Northampton county is 504 square miles and was formed in 1741, Among the earliest in the state to be settled. The county received it's name from George, Earl of Northhampton. He was a British nobleman and the brother of the Earl of Wilmington. By 1786, the population had increased to 8,220. Northampton is the largest peanut production county in the nation. In earlier years main crops were also cotton, soybeans, alfalfa, potatoes and watermelons. During depression times timber sales have been a big help to county farmers. Today the mixed terrain of peanuts and cotton fields along with thick swamps and oak ridges provide our white tail deer and turkeys the best habitat possible..