orange county, north carolina
neighborhoods CHAPEL HILL • CARRBORO • HILLSBOROUGH
2018–2019
including Cedar Grove • Calvander • White Cross • Efland Lake Orange • Lake Hogan Farms • Hurdle Mills • Old 86 w w w. v i s i t c h a p e l h i l l . o r g Farmers’ Markets • Art Walks • Visitor Resources
Contents PHOTOS Front Cover: Lake Orange
The Inside Stories Behind Our Most Iconic Places To Live, Work And Play CHAPEL HILL Downtown......................................... 4-5 University Of North Carolina at Chapel Hill........................................ 6 Gimghoul................................................7 Rosemary Street............................. 8-9 Kings Mill-Morgan Creek-Laurel Hill and Merritt’s Pasture ................ 10-12 Northside........................................ 13-15 Southern Village.......................... 18-19 Meadowmont.....................................20 Lake Forest and Eastwood Lake................................... 21
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CARRBORO Overview............................................. 22 Carrboro Fast Facts........................ 23 Carrboro’s Heritage.........................24 Pacifica................................................. 25 Arcadia ................................................ 25
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Key 5
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Chapel Hill
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University Of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Carrboro Western Orange Old NC 86 Heading to Hillsborough Hillsborough
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Northern Orange
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Hurdle Mills
SURROUNDING RURAL COMMUNITIES OF WESTERN ORANGE Old NC 86 Heading to Hillsborough ......................................26 Lake Hogan Farm ........................... 27 Calvander............................................28 Dairlyland Road and Maple View Farm...........................................29 Dodsons Crossroads, Orange Grove & Bingham Township......................30 Efland..................................................... 31 Farmers’ Markets.............................. 32 HILLSBOROUGH Downtown...........................................33 West Hillsborough/Nash Street .34 Downtown...........................................35 Riverwalk.............................................35 Ayr Mount ..........................................36 St Matthew’s Church....................... 37 Artwalks In Chapel Hill, Carrboro & Hillsborough...................................38 Surrounding Rural Communities OF NORTHERN ORANGE Lake Orange .....................................39 Cedar Grove .................................... 40 Schley....................................................41 Hurdle Mills..................................42-43 About Us............................................ 44 Accolades.....................................45-46
welcome Eastwood Lake
Welcome Guide to Orange County Neighborhoods We hope you enjoy your visit to our communities and take some time to explore the neighborhoods. Consider this guide a collection of highlights: not all neighborhoods are represented here, but instead, this guide might give you an idea of what makes this place unique, from the historic to the brand new. Contact the Orange County government office listed below for information on specific questions related to Orange County. If you are relocating or retiring here, we encourage you to talk with the local Chambers of Commerce and home specialists for more information.
Community dinner
Hillsborough
UNC Campus
Some facts: As of 2015, the U.S. Census Bureau population for Orange County North Carolina was 141,354. The county seat is Hillsborough. Orange County is included in the Durham–Chapel Hill, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Raleigh–Durham–Chapel Hill, NC Combined Statistical Area, which had a 2015 estimated population of more than 2.1 milllion people.
Photos that Appear in the Orange County Neighborhood Guide are from Alicia Stemper with contributions from: David Hunt Catherine Lazorko Donn Young Johnny Randall Historical Society of Chapel Hill North Carolina Botanical Garden Town of Chapel Hill University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Community Relations Visitors Bureau Staff Windy Hill Farms, Cedar Grove
It is home to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the flagship institution of the University of North Carolina System and the oldest statesupported university in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 401 square miles (1,040 km2), of which 398 square miles (1,030 km2) is land and 3.5 square miles (9.1 km2) (0.9%) is water. The county is drained, in part, by the Eno River. The city of Chapel Hill is in the southeastern part of Orange County, as is Carrboro. Hillsborough is in the central part of the county. Adjacent counties: Person County – northeast Durham County – east Chatham County – south Alamance County – west Caswell County – northwest Have fun enjoying some of the neighborhoods that make Orange County one of the most sought after areas for education, recreation and quality of life. For more information on the area, visit: www.orangecountync.gov
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Franklin Street
CHAPEL HILL There’s a 350-year-old tree on the campus of the University of North Carolina, known as the Davie Poplar. It’s over 100 feet tall, and if you were able to climb to the top of it (you’re not) you could see the heart of Chapel Hill, Franklin Street, and all the restaurants and stores that line it. Some of these places have been there for decades, but others are almost brand new, including pizza joints, clothing shops, artspace, studios and museum stores. It’s here on this main block where students and our town denizens go to eat, drink and where bonfires are built when we celebrate our national championships.
The Davie Poplar
This is the juxtaposition that defines Chapel Hill: just a few yards away from an ancient tree that’s older than our country is a dress store and a noodle shop. And this is its allure. It’s been this way, more or less, since 1793 – except back then the town did not have wireless, fare-free bus service, micro-breweries, or nationally-recognized award-winning chefs. Season to season Orange County, North Carolina and its prized towns of Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough offer the visitor, the student and its residents its own brand of magic, an American dream. Orange County Neighborhood Guide | 4
Take a Carolina Sense of Place or Priceless Gem campus tour
Dining on West Franklin
A sometimes quirky street scene
The historic Varsity Theatre
Stroll down the streets of Chapel Hill to find clues about the Town’s history. The main downtown thoroughfare Franklin Street gets its name from inventor, statesman, and all-around Renaissance man Benjamin Franklin, but some of the lesser-known bits of street-sign trivia also tell a story about the early days of Chapel Hill. For instance, Rosemary Street, another major east-west avenue, is actually a contraction of the names of two young girls who once lived on the street, Rose and Mary. Raleigh Road follows the original course that travelers would take from Chapel Hill to the state Capitol, and the same principle holds true in the naming of Hillsborough Street. Many streets in town are named for early residents, including UNC’s first president, Joseph Caldwell (Caldwell Street), UNC’s first steward, Major Pleasant Henderson (Henderson Street), and University president Edward Kidder Graham (Graham Street).
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The Morehead Building
1960’s Civil Rights protest
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Growth is everywhere in booming Orange County.
This is the oldest part of the oldest public university in the land, part of the landscape for nearly 225 years.
We’re adding buildings, houses, stores, roads. But in the midst of all the change, there remain constants, places that remind you that as we look to the future, the past isn’t forgotten. Consider: the nation’s first public university is here. UNC was the only university to award degrees in the 18th century. The university was built here, near the ruins of a chapel, due to its central location in the state, right in
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UNC from the air
Orange County. Take a walk on Cameron Avenue in Chapel Hill past the seal that’s attached to a stone pillar. Sigillum Universitat Carol Septent it reads, literally “The Symbol of the University of North Carolina.” This is the oldest part of the oldest public university in the land, part of the landscape for nearly 225 years. Stroll past the Old Well and the even older Old East, which, as the plaque on its wall says, has been there since
1793 and is the “Oldest state university building in the nation.” Then follow a brick path toward the stone wall that for decades has lined the campus along East Franklin Street. Sit for a few minutes. Watch the students waiting for the bus, the professors heading to lunch. Watch the occasional protests across the street in front of the Old Post Office building — now the Peace and Justice Plaza — for decades a gathering place for locals to express their strongly-held opinions.
