The earliest Native Americans thought to have lived in the area were the Joara (whose settlements date back to AD 1000), based out of present-day Burke County.

Immediately prior to European colonization in the early 18th century, the coastal plain of North Carolina was home to many distinct Native American tribes: the Coree, Coharie, several small Neusiok communities, and the Tuscarora.

By the time of permanent European settlement, the Tuscarora were utilizing the heavily forested areas of eastern Duplin County as a hunting ground.

[5] The arrival of the Palatines at New Bern and the ensuing wave of English and Welsh settlers sparked a conflict known as the Tuscarora War (1710–1715).

With the elimination of the last Tuscarora stronghold at Fort Neoheroka and subsequent exodus of the remainder of the tribe to New York (they became the sixth nation of the Iroquois Confederacy), the interior of the coastal plain was made available for European settlement.

[6] Their first settlements were Soracta (Sarecta) on the Northeast Cape Fear, an area at the lower end of Goshen Swamp (then called Woodward's Chase), and the grove where the Duplin County Courthouse now stands.

[7] According to census records, several families of Sarecta and the settlement at the south end of Goshen Swamp had gravitated to the crossroads of what would become Beulaville by the middle of the nineteenth century.

Beulaville proper was founded as "Snatchet" in 1873 out of necessity for a trading center for nearby farmers and those in the business of logging and turpentine production.

Upon demolition of a prominent downtown building (which had formerly served as a soda shop in the 1950s) to make way for a McDonald's, a moonshine still and several barrels of the drink were uncovered in the basement.

In response, residents of Limestone Creek Township spent $15,000 to lobby for the creation of the "Duplin County Railroad" in 1916, extending the Kinston line through Beulaville and Chinquapin.

Limestone Creek, a small body of water that runs into the Northeast Cape Fear River at Hallsville, borders the western boundary of town.

Situated 4 miles (6 km) east of the meandering Northeast Cape Fear River, Beulaville offers much in the way of outdoor recreation.

5 miles (8 km) north of Beulaville on Highway 111, the 167-acre Cabin Lake County Park attracts many locals and visitors for year-round camping, canoeing, and hiking.

These commodities were ferried down the Northeast Cape Fear River (which, in the early nineteenth century, had been made navigable) to Wilmington.

Agriculture is still the economic lifeline of Beulaville (Duplin now boasts the second highest hog-to-human ratio in the country),[17] though service industries and manufacturing jobs are gradually supplanting this tradition.

Beulaville has also benefited from its proximity to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune 35 miles (56 km) to the southeast in both traffic volume on NC 24 en route to Interstate 40 and in job opportunities for citizens.