lies roughly 70 miles upstream from Wilmington and the Lower Cape Fear region. The proposal requests an Interbasin Transfer Certificate (IBT) from the N.C. Environmental Management Commission for the removal of 6.17 million gallons per day (MGD) from the river. The idea was introduced in September 2020, when the town first submitted its notice of intent to the NCEMC.