[4] As agriculture in the industry consolidated into larger corporate ventures in the 1960s, Maxton's status as a local market town declined.

White people began leaving in search of better prospects, leading Maxton to become a majority-black town by 2000.

[6] In 2004 a highway bypass around the town was completed, depriving local businesses of the spending of travelers they had hitherto enjoyed.

Charles N. Hunter a famous African-American educator who would go on to found the North Carolina Industrial Association opened his first school in Maxton.

A few nights later, on January 18, 1958, the Lumbee surrounded and disrupted a public Klan rally near Maxton, dispersing the Klansmen, some of whom left under police protection while others escaped into the woods.

The confrontation made national headlines, and the Klan never again held a public rally in Robeson County, even as they gained influence over the next decade in North Carolina.

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