GIMGHOUL
It’s said that every Southern town can boast at least one actual witch, but there may be only one with an authentic castle — and that’s Chapel Hill. Gimghoul Castle (or Hippol) is not only a castle, but the headquarters for a secret society, very secret, which we will now tell you everything about. The Order of Gimghoul was founded in 1889 by Robert Worth Bingham, Shepard Bryan, William W. Davies, Edward Wray Martin, and Andrew Henry Patterson, who were University of North Carolina students at the time. The society is open to “notable” male students (rising juniors and higher), and faculty members by invitation. The society centers itself around the legend of Peter Dromgoole, a student who mysteriously disappeared from campus in 1833. The founders originally called themselves the Order of Dromgoole, but later changed it to the Order of Gimghoul, “in accord with midnight and graves and weirdness,” according to archives.
Tradition has it that the order held to the “Dromgoole legend and the ideals of Arthurian knighthood and chivalry.” From all accounts, the order is social in nature, and is believed to have no secret agenda. Membership is closed and information about the order is strictly confidential as is access to archives less than 50 years old. The meeting place of the order, Gimghoul Castle, was built in 1924. Thirteen hundred tons of rough stone were used in its construction giving it the appearance and feel of a castle, which for all practical purposes it is. To finance its construction, the Order sold 35 acres of property that later became the Gimghoul Neighborhood Historic District. The castle is located at the end of Gimghoul Road, not far from the Old Chapel Hill cemetery on campus.
Gimghoul Castle
The legend of Gimghoul Castle is the story of Peter Domgoole, a student who is said to have had a horrible death from a duel for his lover at Dromgoole Rock. Peter Domgoole was a student at UNC-Chapel Hill and the son of a prominent Virginia family who entered the university in 1831. Peter fell in love with a young lady named Ms. Fanny. Their usual trysting place was on top of Piney Prospect, where you can still find a small spring called Miss Fanny’s spring. But there was another suitor vying for Miss Fanny’s heart. The man challenged Peter to a duel, and the two of them met one night on Piney Prospect. Peter, alas, was killed. It is believed that his companions left him here in fear and shock, dragging a rock on top of him in an attempt to cover up the murderous occurrence. The rock is supposed to be stained red, marked with the blood of young Peter. Fanny had no idea what had happened, and the next day she came to the spring; of course, Peter never appeared. From that day on, she returned every day to Piney Prospect and waited for her lover, sitting and weeping on the very rock under which he was buried. Eventually, she grew sick and died – from her broken heart. Of course, legend has it that the ghost of an 18 year old man named Peter Dromgoole visits this spot with regularity, the spot where his body was buried in a shallow grave in 1833. visit UNC.gradschool.com for more landmarks and history
Gimghoul Road is famous for its gardens
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Murals abound in Chapel Hill
Homes feature lush gardens
Rosemary Street
One of the many Greek houses
“Walking this part of Rosemary, it feels like you’re not just in another place, but in another time, a more sedate period.”
Everyone knows Franklin Street. It’s Chapel Hill’s main drag, the classic college town’s classic strip. But just a block away, parallel to Franklin, is a lesser-known thoroughfare, a street with a wide array of attractions and a multitude of personalities that reflect the variety and always-evolving nature of the community. In just a mile and a third, Rosemary Street goes from bucolic to commercial, from stately residential to downhome funky. Let’s take a stroll down it. Starting from the far eastern end, the back of the Horace Williams House and its expansive green lawn reign
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over the Franklin-Rosemary Historic District. Built in the 1850s and the only historic home open to the public in Chapel Hill, the Williams House now provides meeting and event space, offers art exhibitions, public education programs, classical concerts and holiday strolls. At this end of the street, supposedly, lived a young woman named Rose. At the other end lived a young woman named Mary. Or perhaps it was the other way around. In any case, according to the local story, that’s how the street got its name. This is an entirely residential area of massive live oaks and grand, gracious homes,
many in Greek revival style, with impressive wrap-around porches. Walking this part of Rosemary, it feels like you’re not just in another place, but in another time, a more sedate period. The only sound here is the crunch of footsteps on the sandy gravel that serves as a sidewalk. The buzz of traffic from that main drag, just a few yards away, is dim. As you head west, nearing the UNC campus, some of these large homes are now fraternity or sorority houses. At the Alpha Delta Pi house, under ferns hanging from the impressive porch, students study, socialize and engage in the lively neighborhood.
Historic and homey
Rosemary Street has a strong international presence
Shortbread Lofts
As you approach Henderson Street, suddenly the sidewalks become wider and smoother, the street opening up. The new sidewalks here and to the west are part of Chapel Hill’s Street Improvement Program, designed to make Rosemary more pleasant and walkable. The brightly colored crosswalks at Henderson are also part of the project. This is the commercial part of Rosemary. When you cross Columbia Street, the biggest intersection, watch the student bicyclists pedaling strenuously to get up the hill and get to campus. In fact, this is the hill that gave Chapel Hill its name.
Majestic oaks line the street
a new four-story Marriott Hotel and down the street, Mama Dip’s, Chapel Hill’s bastion of soul food, run by Mama Dip herself, local legend Mildred Council. The last block or so of Rosemary, before it becomes East Main Street, is remarkably eclectic. There’s a tattoo parlor and Bowbarr, a hipster “Carrboro drinkery.” There’s an old barber shop and a vape store, as well as the almost-hidden courtyard entrance to Carrburritos (try the salsa verde) as well as a Buddhist Center and a modern accessories store. It’s a testament to the incredible diversity of one of the area’s most interesting streets.
Old meets new towards Church Street as La Residence, Chapel Hill’s first gourmet French restaurant —sits right next to w w w. v i s i t c h a p e l h i l l . o r g
Azaleas herald Spring all over town
The NC Botanical Garden is a treasure of art and horticulture
Kings Mill, Morgan Creek, Laurel Hill and Merritt’s Pasture One of the most ecologically diverse and stunning neighborhoods in Chapel Hill, the Kings Mill/Morgan Creek area, has been home to celebrities of all kinds, from Dean Smith, who practically invented basketball, to singer/songwriter James Taylor, whose lovely song “Copperline” was inspired by the neighborhood he grew up in, Morgan Creek. And so many doctors and medical faculty have lived here, just a stone’s throw from UNC’s nationally ranked medical facilities, that it was historically called “Pill Hill.” It’s that sort of place.
Signs of inclusion are everywhere
Millstone marker
But the actual names of these neighborhoods have a much more interesting history, because it’s from history that their names are derived. The Kings-Mill-Morgan Creek neighborhood was developed in the 1950s and 1960s on land owned by Dr. William Chambers Coker, his university colleague Henry Roland Totten and William Lanier Hunt. Morgan Creek takes its name from the family of Mark Morgan, an early settler who came from Orange County Neighborhood Guide | 10
The Dogwood is the official State Flower
Modernism is the dominant architecture
Pennsylvania in pre-Revolutionary War days to farm land he purchased from the Earl of Granville, of all people. According to legend, his first residence was in the hollow of a giant sycamore tree near the banks of the creek, a story we choose to believe. Morgan eventually became a wealthy planter and was one of ten landowners who donated land for the establishment of the University of North Carolina from 1792 onwards. In 1854, Mark Morgan’s granddaughter, Mary Elizabeth Morgan, married Reverend James Pleasant Mason, and began farming on a tract of the Morgan property known as Mason Farm, from which Mason Farm Road took its name. Kings Mill Road takes its name from a grist mill which once existed on Morgan Creek, and the millstone from that very mill has been recovered and now stands at the entrance to the herb garden at the nearby North Carolina Botanical Garden.
“Half a mile down to Morgan Creek, leaning heavy on the end of the week. Hercules and a hog-nosed snake, down on Copperline, we were down on Copperline.” – James taylor (“hercules, mentioned in taylor’s song “copperline,” was the taylor family dog.)
