The league began play in 1945 with eight teams based in Burlington, Durham, Greensboro, Leaksville, Raleigh, Winston-Salem (all from North Carolina), along with Danville and Martinsville from Virginia.

[citation needed] Director and screenwriter Ron Shelton's 1988 film Bull Durham, starring Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon, depicted a fictionalized account of the Durham Bulls, at that time a Carolina League team (they have since become a Class AAA team in the International League).

[3] The Carolina League added two expansion teams for the 2017 season to fill two vacant spots at the Class A-Advanced level previously occupied by the California League's Bakersfield Blaze and High Desert Mavericks, which ceased operations at the end of the 2016 season.

[7] In the realignment process, the Frederick Keys were demoted out of professional baseball, the Wilmington Blue Rocks and Winston-Salem Dash were shifted to the South Atlantic League (retaining their High-A status), and five teams were moved from the old SAL to bring the CL to twelve member teams.

[8] In July 2024, MiLB announced that the Hickory Crawdads will join the Carolina League in 2025, replacing the Down East Wood Ducks.