Caswell County was formed from a northern portion of Orange County in 1777. It was created so that governance could be more localized and efficient. The county was named for Richard Caswell who was the first governor of North Carolina after the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Caswell was also a delegate at the First and Second Continental Congresses and a senior officer of militia in the Southern theater of the Revolutionary War. He led the Provincial Congress' force at the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in 1776.