About 24% (39 out of 160) of the houses in Kings Mill-Morgan Creek neighborhood are considered “Modernist,” mostly w w w. v i s i t c h a p e l h i l l . o r g
“According to legend, his first residence was in the hollow of a giant sycamore tree near the banks of the creek, a story we choose to believe.“ Morgan Creek in winter beauty
built in the 1950s and 1960s. According to North Carolina Modernists Homes, North Carolina has the third largest concentration of Modernist houses in America. The Merritt’s pasture, at the end of the western end of Morgan Creek neighborhood, was used by the Merritt family as pasture land for their dairy cattle. The land was purchased by the Town of Chapel Hill in November 1991 to be preserved as open space. There is a walking path from the pasture going west beneath a bridge on Highway 15-501 to a parking area on Highway 54. Morgan Creek Trail opened on June 4, 2011 and is one of the most widely used trails by residents and visitors – a favorite dog-walking spot. Chionanthus ‘virginicus fringetree’
The 92-acre Morgan Creek Preserve, of which Merritt’s pasture is a part, is permanently protected by a conservation easement held and monitored by the Botanical Garden Foundation, Inc. There are many wonderful neighborhoods in Chapel Hill, but we can feel a special magic in the Kings Mill/Morgan Creek area. Listen to “Copperline” again, and you’ll feel it, too.
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Peaceful protest was a hallmark of the Civil Rights movement
special feature
NORTHSIDE Historical markers commemorate the Civil Rights struggle
N
orthside is a throwback. An old-fashioned neighborhood, where houses tend to be nearer to one-thousand square feet than two. Where they check on older folks in winter and children twirl around a maypole in spring. Where neighbors can still recite 5-digit phone numbers from decades ago. A place where five churches stand three blocks apart — two dating back to the Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson administrations. The timing of those churches’ beginnings is no coincidence, nor is the tight-
by mike ogle knit nature that still endures. Northside — plus a few adjacent downtown pockets where the west side of Chapel Hill meets the east side of Carrboro — has been the historically black portion of downtown since formerly enslaved people from here and nearby plantations began settling into their own community. Their children and grandchildren continued to move here looking for work away from the farm, and the community grew. A great many Northside residents have provided much of the labor force at the university since the days long before they were allowed to study there. And those roots dug in especially deep
with Jim Crow. So the tightness essential to Northside’s identity was borne of necessity, grew into fondness, and still characterizes it today, despite significant change. Many families have resided within its 188 acres, some in the same house, for numerous generations, in a manner rare in America anymore. The same last names repeat again and again, and folks openly joke that everybody’s related somehow, whether through blood or marriage. But like in other longtime minority neighborhoods across the country, gentrification has sunk its teeth into the place. w w w. v i s i t c h a p e l h i l l . o r g
Mike Ogle is a UNC alum and journalist who has written for the New York Times, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and the Washington Post. He is a relatively new member of the Northside community.
As the university has grown, investors began scooping up Northside properties, fixing them up or tearing them down and starting from scratch, then filling them with student renters. The shift was swift. Northside’s black population was cut nearly in half, and students came to double them in numbers. Suddenly, people who’d lived on these streets for decades hardly recognized them anymore. Then in another echo of the traditions of Northside, local advocates stood up and rang alarm bells. As a result, the brakes were pumped on development so that Northside could catch its collective breath and figure out how to hold onto some of what has defined it for so long. Residents have always been welcoming to newcomers. But they also didn’t want to lose all that they’ve had. Affordability is often a difficult obstacle in college towns, but the people — and with some backing by the town and UNC in recent years — have resolved to try their hardest. This neighborhood has meant a lot more to them than a collection of
houses and streets. It’s where the oldest church, St. Paul AME, held its first service in 1864 under a grapevine before any building was on the lot. It’s where teenaged civil rights organizers plotted while sitting on a rock wall. It’s where demonstrators practiced nonviolent marching techniques on the lawns of the rec center (now called the Hargraves Community Center) and St. Joseph CME. It’s where that rec center became a focal point of the community after a 1930s race riot sparked its construction and the need for barracks to house the U.S. Navy’s first black sailors spurred its completion during World War II. The rec center is also where Martin Luther King Jr. once visited and a long line of neighborhood caregivers — in the truest sense of the word — have guided its youth. Also true to its old-school roots, Northside is also a community without cul-de-sacs. There’s no nucleus from which driveways spin off like spokes and helmeted children ride bikes in circles. Being an old, downtown neighborhood from the days before cars and
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before turnaround circles became the American neighborhood archetype, Northside is a rectangle of relatively perpendicular and parallel streets that go nowhere except into each other. Which only adds to its bond. And while Northside is evolving, it’s still a neighborhood with one foot firmly planted in the past as it looks to the future. In the spring, there’s a festival complete with hula hoops and sack races on St. Joseph’s front lawn, where many marches began decades ago. There are also pop-up barbecues, and a Porch Revival Tour — a moveable feast of simultaneous front-yard parties. And in 2017, the striking Freedom Fighters Gateway was installed to honor the locals who risked so much during the civil rights movement. The Marian Cheek Jackson Center, next to St. Joseph, has even created an audio walking tour of the neighborhood. You can stroll Northside’s blocks while listening to residents tell stories of its history and their lives there. It’s as if the streets could talk.
THE BUSINESSES OF NORTHSIDE Many Northsiders can still recall when blackowned small businesses defined the west end of downtown. Places like Bill’s Bar-B-Q (aka “Chicken Box”) still spark wistful memories, although gone for many years. A few holdovers still exist, including Holmes Child Care and a pair of funeral parlors, Knotts and Jones. Here are some other businesses, both old and new, many of which reflect the historical character of Northside. MAMA DIP’S 408 W. Rosemary St. Mildred Council (aka “Mama Dip”) learned so well at her father-in-law’s “Chicken Box” she became a Southern legend and author after opening Mama Dip’s in 1976. Her recipes and papers are even archived at UNC for the historical record.
TAR HEEL TAXI 110 N. Graham St., (919) 933-1255 “From your carport to the airport! From your home to the Dean Dome!” They’ll get you where you’re going, just call, 24 hours a day. TATE’S REALTY & CONSTRUCTION 342 W Rosemary St, (919) 942-1938 Long time business serving the Chapel Hill community THE BAXTER 108 N. Graham Street Chapel Hill Find 50 vintage and original arcade games, quality libations of various forms, in a warm location filled with pop art, unique toys, an outdoor patio space, two indoor lounge areas, and lots of room to enjoy your company. That’s The Baxter. MIDWAY BARBER SHOP 707 W. Rosemary St. Another neighborhood institution with deep generational roots, the Edwards family has been doing shape-ups here
since 1952, likely making this the oldest blackowned business around. LEGACY CUTS 342 W. Rosemary St. For Marilyn Chaplin, being Mama Dip’s a barber is small business incubator, in her blood operated by a nonprofit too, but she most enjoys dedicated to preserving chatting with customers in the neighborhood. a family-like atmosphere, saying barbers are like “bartenders who cut hair.” CUT ABOVE BARBER SHOP 111 N. Merritt Mill Rd. Next to beautiful St. Paul AME Church (est. 1864, under a grapevine on the site), this shop provides some old-school feel to a block that’s changed mightily over the decades. B’UNIQUE HAIR STUDIO 109 N. Graham St. This creative salon stands in the Midway Business Center in the heart of the historically black business district. The Center was the town’s first
THE MARIAN CHEEK JACKSON CENTER (919) 960-1670 contact@jacksoncenter. info The black-and-white photos covering the walls of this nonprofit dedicated to the past and present of Northside, essentially form a museum for the local civil rights movement. The warm folks inside will happily tell you all about the neighborhood and its rich history. For neighborhood audio walking tour visit https:// jacksoncenter.info/.
