This was developed as a shipping point for lumber used by the Navy, and logs were guided downriver to Georgetown, South Carolina.

General John Willis, owner of the Red Banks plantation, lobbied to have the county's new seat of government located on his land.

The site of Lumberton was chosen due to its central location in the county, proximity to a reliable ford of the Lumber River, and as it was where several roads intersected.

Willis turned over 170 acres, which were surveyed and disbursed in a lottery held under the auspices of the county court on August 14, 1787.

As the site was heavily forested, trees were felled to make way for a courthouse, business and residential lots, streets, a commons, and a public square.

The first courthouse was a wooden residence sold by Willis to the county and moved into place after the land was clear.

Lumberton was formally created by an act of the North Carolina General Assembly on November 3, 1788, which granted the town a charter and the power to levy taxes.

[10] For four seasons, 1947–50, Lumberton fielded a professional minor-league baseball team in the Tobacco State League.

[13] A 1988 hostage crisis at the offices of The Robesonian and the 1993 murder of James R. Jordan Sr. nearby generated a negative national image for the city.

[15] As a result of extensive damage to homes, entire streets in south and west Lumberton were left abandoned.

[16] The Baker Sanatorium, Luther Henry Caldwell House, Carolina Theatre, Humphrey-Williams Plantation, Lumberton Commercial Historic District, Planters Building, Robeson County Agricultural Building, Alfred Rowland House, and US Post Office-Lumberton are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[19] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.8 square miles (40.9 km2), of which 0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2) (0.44%) is covered by water.

The Lumber River State Park, 115 miles (185 km) of natural and scenic waterway, flows through Lumberton.