Hamlet is a city in Richmond County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 6,042 at the 2020 census. The area in Richmond County which presently includes Hamlet was originally known as Sandhills. Indigenous people, enslaved Africans and Europeans made up majority of the population. Many plantations were operated throughout the county, cultivating goods such as cotton, tobacco and beans. The Wilmington, Charlotte & Rutherford Railroad was extended through the area in 1866. In 1872 the land was purchased and colonized by John Shortridge, an English immigrant who intended on building a textile mill along a creek. He renamed the locale Hamlet the following year, supposedly in homage to hamlets in the British Isles. He planted a sycamore tree to celebrate the occasion, which stood until 1946.
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