Development around Bladenboro, a farming community also known in its earliest days for its turpentine and lumber, began to take off after a railroad was built through the area in 1859.

Major businesses, owned and operated by members of the Bridger family and which employed many area residents, have included Bridger Corporation (a farming supply company and general store no longer in operation), Bladenboro Cotton Mills (established in 1912 and later sold to become Highland Mills), and the Bank of Bladenboro (established in 1908 and now part of First Citizens Bank).

However, sightings describe the attacker as resembling a cat or wolf, which led to the local legend known as the "Beast of Bladenboro.

In August 2014, Lennon Lacy, a student attending West Bladen High School, was found dead, hanging from the frame of a swing set in the center of a mobile home community.

[5] The death was initially declared a suicide by North Carolina's Chief Medical Examiner, but Lacy's family believed that he had been lynched.

[5] In June 2016, the conclusion of the FBI investigation was announced, having found "no evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges".

[8] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.7 km2), all land.