Prior to European colonization, the present location of Bahama and the surrounding upper Neuse River basin were home to native peoples including the Eno, Shakori, and Adshusheer.[2]
The origins of the town of Bahama can be traced back to the construction of a log meetinghouse which was the first of several structures that would house what is now Mount Bethel United Methodist Church;[3] the meetinghouse was likely built in the early 1780s.[2] The settlement was subsequently known by various names, including Balltown, Round Hill, and Hunkadora. The latter two names specifically referred to the community centered on the post office founded by William Horner in 1832. In 1891 the town, then known as Hunkadora, was given the new name of Bahama, a portmanteau of the names of three families in the area: (Ba)ll, (Ha)rris, and (Ma)ngum.[2][4] A new railroad station came to eclipse the post office as the center of activity.
Mount Bethel Church - NC Highway Marker G-65 "Non-denominational meeting house built ca. 1784 by Archer Harris. By 1808 Methodist. Home church to Washington Duke."[5]
Willie P. Mangum - NC Highway Marker G-28 "Member of United States Senate for 18 years and president pro tempore, 1842-45; Congressman; Whig party leader. Home site, grave, 10 mi. N.E."[6]
Stephen B. Weeks - NC Highway Marker G-50 "Historian, bibliographer, collector of North Carolina books and manuscripts, professor at Trinity College, 1891-93. Grave 6 mi. N.E."[7]
William B. Umstead - NC Highway Marker G-68 "Governor, 1953-54, U.S. Senator, congressman; Democratic leader; and lawyer. Birthplace is 6 1/2 mi., grave 5 1/2 mi., N.E."[8]
Trading Path - NC Highway Marker G-32 "Colonial trading route, dating from 17th century, from Petersburg, Virginia, to Catawba and Waxhaw Indians in Carolina passed nearby."[9]
^Stewart, George R. (1970). American place-names; a concise and selective dictionary for the continental United States of America. Oxford University Press.
^"Marker: G-65". www.ncmarkers.com. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
^"Marker: G-28". www.ncmarkers.com. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
^"Marker: G-50". www.ncmarkers.com. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
^ ab"Marker: G-68". www.ncmarkers.com. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
^"Marker: G-32". www.ncmarkers.com. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
Orange County Deed Books, North Carolina State Archives
Powell, William S. (1968), The North Carolina Gazetteer: A Dictionary of Tar Heel Places, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, ISBN0-8078-1247-1
