The area was originally named "Havelock Station" in the late 1850s, when the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad built a depot where its right-of-way crossed what is now Miller Boulevard.

On March 11, 1862, Brigadier General Ambrose Burnside's command embarked from Roanoke Island to rendezvous with Union gunboats at Hatteras Inlet for an expedition against New Bern.

Elements of the Rhode Island Heavy Artillery came ashore near the present-day location of the Officers' Club on Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station and also near the Carolina Pines Golf and Country Club.

Despite several Confederate attempts to reclaim New Bern and the surrounding area, the Federals did not withdraw until after the end of the war.

[6] Existing records indicate that the production of naval supplies including turpentine and tar were very important in the local economy during the 19th century.

With the invention of the steam engine, the demand for tar and turpentine slowly evaporated as fewer wooden ships were constructed.

MCAS Cherry Point's Fleet Readiness Center East employs many residents of the town.

The city limits encompass most of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point and extend as far north as the tidal Neuse River.

Slocum Creek is a tidal inlet that extends south from the Neuse as far as the center of Havelock.

There is also N.C. 101 (Fontana Boulevard) from which two entrances to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point are located.

Some homes in the town were built over a landfill in the 1970s, which land at that time was still owned by Craven County and not by Havelock.