Hillsborough, North Carolina Hillsborough, North Carolina Old Orange County Courthouse in Hillsborough Old Orange County Courthouse in Hillsborough Location of Hillsborough, North Carolina Location of Hillsborough, North Carolina The town of Hillsborough is the governmental center of county of Orange County, North Carolina. The populace was 6,087 in 2010. Local Native American groups had lived in the Hillsborough region for thousands of years by the time European-American pioneer identified the area.
Siouan-language groups such as the Occaneechi and the Eno were living in the Hillsborough region at the time of European contact, though they would later be displaced.
The explorer John Lawson recorded visiting "Occaneechi Town" when he travelled through North Carolina in 1701.
In the early 18th century, the Occaneechi left Hillsborough for Virginia, returning to the region around 1780. An initial Occaneechi farming village was excavated by an archaeological team from UNC-Chapel Hill in the 1980s. A replica of an Occaneechi village stands in closivity to the initial Eno River settlement. Hillsborough was established in 1754 and was first owned, surveyed, and mapped by William Churton (a surveyor for Earl Granville).
Originally to be titled Orange, it was first titled Corbin Town (for Francis Corbin, a member of the governor's council and one of Granville's territory agents) and was retitled Childsburgh (in honor of Thomas Child, the attorney general for North Carolina from 1751 1760 and another one of Granville's territory agents) in 1759.
It was not until 1766 that it was titled Hillsborough, after the Earl of Hillsborough, the British secretary of state for the colonies and a relative of royal Governor William Tryon.
Hillsborough was an early Piedmont colonial town where court was held, and was the scene of some pre-Revolutionary War tensions.
Ultimately, the frustrated farmers took to arms and closed the court in Hillsborough, dragging those they saw as corrupt officials through the streets. Tryon and North Carolina militia troops marched to the region and defeated the Regulators at the Battle of Alamance in May 1771. Several trials were held after the war, resulting in the hanging of six Regulators at Hillsborough on June 19, 1771.
The North Carolina Provincial Congress met in Hillsborough August 20 September 10, 1775, at the outset of the American Revolution, as did the North Carolina General Assembly in 1778, 1782 and 1783.
The town was also the site of the first North Carolina ratifying convention, which met July 21 August 2, 1788 to deliberate and determine whether or not to ratify the Constitution recommended to the states by the Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia the previous summer.
During the bicentennial celebration of the writing and ratification of the Constitution, a historical marker was placed at the site (now the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church) commemorating the convention. When the Civil War began, Hillsborough was reluctant to support secession.
Johnston wintered just outside Hillsborough at the Dickson home, which now serves as the Hillsborough Welcome Center in downtown (the home was moved from its initial site in the early 1980s due to commercial development).
Johnston, traveling east from Hillsborough and Sherman, traveling west from Raleigh along the Hillsborough-Raleigh Road, met approximately half-way near present-day Durham (then Durham Station) at the home of James and Nancy Bennett, a farmhouse now known as Bennett Place.
Johnston surrendered 89,270 Southern troops who were still active in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
There are various historical sites to visit in Hillsborough.
For many years Hillsborough was a dominant town in its region of North Carolina and many momentous historical affairs occurred here.
In addition, there are various secondary buildings, bridges, foundry sites and dams along the Eno River, and Native American relics from the locations of ancient suburbs stretching back thousands of years. The Hillsborough Visitors Center operates from this late-18th century Quaker-plan home.
It was moved from its initial locale (1 mi (1.6 km) southeast of Hillsborough to its present locale in the historic district.
It is believed that Peter Brown Ruffin, a landowner and employer to the west of Hillsborough, bought the two 1-acre (0.40 ha) lots that comprise the cemetery from the town in 1854 as a burial.
Occoneechee Speedway, just outside Hillsborough, was one of the first two NASCAR tracks to open and is one of two tracks remaining from that inaugural 1949 season, Martinsville Speedway being the other.
The Historic Occoneechee Speedway Trail (HOST), is a 3 mi (4.8 km) trail positioned on 44 acres (180,000 m2) at the site of the former Speedway.
Bill France and the early framers of NASCAR bought territory to build a 1 mi (1.6 km) oval track at Hillsborough, but opposition from small-town theological leaders inhibited the track from being assembled in the town and NASCAR officials assembled the large speedway Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama instead. In addition to Ayr Mount, Old Orange County Courthouse, and the Occoneechee Speedway, the Bellevue Manufacturing Company, Burwell School, Cabe-Pratt-Harris House, Commandant's House, Eagle Lodge, Eno Cotton Mill, Faucett Mill and House, Hazel-Nash House, Heartsease, Hillsborough Historic District, Holden-Roberts Farm, Jacob Jackson Farm, Montrose, Moorefields, Murphey School, Nash Law Office, Nash-Hooper House, Rigsbee's Rock House, Ruffin-Roulhac House, Sans Souci, St.
Hillsborough is positioned along the Eno River.
The architecture of close-by Duke University incorporates the contemporary from the small-town Hillsborough Quarry.
Orange County Historical Museum Hillsborough Gallery of Arts - Artists cooperative loggia. Hillsborough Arts Council Gallery Orange County Historical Museum - Chartered in 1956 to preserve and interpret the history of Hillsborough and Orange County. Hillsborough is part of the Orange County School District, which includes Cameron Park Elementary, Grady A.
Brown Elementary, Pathways Elementary, Central Elementary and Hillsborough Elementary Schools (K-5), A.L.
Stanford Middle School, Gravelly Hill Middle School, Cedar Ridge High School, and Orange High School.
For its size, Hillsborough has a high concentration of inhabitants who are nationally known artists and authors, including Lee Smith, Jill Mc - Corkle, Allan Gurganus, Michael Malone, Annie Dillard, Hal Crowther, Frances Mayes, and David Payne. William Hooper (1742 1790) lawyer and politician who signed the United States Declaration of Independence for North Carolina "Town of Hillsborough - About Hillsborough".
Hillsborough, North Carolina.
"About Hillsborough | Historic Hillsborough, North Carolina".
"Riverwalk Greenway and Related Pedestrian Connections | The Town of Hillsborough Government, NC".
Historic Hillsborough.
"National Register of Historic Places Listings".
"Duke Hillsborough Stone".
Duke University and the Hillsborough Stone.
"Eno Gallery : Contemporary Fine Art in the Triangle, positioned in the heart of historic Hillsborough, NC".
"Hillsborough Gallery of Arts - Fine art and fine craft loggia by experienced small-town artists.".
"Hillsborough Arts Councils official website".
"Orange NC History-Orange County Historical Museum".
Media related to Hillsborough, North Carolina at Wikimedia Commons Municipalities and communities of Orange County, North Carolina, United States
Categories:
Towns in Orange County, North Carolina - Towns in North Carolina - County seats in North Carolina - Populated places established in 1754 - Hillsborough, North Carolina - 1754 establishments in North Carolina
|