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Every To-Do List Should be Thi University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (919) 962-1630 unc.edu/visitors
North Carolina Botanical Garden (919) 962-0522 ncbg.unc.edu
Morehead Planetarium & Science Center (919) 962-1236 moreheadplanetarium.org
Ackland Art Museum (919) 966-5736 ackland.org
Preservation Society of Chapel Hill (919) 942-7818 preservationchapelhill.org
Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau 501 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516 • (919) 245-4320 • www.visitchapelhill.org
is Entertaining Ayr Mount Historic Site and Poet’s Walk (919) 732-6886 classicalamericanhomes.org/ ayr-mount Orange County Historical Museum (919) 732-2201 www.orangenchistory.org
Alexander Dickson House (919) 732-7741 visithillsboroughnc.com
The Burwell School Historic Site (919) 732-7451 burwellschool.org
Carrboro (919) 942-8541 visitcarrboro.com
Visit some of the places that bring the history of Chapel Hill, Hillsborough and Carrboro to life.
The NC Symphony plays regularly on the Village Green Market Street
Southern Village Like the rest of everywhere in the world, Southern Village didn’t used to exist. 25 years ago the place where Southern Village is now was a 3000-acre tract of pine, oak and elm, the way most of everywhere used to be, at least around here. The magic of this place – and it’s something we can appreciate now, 25 years down the road – is that it feels like it’s been here forever, the warm and genial cousin of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, a complement to them. It’s a new place in our world that feels old, in all the best ways: the intimacy
– both profoundly nostalgic and real – that comes with the familiarity of a small town and its walkability, a town at once diverse and integrated, compact and planned but open to change. Take a walk down Market Street. Here is the coffee shop, the ice cream parlor, the movie house, the grocery, a beer joint – all the iconic shops and services a small town offers – the essentials. There’s even a Village Green, a kind of park right in the middle of town, where you can picnic and see
Walking and bike tralls weave throughout the Village
Homes feature large porches and shady streets
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“The magic of this place – and it’s something we can appreciate now, 25 years down the road – is that it feels like it’s been here forever” concerts and late-night films.
Hugs outside Town Hall Grill
Watermelon and pizza on the lawn
They call it New Urbanism, the kind of mixed-use community Southern Village is an ideal example of, but it’s not really new and it’s not all that urban. Pope Pius II built the first village of its kind five centuries ago in Italy. He called the town Pienza. His vision, which promoted the creation of diverse, walkable, communities – communities comprised of the same components as conventional development, but assembled in a more integrated fashion – is alive and well. Southern Village, this magical place in the middle of Chapel Hill, serves as a catalyst for both the past and the future. There’s an increasing demand for storefronts, homes, restaurant tables and lawn seats at special events. Consider the impressive economic performance: Southern Village is real. It’s an authentic place, a home to so many.
SOUTHERN VILLAGE BY THE NUMBERS • There are 1,150 households in Southern Village, 654 of which are within 1/2 mile of the village center. • Some 7,800 grocery shoppers weekly • More than 100 children attend the day care center • Over 700 people work in Southern Village, including 106 at the school and 30 at the day care. • 17,000 people enjoy the Southern Community Park each year • 550 students attend Scroggs Elementary • 2,000 movie-goers weekly • 600 patients weekly at village clinics • 150 locals take fitness classes each week • 500 people at church every Sunday • 74 children in preschool
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MEADOWMONT Meadowmont, built in 1999, is an interconnected community that mirrors history with its narrow, tree-lined streets and old stone walls. The 435 acres of land used for the Meadowmont development was originally owned by the DuBose family, and the family’s entire estate originally encompassed 1,250 acres. David St. Pierre DuBose and Valinda Hill DuBose built what is now known as “The DuBose House” in 1933. The house still sits in its original location, and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is used to host special university events. A tribute to its namesake, the Meadowmont community is a studied reflection of Southern hospitality and grace. In fact, front porches, neighborhood parks and sidewalks on both sides of every street encourage neighborly interaction — it’s a true community seven days a week. Community features include: Meadowmont Village is home to numerous restaurants, retailers, a Harris Teeter grocery store, service providers and offices, all within walking distance. Green space abounds in and around Meadowmont, including:
walking, jogging, hiking and biking trails, the Chapel Hill Greenway Trail, community parks, two playgrounds, ponds, the YMCA Meadowmont and the Meadowmont Swim Club This community’s public elementary school, built in the summer of 2003, is convenient to all residents of Meadowmont so that children can walk safely to school and back.
THE CEDARS OF CHAPEL HILL This continuing-care retirement community features a full-service clubhouse and an on-site health care center.
The Village Center Restaurants, shops and offices make up the heart of Meadowmont
Not affiliated with the Meadowmont Community Association, this UNC Hospital facility provides exercise, nutrition, wellness and health counseling. PAUL J. RIZZO CONFERENCE CENTER & DUBOSE HOUSE This executive education center is a branch of UNCChapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, and provides learning facilities and space for seminars and conferences.
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Residents store canoes by the shore
Lake Forest and Eastwood Lake Located in the heart of Chapel Hill, Lake Forest is built around Chapel Hill’s largest lake and features 40+ lakefront homes. It consists primarily of North Lakeshore Drive and South Lakeshore Drive, two meandering roads that follow the lake’s shoreline. The land was originally owned by William Coker, renowned botanist from the University of North Carolina. Seventy years ago Eastwood Lake was created at the confluence of Booker and Cedar Fork Creeks. It was once a meadow that housed a rural sawmill operation. Large tracts of land, 300 hundred acres held by Eastwood Inc. and 200 hundred acres held by Dr. W. C. Coker, were developed first by Eastwood
The lake at sunset
Inc. in the 1940s, then by Mortgage Insurance Company in the 1950s.
330 homes in LFA and 40+ of these homes are on the shoreline.
The dam was sturdily built by Eastwood Inc. using 1,000 tons of rock, 600 tons of sand and 800 barrels of cement. It is approximately 200 feet wide by 18 feet tall.
Old timers and native Chapel Hillians know Eastwood Lake as Grandma’s Lake. In 1944 Eastwood Lake made the national news when people searched the lake for a missing woman, Mrs. Addie M. Jewett. Divers from Norfolk, Virginia, discovered her body tied to cinderblocks in 12 feet of water. Mrs. Jewett’s grandson was subsequently arrested and convicted of her murder.
After the valve was closed to impound water in 1939, it took only a few days for rain to fill the lake. It now has a depth of over 16 feet in the deepest area near the dam. At that time Chapel Hill was just a village and Lake Forest was still outside of city limits, but by 1959 there were 50 homes in this area. In 1960 the Lake Forest Association (LFA) was incorporated and became responsible for the property held in common by the LFA. There are about
Eastwood Lake is about one mile long and one of the few private lakes within the area, in addition to Lake Ellen and Lake Hogan. All three are man-made. Dixieland states, which are, of course, south of the ter-
minal moraine, do not have the glacial lakes common to the northern states. Most lakes in the south are manmade. Lake Forest today The Lake Forest neighborhood is centrally located in Chapel Hill and is flanked by Coker Hills and Booker Creek subdivisions. Whole Foods, the Chapel Hill Public Library, Starbucks, and Trader Joes are all within walking distance. The pristine Eastwood Lake offers canoeing, kayaking and sailing. In addition to the “lakeside” events, Lake Forest also has an active Garden Club with programs from September to May.
