Barker Ten Mile, NC

Barker Ten Mile is a Robeson County census-designated place of 937 people in the 2020 count, named for its position near Barker United Methodist Church and Ten Mile Swamp. The swamp threads through the community toward Big Swamp and the Lumber River. That wetland geography is tied to Lumbee history too; local accounts describe Ten Mile and Saddle Tree swamps as culturally significant. Lumberton is the county seat, and Robeson Community College's local story reaches back to an extension unit first set up at Barker Ten-Mile Elementary in 1965.

Some of the strongest local history is tied to particular families and fields. The Meadows was hunting ground and horse pasture for the Goode, French, McMillan, Shepherd, and Godwin families; local stories also describe longtime relationships among Lumbee and Scottish-descended families. The old community is not a single downtown block. It is church, swamp, family land, school memories, and the roads running toward Lumberton - one of those places whose character makes more sense when you follow the water and the family names.