Welsh Tract

… an area between the Northeast Cape Fear and Cape Fear Rivers, now largely in central Pender County, on which a number of Welsh families from Pennsylvania settled in 1730 and shortly afterward. The first grant was made in 1731 to David Evans for 640 acres. Apparently no single large block of land was granted to the Welsh; instead, individuals acquired their own land. Appears on the Moseley map, 1733, as Welch Settlement. Rev. Hugh McAden mentioned the Welsh Tract during his visit to the area in 1755, and the name was still in use in 1775. Persons other than those of Welsh descent soon moved into the area, and the tract lost its identity. About 1740 the Welsh laid out a town that became South Washington, which see.