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“While in Carrboro, be sure to check out Fitch Lumber & Hardware. Been around since 1907. This is what a neighborhood hardware store used to be. Fortunately, it still is. Most important, there are folks there who will tell you where to find what you need and exactly how to use, say, a 1 ¼” inch P trap.”
Carrboro It’s impossible to understand Carrboro without understanding its history – which is true of everything, everywhere, and of everybody – but it’s especially true of Carrboro. Because imagine this: it was never even meant to be a town at all. All it was in the beginning was a railroad depot. In 1882, the
Weaver Street Market is the heart of Carrboro
Cliff’s Meat Market provides local delicacies
Bike trails cross the train track
town to the east – that would be Chapel Hill – determined that it needed a train station to accommodate folks traveling there. They picked a deserted area a scant mile away from campus so no one on the Hill would be disturbed by the unseemly sound of a train passing through. This is how many great towns begin.
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Many of the buildings on Main Street and Weaver Street, the two main drags, haven’t changed in half a century – and yet Carrboro is wireless. The heart of the town is a contemporary version of the old country store, but it’s a co-op now and the food is mostly organic. From late-spring to early-fall
the lawn at Weaver Street co-op hosts live music on Thursday nights and Sunday morning Jazz brunches. This lawn, this market, is the pulse of Carrboro. It’s the place to gather, to meet, to shop. Fittingly, it’s just in front of the old Carr Mill building that still stands, a relic from an industrial past, here with
CARRBORO FAST FACTS The Carrboro population in 2017 was 20,510. Carrboro’s current population falls within a cozy area of about 6.4 square miles, said to be the densest town in NC.
Main Street and Weaver Street
a second life as a shopping mall: past and present intertwined.
1907. This is what a neighborhood hardware store used to be. Fortunately, it still is.
This is the spirit you find every weekend at the Farmers’ Market.
Most important, there are folks there who will tell you where to find what you need and exactly how to use, say, a 1 ¼” inch P trap.
Created in 1977, the Carrboro Farmers’ Market was one of the earliest markets to link farmers directly with the customer. This is a true farmers’ market. Everything that is sold must be grown or produced within a fifty-mile radius of Carrboro. Every Saturday morning, and also on Wednesday afternoons between April and November, the market serves as yet another community event. While in Carrboro, be sure to check out Fitch Lumber & Hardware. Been around since
Steel String Brewery
The Carrboro Music Festival
Carrboro was founded in 1882, when a spur from the DurhamGreensboro Southern Railway line was extended to link students at the University of North Carolina with the outside world. (The last passenger train to Carrboro ran in 1936, a result of the growing use of automobiles.) The train depot, first named West End, was located one mile from campus, the minimum distance (as mandated by a state law) to keep students as far as possible from “city temptations”.
This ‘n That Carrboro’s railroad depot, first textile mill (now Carr Mill Mall) and a former gristmill are all listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1973, concerned bicyclists and town staff members devised a bikeway plan for Carrboro. Today, the town has one of the most extensive onand off-road bikeway systems in the state.
Alberta Mill, the town’s first textile mill, was built by Thomas F. Lloyd in 1899. Ten years later, it was bought by Julian Carr, a Durham tobacco magnate.
North Carolina has nine designated State Bicycling Highways, one of which—NC Bike Route 2—runs across the southern portion of Orange County through Carrboro. The highway, also called the Mountains-to-Sea Bikeway, is the longest of the nine at 700 miles!
The town was incorporated and named Venable in 1911, in honor of Francis P. Venable, who was president of the University at the time. The town was renamed Carrboro in 1913, named for Carr after he furnished electricity to town residents from his mill. 2011 was its centennial celebration.
Carrboro is also a Bee City, a Tree City, a Breastfeeding Family Friendly Community, and living wage certified. Carrboro had the first gay mayor, first openly gay/lesbian police chief and first lesbian mayor. The town was also first to go public against HB2 and first to pass the brunch bill.
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Carrboro’s heritage embraces preservation of the town’s early architecture
Mill houses are often brightly painted
Mill (now Carr Mill) and was ready to begin operations. Many homes and businesses in Carrboro bear the patina of age and delight that lends Carrboro its own special identity. It is worth noting that as Carrboro revels in its well-founded sense of openness, culture and cutting-edge sensibilities, much of what makes Carrboro Carrboro is rooted in its history, in its very houses. The buildings in Carrboro reveal the community’s heritage from the late nineteenth century through the first decades of the twenty-first. The town’s railroad depot, first textile mill, and a former grist mill, all listed in the National Register of Historic Places, are at the heart of the downtown; pre-World War II commercial buildings and houses adapted as offices line
Main Street; and just to the north and south scores of mill houses, built for textile workers, survive as coveted private residences. In 1883, only a year after the completion of the Carrboro depot, Thomas F. Lloyd and William Pritchard built a steam-powered grist mill and cotton gin just north of the station. Other enterprising businessmen set up shop in the area and soon the small community supported blacksmiths, grocery and general merchandise stores, and a few scattered houses. By the spring of 1899, Lloyd had constructed the substantial two-story Alberta Cotton
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Carrboro’s preservation efforts include maintaining the homes that early mill companies often built for their workers – one-story frame structures, one-roomdeep with rear ells – houses that follow a standard design used throughout Carrboro and in other mill villages in North Carolina. Almost all houses had some type of front porch with a back porch along the rear ell. Many of the Carrboro mill houses have triple-A rooflines with decorative cutwork vents in the front gable and decorative sawn spandrels ornamenting the front porch. The street that most clearly
evokes the architectural and historical character of old Carrboro is Maple Avenue. Eleven of the houses on this street are directly linked to Thomas F. Lloyd and the employees of his second textile mill. Two, two-story houses are located at 212 and 214 Maple Avenue. The house at 214 Maple Avenue was reportedly built by Thomas F. Lloyd as a guest house for the mill. From its intersection with Carr Street, Maple Avenue slopes gently downhill to its original dead-end, now extended to the Roberson Place subdivision. Despite encroaching development, the uniform scale and massing of the older homes, in combination with the narrow streets and mature foliage, continues to evoke qualities reminiscent of the former mill village. This is called character, and Carrboro is rich with it.
An invitation to relax
Sustainable living is the way of life
Cohousing communities are intentional, collaborative neighborhoods created with a little ingenuity. They bring together the value of private homes with the benefits of more sustainable living. That means residents actively participate in the design and operation of their neighborhoods, and share common facilities and good connections with neighbors. All in all, they stand as innovative and sustainable answers to today’s environmental and social problems. Community gatherings are frequent
Pacifica
Pacifica Cohousing is a community of 46 homes working together to create living spaces that offer privacy and community along with the values of old-fashioned neighborhoods: independence, safety, mutual concern and responsibility. Situated on eight acres a mile from downtown Carrboro, N. C., the community is guided by four core principles: Community, Diversity, Sustainability, and Affordability. Features include two rainwater cisterns (5k & 15k gallons), organic community gardens, passive solar design, and solar hot water and radiant floor heat in many of the units. All homes meet Advanced Energy Corp “System Vision” green building specifications. The Common House has the largest residential photovoltaic solar array in the triangle area.
