Kelly, NC

Kelly is a small Bladen County community in the river country between the Cape Fear and Black rivers. The 2020 census counted 446 residents in the CDP, and the local map is defined by water, dikes, and crossings. Hunts Bluff Road leads to a state boating access area on the Black River, with a boat ramp and fishing access. On the Cape Fear side, the Elwell Ferry site northwest of Kelly marks a crossing that began in 1905, when the Russ brothers petitioned to operate it; for decades it connected roads on opposite sides of the river.

Flood control remains part of Kelly’s current story. The White Oak Dike, built in sections beginning in 1911 and extended during the 1930s and 1940s, protects the area from the Cape Fear. Hurricanes Matthew and Florence damaged the system in 2016 and 2018, and a restoration effort announced in 2025 was set to use military engineering crews over several years. Kelly’s geography is easy to read through that infrastructure: roads, boat landings, and homes sit in a river landscape where flood protection is part of the community’s civic life.