Salemburg, NC

Salemburg is a town in Sampson County, set along NC 242 between U.S. 421 and NC 24. The 2020 census counted 457 residents. Clinton, the county seat, is 12 miles east; Interstate 40 and Interstate 95 are each about 20 miles away. The town sits in a broad stretch of eastern North Carolina farm country, with its roads pointing toward several larger routes while keeping the local center tied to schools and church history.

Salemburg was incorporated in 1905 and took its name from Old Salem Baptist Church. Religion and education shaped the town from the start, and Southwood College made Salemburg a school town from its founding in 1874 until it closed in 1973. The North Carolina Justice Academy and Tarheel ChalleNGe Academy carry that educational thread into the present. Salemburg is the kind of place where a road, a church name, and a former college show why a small Sampson County town still has a distinct place on the map.