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Winnabow is an unincorporated community in eastern Brunswick County situated between the expanding Wilmington-Leland area and the historic communities surrounding Southport. Its location places it within the lower Cape Fear region, an area with thousands of years of Indigenous history. Native peoples depended on the Cape Fear River, smaller waterways, forests, wetlands, and coastal resources before European settlement. During the colonial period, settlers established plantations, farms, timber operations, and river-based commercial activities throughout what became Brunswick County. Winnabow later developed as one of the county's rural mainland communities.

Agriculture and forestry were fundamental to the local economy for much of Winnabow's history. The southeastern North Carolina Coastal Plain supported extensive pine forests that supplied timber and naval stores, including tar, pitch, rosin, and turpentine. Farms throughout the surrounding countryside produced corn, tobacco, vegetables, livestock, and other agricultural products. The combination of forest resources, agricultural land, and access to the Cape Fear region's waterways provided livelihoods for generations of local families.

Winnabow's geographic position became increasingly important as transportation infrastructure improved. U.S. Highway 17 developed into a major north-south corridor through eastern Brunswick County, providing access to Wilmington and communities farther south. North Carolina Highway 87 and other routes strengthened connections toward Southport, Boiling Spring Lakes, and inland areas. These transportation improvements transformed what had once been a relatively isolated rural community into a strategically located area within the greater Wilmington growth corridor.

The surrounding landscape also contains important reminders of the region's colonial and early American history. Brunswick Town, located along the Cape Fear River not far from Winnabow, was established during the colonial era and became an important port before declining and eventually being abandoned. The site later became associated with Fort Anderson during the Civil War and is preserved today as the Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site. Nearby Orton Plantation and the broader Cape Fear landscape further illustrate the complicated agricultural, economic, and social history of this part of North Carolina.

During the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, residential growth began transforming portions of eastern Brunswick County. Wilmington's metropolitan expansion crossed the Cape Fear River into Leland and surrounding communities, while growth from Southport and the county's coastal areas moved inland. Winnabow increasingly found itself between these expanding development zones. New subdivisions and residential construction appeared alongside longstanding farms, forests, and rural homes, producing a landscape that combines traditional countryside with emerging suburban development.

Today, Winnabow attracts homeowners who want access to Wilmington, Leland, Southport, and the Brunswick County coast while maintaining some distance from denser urban development. The community provides convenient connections to shopping, employment, healthcare, historic sites, waterways, beaches, and recreational opportunities throughout the lower Cape Fear region. Its housing includes older rural residences, homes on larger parcels, established subdivisions, and newer construction. As eastern Brunswick County continues to grow, Winnabow's location between Wilmington and the coast makes it an increasingly significant residential community while its forests, waterways, and historic surroundings preserve connections to the region's past.