Originally a part of the State of Virginia, King Charles II of England re-drew state lines in 1665, thus putting what is now Vance County into the State of Carolina. As the area prospered in the mid to late 1800's, the idea of creating a separate county surfaced. After original legislative efforts to name the new county as "Gilliam" and later as "Dortch" failed, Vance County was established on May 5, 1881 by the North Carolina General Assembly and was named after Governor Zebulon Baird Vance, who was known as the Civil War governor. Seventy-three percent of the land territory of the new county came from Vance County and the remaining twenty-three percent came from Warren and Franklin Counties.

Although most of the early settlers who came into Vance County were from Virginia, others looking for a new home came from as far away as the Carolina coast.

Vance County Map of 1925