Arcadia
Arcadia is a cohousing neighborhood inhabited by those who enjoy living in a community. The idea of a community-oriented neighborhood originated in Denmark. Cohousing promotes shared activities and resources, consensus decision-making and the fostering of close relationships among neighbors. All of the houses face each other in Arcadia. There is a central common house equipped with guest rooms, washers and dryers, a children’s playroom and a large kitchen used for shared meals. Parking in Arcadia is located on the peripheral of the neighborhood creating a more pedestrian-orientated environment.
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Rolling hills and historic farms
A family day out
Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough aren’t the only towns with a history around here.
Painted barn
Surrounding Rural Communities of Western Orange
This area is surrounded by places with names like Calvander, White Cross, Lake Orange, Caldwell, Schley and Cedar Grove to name a few.
Old NC 86 heading to Hillsborough
Each place has a story, and if you take some time to explore Orange County, you’ll come to appreciate this area as much as we do. Here are some highlights of these places we call home.
Here is the bucolic heart of the area, which is why this stretch is officially designated a N.C. Scenic Byway. There are few houses here and no construction cranes. The blacktop winds and curves, as you pass fields and rolling hills, ponds and red barns, and black cows grazing that are all but oblivious to the growth around them.
North of Fitch on Old NC 86 heading to Hillsborough, from Calvander to Waterstone, is another reminder of how the more things change, the more they remain the same.
“Another reminder of how the more things change, the more they remain the same.”
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The late Rob Hogan with Rameses, the UNC Chapel Hill mascot
LAKE HOGAN FARM & SURROUNDS Lake Hogan Farm, which currently exists as a residential community, was a successful dairy farm from 1930 to 1995. The Hogan family has lived in Chapel Hill since the 1700s, before Chapel Hill itself was established. The Hogan brothers — Glenn, Jack, Henry and Hubert — started Lake Hogan Farm north and west of Chapel Hill in 1930. Each brother brought a unique talent to the family venture. The second generation of brothers, Bob and Bill, continued the dairy’s operation until 1995. “We were raised on it, worked on it, lived on it and then became owner-operators of it in a partnership,” said Chris Hogan, grandson of Henry Hogan.
“Rameses has been in the care of the Hogan family since the introduction of the mascot in 1924.” “It’s been a special part of our lives and still is to this day.” The Hogans helped bring electrification to the Chapel Hill area and obtained the first rural electrification grant in the United States, which also brought power to other Orange County farms. Henry Hogan later co-founded the Central Carolina Farmers’
Exchange, located in Carrboro and Hillsborough. It still operates today under a different title: Southern States. The family introduced others to the rural life, offering tours of their historic homestead and farm, teaching about farming and milking, giving hayrides and hosting visits with UNC’s wooly mascot, Rameses. Rameses has been in the care of the Hogan family since the introduction of the mascot in 1924. LAKE HOGAN FARMS TODAY Lake Hogan Farms is a neighborhood of 400 homes and includes over 90 acres of common area. Walking trails wind through woods and fields, pass a three-acre lake and follow a wide creek. Note: Rob Hogan, pictured above, for years a fixture on the Kenan Stadium sidelines as the owner and handler of Carolina’s mascot, died on Oct. 8, 2010, from an illness related to a fall on his farm.
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Calvander Just north of Carrboro, still in the school district, is a cross roads that old timers and those in the know call Calvander. Home to a few respected businesses, it retains the rural history and characteristics that made our county and our country great. Home to a gas station that serves hotdogs southern style, a mechanic shop that grows its own tomatoes, grass fed beef farmers and a landscape and mulch distributor, some say Calvander is the gateway to Hillsborough. All up and down Dairyland, Old Hwy 86 and Homestead Road you can see the power of community, the power of Calvander. A delicious way to start your journey is to stop in at Calvander Food Mart. Don’t let the Citgo gas pumps fool you. Minesh and Manisha Patel bought the Food Mart from Silas Talbert in 2008, and they keep it immaculate, which explains their 100.5 sanitation rating. They offer typical mini-mart snacks and treats, but Calvander is famous for their grill, offering up a wide variety of Southern comfort food, including buttermilk biscuits, fried chicken, hush puppies, corn dogs, breaded okra and of course, bar-b-q sandwiches with slaw. Calvander’s Food Mart is packed daily with faithful regulars and local characters. Every morning, there is always a line of neighborhood farmers waiting to order their breakfast — bacon, egg and cheese biscuits being a favorite.
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The Maple View porch is the perfect place to unwind
Dairyland Road and Maple View Farm Pass through Calvander to Dairyland Road and you will see a sign for the Maple View Farm Country Store. Established in 1963, Maple View Farm is a dairy, cattle and agricultural farm, sitting on 400 acres of land that is part of the Rural Buffer (Orange County has 37,000 acres of land, referred to as the rural buffer, that does not allow urban development due to an agreement between Chapel Hill, Carrboro and the County). About half of its acreage has been placed under a conservation easement by the local Triangle Land Conservancy. This easement designates that the Maple View Farm land will be used for agricultural purposes or as open land forever. If you like homemade ice cream, you should visit their Country Store, as it doesn’t get any better than this. They are open from noon-8:00 pm and offer twelve permanent flavors of ice cream, plus additional seasonal flavors, made from hormone-free, antibiotic-free milk and cream from their own dairy farm, within view across the road. w w w. v i s i t c h a p e l h i l l . o r g
White Cross tractor pull
The Barn at Valhalla
WEST 54 CORRIDOR: White Cross, Dodsons Crossroads, Orange Grove, Bingham tshp The West NC 54 area is a 20+ mile stretch between Old Fayetteville Road in Carrboro and I-85 in Graham. The main drag is West 54, a regionally significant roadway that helps thousands of vehicles reach work, schools, and stores every day. This thoroughfare provides access to scenic roads, townships, farmland, forests and crossroads communities between Carrboro and Graham, including White Cross, Dodsons Crossroads and Orange Grove to name a few.
Highway features the White Cross Recreation center with ball fields, a gymnasium and a playground. The Orange County Parks & Recreation Department hosts youth league practice and games here. And, once a year, the Center hosts the White Cross Tractor Pull as their major fundraiser.
It is also the site of Cane Creek Reservoir, which is about 8 miles west of Carrboro on the north side of NC 54 and offers boat rentals, fishing, a nature trail and picnic areas. This 540-acre reservoir is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 6:30 am - 6 pm for public recreation from late March to mid-November. The area is home to the Cane Creek Baptist Church, the oldest Baptist congregation in Orange County, dating back over 225 years.
Several tourism related venues have opened on this Western Corridor towards Alamance County, including Honeysuckle Tea House, The Barn at Chapel Hill, The Barn at Vallhala and Fiesta Grill, a tiny Mexican restaurant that has won many awards for its authentic food and personalities.
White Cross, rural in character, is an area that is dotted with Carolina-T farmhouses – named for their distinctive T-shaped footprint – active organic farms such as the Eco Farm and the Perry-winkle Farm, as well as a number of equestrian facilities. Once the center of the community, the old White Cross Elementary School now houses Our Playhouse school. The intersection of White Cross Road and Old Greensboro Orange County Neighborhood Guide | 30
Bingham Township is located just west of Carrboro, population 6,527 and impressive roots in academia, with near-by Bingham School, a classical school started by William Bingham in 1844, and known as the most expensive prep school in the nation. At the close of the Civil War, the Bingham School relocated to neighboring Mebane. An historical marker in Bingham Township pays tribute to Carl Thomas Durham, a Representative from North Carolina; born in Bingham Township, who was a graduate of the University of North Carolina; pharmacist and honorable NC political leader.
