Until 1964, present day Bong County was a part of Liberia known as the Central Province. Hon. Samuel B. Cooper was the last commissioner of Central Province, and the first Superintendent of Bong County was the late Hon. James Y. Gbarbea, who was instrumental in the construction of the Administrative Building in Gbarnga. The flag of Bong County is orange and purple with a hammer in the background as a reference to the traditional importance of mining to the local economy. Over the years, many investments and development initiatives of national importance have been undertaken in Bong County, including:

- Bong Mining Company (BMC)
- Bong County Agriculture Development Project (BCADP)
- Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI)
- Phebe Hospital and School of Nursing
- Rubber Corporation of Liberia (RCI)
- Liberia Telecommunication Corporation (LTC)
- Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC)
- Cuttington University College (CUC)

The civil conflict was particularly cruel to Bong County, parts of which were contested by multiple militias over fourteen years, resulting in massive losses of life and egregious human rights abuses, especially perpetrated against women and girls. Bong County served for a time as the capital of would-be president Charles Taylor’s “Greater Liberia”, and the area provided perhaps a majority of the children and young women that were forced to join the various fighting forces.

Most of the County’s public infrastructure and private property was looted or destroyed. While the situation has improved since the election of the current Government and the arrival of international peacekeepers, multilateral agencies and NGOs, there is still a dangerously high unemployment rate and a need for urgent improvements in health, education, and all sectors of the economy.