Cleveland County Was Known by Eight Different Names Before It Existed

Long before Cleveland County was created, the land that now makes up the county passed through a series of changing political names. After the Crown bought back the Carolina territory in 1729, the area was first known as Bath. It then became part of Bladen County in 1734, Anson County in 1748, Mecklenburg County in 1762, and Tryon County in 1769. Tryon County later disappeared, and its lands were divided into Lincoln and Rutherford counties, from which Cleveland County was finally formed. Over little more than a century, the same land had been governed under eight different county names.

Source: Mamie Jones