A sign of yesteryear
Peaceful and idyllic
McAdams Farm
Lloyd Dairy Farm Art is everywhere
EFLAND Located between the growth of Mebane and the relaxed acceleration of Hillsborough, is Efland, NC. This border-town, between Orange and Alamance Counties, is not as much as a town as it is a community. In 2010 there were less than 1000 residents living in Efland. I-85/I-40 cross the community with commercial business. And Highway 70, parallels the Fire Department, the historic Lloyd Farm and many homes on this west-gazing community. Efland is a content drive-through-and-enjoy place. Efland-Cedar Grove Road has roadside and farm-based vegetable stands and the rolling hills of Chestnut Ridge Church Road lull one into the nostalgic way of rural-life. Where change and progress are found in Mebane and Hillsborough, Efland is appropriately deliberate. Community and fellowship thrive here, in the shadows of growth and hustle. w w w. v i s i t c h a p e l h i l l . o r g
Eno River Farmers’ Market
Chef Bill Smith of Crook’s Corner stocks up for dinner
Farmers’ Markets in Chapel Hill, Carrboro & Hillsborough CARRBORO FARMERS’ MARKET carrborofarmersmarket. com 301 West Main St Town Commons Carrboro | 919.280.3326 Open Saturdays, Apr-Oct, 7am-noon and Nov-Mar, 9am–noon; and Wednesdays, Apr-Nov, 3pm-6pm. CHAPEL HILL FARMERS’ MARKET thechapelhill farmersmarket.com 201 South Estes Dr University Place (Near Wells Fargo)
| Chapel Hill 919.533.9496. Open Saturdays, AprNov 8am-noon and Dec-Mar, 9am-noon; and Tuesdays, Apr-Nov 3pm-6pm. VEGFEST ON THE GREEN southernvillage.com Aberdeen Drive at Market St, Southern Village Chapel Hill | 919.933.4422 Select Thursdays, 4:30 – 7 pm and Sundays at various times, mid-May through early Oct.
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ENO RIVER FARMERS’ MARKET enoriverfarmersmarket. com 144 East Margaret Ln Farmers’ Market Pavilion Hillsborough | Open Saturdays, Apr–Oct, 8am–noon, and Nov–Mar, 10am– noon.
HILLSBOROUGH FARMERS’ MARKET hillsboroughfarmers market.org 430 Waterstone Dr (UNC Healthcare Hillsborough campus) Hillsborough | Open Saturdays, Apr-Oct, 8am-noon; Nov-Mar, 10am-noon.
The Wooden Nickel Churton Street
The Radius Pizza courtyard
Hillsborough A HISTORIC GEM The early history of North Carolina is documented by the many signs and historical markers which line Churton Street in historic downtown Hillsborough. But the past is the past and, after a period of sleep, Hillsborough has awakened to become the center of culture, entertainment and education envi-
sioned by Paul Cameron and William Graham a hundred and fifty years ago. Not your ordinary small southern town, Hillsborough has lately been attracting some of the finest minds in the south who have made it their home and some of the best chefs in the state who have opened restaurants to feed them.
Handmade Parade
The historic Courthouse
Downtown Hillsborough
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Hillsborough Barbeque
Mystery Brewing Public House
Mystery Brewing
An old Mill speaks to the area’s textile history
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West Hillsborough/ Nash Street West Hillsborough originated as a mill village that served the Bellevue Manufacturing Company and Eno Cotton. Historically, these manufacturing plants were great contributors to the town’s economy. West Hillsborough housed the mill workers, and contained a vibrant cohesive community “Today, new that was disrupted with the housing decline of textile industry in the latter half of the twentieth communities invite century. West Hillsborough families to be a has a distinctive historic fabric part of its history, characterized by small mill houses on modest lots and as well as its narrow streets. If the ancient future.” oaks could talk, we would hear the story of Hillsborough and its cloth mill, the Civil War that was fought around it, the founders and the folks who made this place home. West Hillsborough is telling a new story now. Today, new housing communities invite families to be a part of its history, as well as its future. Bellevue Mill Village, which encompasses four buildings and covers approximately 125,000 square feet of floor space, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and has been designated by the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners as a local historic landmark.
Downtown Churton Street
The Riverwalk is a popular trail for families and dogs
Riverwalk Purple Crow Books
Downtown The downtown historic district — listed on the National Register of Historic Places — features more than 100 homes, churches, school, and other structures from the late 18th and 19th centuries. Among those buildings open to the public is the Visitors Center, which served as Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s headquarters when he surrendered the largest of the Confederate armies to Gen. William T. Sherman, leading to the Civil War’s end.
Riverwalk is a paved, accessible, urban greenway that stretches about 1.8 miles along the Eno River between Gold Park in western Hillsborough and trails east of town. It is a popular trail for walking, jogging and cycling, and provides pedestrian connections between several neighborhoods.
Hillsborough Hog Day takes place every September and features a bbq contest, crafts, music and vintage cars.
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Ayr Mount plantation house
“At the time of its construction at the end of the War of 1812, Ayr Mount was considered one of the finest residential structures in Piedmont North Carolina.”
St. Mary’s near Ayr Mount Located in the historic district of Hillsborough, North Carolina, the area of St. Mary’s Street is known for wooded pockets of historic homes, beautiful gardens and breathtaking churches, much of it listed on the National Historic Register. In St. Mary’s you’ll find a strong connection between community and North Carolina history. The centerpiece of St. Mary’s is Ayr Mount, a Federal-era plantation house built in 1815 in Hillsborough, North Carolina by William Kirkland. Kirkland named the house in honor of his birthplace, Ayr, Scotland. At the time of its construction at the end of the War of 1812, Ayr Mount was considered one of the finest residential structures in Piedmont North Carolina. Montrose Garden, down the street from Ayr Mount on St. Mary’s road, claims grounds that include several 19th century buildings, a rock garden, several acres of woodland plantings, and large areas of sunny gardens. Many unusual trees and shrubs and trellises, fences and arbors enhance the plantings. Orange County Neighborhood Guide | 36
Montrose Gardens in the Spring
The tiny church is home to spectacular stained glass
The church was meticulously restored in 2007-2008
The adjacent cemetery contains graves from the 1700s
ST MAtthew’S & STAINED GLASS The windows of St. Matthew’s, a nearby Episcopalian church, represent one hundred years of stained-glass history. The current grounds of St. Matthew’s are the product of seven successive deeds of land from Thomas Ruffin, Sr and his Cameron family descendants. In 1854 Thomas Ruffin gave the parish the parcel of land on which the church was already built and provided a cemetery for church burials.
