Barbecue, North Carolina

Barbecue is an unincorporated community located in the Barbecue Township of Harnett County, North Carolina. It is a part of the Dunn Micropolitan Area, which is also a part of the greater Raleigh–Durham–Cary Combined Statistical Area (CSA) as defined by the United States Census Bureau.

A historian at Barbecue Presbyterian Church, Ms. Cameron, says that a settler to the area named “Red” McNeill saw steam rising from a nearby creek. It reminded him of the meat-cooking pits he had seen in the Caribbean, and he named the creek Barbecue Creek. The name became official in the early 1750s, as settlers began moving into the area.