Orange County Courthouse Mural

Orange County sits in the Piedmont region of North Carolina and was originally home to several groups of Native Americans, such as the Occaneechi, Haw, and Eno peoples. The county was formed in 1752 with land annexed from Johnston, Bladen, and Granville counties. Originally Orange was approximately 3,500 square miles and was named for either William III of England or William V of Orange, grandson of George II of England. Over the years, portions of Orange were used in the creation of Chatham, Guilford, Wake, Caswell, Alamance, and Durham counties, shrinking Orange to its current size of approximately 398 miles, about one-tenth of its original size. 

The county seat was founded in 1754 on 400 acres near the intersection of a major road and the Eno River, and was laid out by William Churton. The town was originally known as Orange, but was also called Corbin Town and Childsburgh before being renamed Hillsborough in 1766, in honor of Wills Hills, the Earl of Hillsborough. It became one of the region’s principal towns. 

The majority of those who immigrated to Orange were English, Scotch-Irish, German, or Welsh and worked as farmers. These people were relatively isolated and self-sufficient. Much of the farming in these early days was subsistence farming, where families worked to meet their own needs, rather than to sell goods. By the 1790s, enslaved people made up 20% of the county’s population.

Hillsborough played a part during the Revolutionary War, acting as the state capital for a short time in 1782. The town was home to much of the North Carolina state legislature, hosting the Third Provincial Congress, three sessions of the North Carolina General Assembly, and the first North Carolina Ratifying Convention. Hillsborough was briefly captured by General Cornwallis in 1781. The post-revolutionary era saw the state charter the University of North Carolina, which would be the first public university in the United States, opening its doors in 1795. 

In the early 19th century, farming remained the most common occupation, though farms remained relatively small and there was still a focus on subsistence farming. The North Carolina Railroad transformed the economy after opening in 1856. It linked rural communities to urban centers and provided a reliable way to get goods to market. This connectivity promoted interest in cash crops like tobacco, which became a major part of the economy of Orange County in the late antebellum period.  

The Civil War and its aftermath led to many changes in Orange County. Approximately 6,000 enslaved people were emancipated, roughly a third of the county’s population. Following this, many Black families moved to cities such as Durham in search of socio-economic opportunities. Some families stayed and farmed, often becoming tenant farmers or sharecroppers.

Immediately following the Civil War, the agricultural industry suffered, with both crop production and land values decreasing. However, by the 1880s, North Carolina entered a period of growth and prosperity. There was a massive increase in manufacturing, particularly in relation to tobacco. This growth in tobacco manufacturing supported tobacco farming, with the plant becoming the number one money-maker in Orange County. 

The turn of the century saw a focus on North Carolina’s historically horrible roads. Since the colonial era there had been remarks about how difficult it could be to travel the state’s roads, and at the close of the 19th century many of them were still dirt or farm paths. The increasing popularity of automobiles brought the issue to the forefront in the first decades of the 20th century. Hillsborough’s own Harriet Morehead Berry campaigned for a state road-building program and was instrumental in the passing of the Highway Act of 1921. These actions made traveling the state much safer.

Crop prices fell dramatically during the Great Depression, even affecting the typically stable tobacco. While the prices would stabilize in the 1940s, many farmers diversified their products, turning to dairy, cattle, swine, and poultry. By the middle of the 20th century, tobacco was once again the county’s biggest earner, with the dairy industry in second place. 

UNC expanded greatly during the 20th century, and this growth, alongside that of Duke and NC State, contributed to the establishment of the Research Triangle Park (RTP) in 1959. The site expanded rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s, with RTP now being the largest research park in the United States and home to many high-tech companies and research facilities. RTP’s growth has brought a significant amount of money into the region and contributed to the ongoing urbanization of Orange County. By the end of the 20th century, many landowners were selling their property to developers as it was worth more as real estate than as farmland. 

The county continues to thrive, and as of 2024, it had a population of approximately 152,877 people. 

This theme is meant to encompass the mural subjects which affected Orange County becoming the place it is today. People, events, and even inanimate objects have shaped our world.

Sources & Further Reading