If you look at a US map with counties delineated, they're no smaller in NC than in most other states east of the Mississippi. As the colony and then state grew, original counties were divided with a courthouse town created close to the geographic center, for the convenience and protection of the county residents. My family has been in the same area where I grew up since the early 1750's. It's been five different counties over that time. Started out as Anson County, then Rowan, then Surry, then Stokes, then Forsyth.
I understand that! Being from the Far West, it’s just very different than it is out here. The most extreme example is probably my wife’s home state of Nevada which has only 16 counties, and with the exception of Washoe (Reno) and Clark ( Las Vegas) there are nearly no people in any one of them. I just returned from “rescuing” our youngest daughter from “Burning Man.” Gerlach, Nevada is the “Gateway To the Blackrock Desert,” population 206. The Burning Man encampment out on the dry lake was 70,000, all of whom had to drive 25 mph through Gerlach coming and going.