Panels depict biblical scenes
Not far is the bustling Cameron Park School on St. Mary’s Road, an elementary school on a wooded campus that serves a reminder that Hillsborough is as committed to the next generation as it is its honored history. w w w. v i s i t c h a p e l h i l l . o r g
Eno River Gallery
Hillsborough Gallery of Arts
Fridays, Fridays, Fridays
2nd Friday Artwalk
ArtWalks in Chapel Hill, Carrboro & Hillsborough Chapel Hill and Carrboro
Hillsborough
It’s easy to remember. The second Friday of each month in Chapel Hill and Carrboro celebrates the creative culture that is often found in bustling college towns. The 2nd Friday ArtWalk is a great opportunity to experience the creative arts scene in the community, explore venues, and socialize with other art lovers. Venues offer live music, food, activities, hands-on art demonstrations, discounts, and more. For a map and sampling of some of the most diverse colorful art around, visit www.2ndfridayartwalk.com
See you Last Friday! From April through September, 6:30 to 9:30 pm, Last Fridays features a free concert on the old courthouse lawn alongside visual arts, dance, and literature. Artists, food vendors, musicians and craftspeople set up their wares on the sidewalks around the courthouse. The sidewalk cafes of local restaurants remain open, as do Art Galleries, shops, restaurants, churches, museums and historic sites, offering numerous special events. Events and workshops for children take place on the South lawn of the Courthouse. Last Fridays Art Walk features art galleries and venues hosting opening night receptions from 6 to 9 pm. For more information visit www.hillsboroughartscouncil.org/last-fridays
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A relaxing day out
Lake Orange is a popular fishing destination
Surrounding Rural Communities of Northern Orange
Peaceful waterfront living
Lake Orange Lake Orange (featured on the cover) is a 200+ acre lake and reservoir located just 5.7 miles from Hillsborough. There’s no shortage of things to do on a lake this size, including boating, fishing, sailing, and many other lake sports. Five local farmers donated over 200 acres of land to the county for the construction of Lake Orange, and in consideration of this “gift,” the county awarded recreational rights to “Lake Orange Inc.,” which was to be owned and operated by the donating landowners. Today, Lake Orange is a thriving residential lake community, with its vitality linked solely to the beauty and pristine nature of the lake’s eco system. Lake Orange Inc., Lake Orange residents, and permit holding county residents, take great pride in the working relationship with the county and state that has made this lake a recreational jewel for all to enjoy. It remains a gleaming example of a successful partnership between the private and public sector.
Perfect for a stroll in nature
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Multiflora Greenhouses on New Sharon Road
Cedar Grove Just 11 miles north and slightly west of Hillsborough, the existence of Cedar Grove as a community can be traced to around 1828, when the community’s first post office was established. Although most of the primary barns associated with the farmsteads have disappeared, field patterns strongly allude to the historical agrarian character of the community. The rolling farmland is laid out in fields and pastures delineated by tree lines, fences and two narrow main roads
with their grassy verges – unchanged for the last sixty years. The essential character of the once-typical rural crossroads community still exists here. Eno Presbyterian Church, which anchors the northernmost end of Cedar Grove, was established in 1756. A group of quilters from across the Piedmont still meets in the fellowship hall of the church. The Cedar Grove United Methodist Church was established in 1832, and the first church building was erected in 1834.
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Cedar Grove is dotted with farms and fields
Farm & Garden Center is home to friendly people and a wonderful selection of fresh foods from the nearby farms.
A small selection of local produce
SCHLEY Schley Grange
Schley (pronounced Sly) is an unincorporated community, in Orange County, southwest of Caldwell, and northeast of Hillsborough. It lies at an elevation of 584 feet. One of the main landmarks in the area is the Schley Grange Hall at the intersection of Hwy 57 and Schley Road. Who – or what – is Schley Grange? It’s the local chapter of a state and national group that’s been supporting farming communities since 1867. With 200 active members, Schley Grange is the largest Grange in North Carolina. The Grange Hall is about 7 miles north of Hillsborough on NC 57. Once a place to trade tractors and combines, the Grange is now largely a social club that also lobbies for fair farming and rural legislation, including food safety laws that protect smaller, local farms. The Grange meets the second Tuesday of every month for official business, and hosts events like the “Pickin & Grinnin” jam on Thursday nights and an occasional fundraising supper or breakfast. The Grange also sponsors a team and supports HYAA’s (Hillsborough Youth Athletic Association) scholarship program, so that everyone who wants to can play baseball.
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A window into the past
History is everywhere
A friendly resident
HURDLE’S HiSTORICAL GRIND by jason hawkins Somewhere between sprawl and growth and the internet and the absolute silence of a rural landscape, there is hope for the way it was and remains. Such is the place known as Hurdle Mills. This place is so gracious it shares a friendly stretch of land in
Northern Orange County and Southern Person County, as all places should share. It was the middle of the 1800’s and life in the South was one of deliberate evolution and the Flat River was home to a mill, known as Daniel’s Mill after the Daniel family. William Daniel had been appointed post-master to the newly established post office
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located near the Flat River. As river’s bend and stretch, so did ownership of the mill, and it was purchased by the Hurdle Family. With this purchase a community township became the tranquility known as Hurdle Mills. Progress and process and the speed of life have remained pleasantly slow, here. The mill and the post office es-
tablished a connection to life and a sustenance to life, too. While farms and agriculture became the life for many, Hurdle Mills has largely remained connected to its past through the bond of family and tradition and community and a river that courses with many bends and curves. Today, Hurdle Mills is dressed as the American
town we all should live within. Life is simple here. The Hurdle Mill Feed Store sells baby chickens and cow feed and fence post and leather gloves and nails and all that is needed to live and work and tend a farm, whether it be one-acre or four-hundred acres. The Flat River Care & Hurdle Mills Market and Butcher Shop brought flavor to community and the community to flavor when it opened a decade ago. On a Saturday morning, hunters in camouflage enjoy gravy biscuits alongside bicyclists from “the city” alongside farmer’s whose granddaddy pulled tobacco from farm to a tobacco house in Roxboro, behind a mule, on the road that is known as Hurdle Mills Road. And, around the corner, or down-that-road, like all good rural directions, the Hurdle Mills Fire Department protects and serves with volunteers and they sell BBQ chickens and they answer the call of duty and they do so with bravery, community, and the spirit of community. There is commerce here, too. From family-run small business to the farm that sells fresh eggs and collards to the place to
pick strawberries on Mother’s Day to the farm that grows row-crop and livestock as it has done for more than a century. Hurdle Mills represents a place that has not necessarily been affected by the advance of society and the dilution society brings. Here, people still shake your hand and the roads are round with curves that require one to slow and to absorb a landscape that has been deliberately slow, with change. A tobacco stickbarn reminds of livelihood. A fallow field reminds of the artistry of farming. And a new resident becomes part of the grind of history. And gravy biscuits from across the post-office and just uphill from the Flat River, reminds that evolution can be slow and slow evolution is the way of life in Hurdle Mills.
Ladybug Farm produces pasture-raised eggs
They have about 150 chickens who are allowed to roam freely on 5 acres of land
Virginia 60 Miles
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About Us
ALICIA STEMPER
GWENDOLEN BLACKBURN
Photographer Alicia Stemper
Gwendo (to her friends) has
is a proud long-term resident
been designing in the area
of Orange County. She enjoyed
for more than 20 years, after
taking many of the photos for
moving to Chapel Hill from
this guide. One of her favorite
Oxford, England. Her favorite
projects is Vitamin O which she
projects are long-format
does for the Visitors Bureau
(magazines, newspapers
Chapel Hill / Orange County Visitors Bureau
and the Orange County Arts
and books) and she can be
The Orange County Neighborhood Guide is published by Chapel
Commission. Each dose of
credited with more than 250
Hill / Orange County Visitors Bureau
Vitamin O is a series of photos
titles and numerous awards.
501 West Franklin Street
accompanied by a short essay
When not working on a
Chapel Hill, NC (USA) 27516
showcasing a county resident.
project she enjoys hanging out
888.968.2060 | 919.245.4320
A related print exhibit is on
with her three boys, walking
Fax: 919.968.2062
display in the Whitted Building
Henry the dog, and cooking,
info@visitchapelhill.org
in Hillsborough. Please
particularly Indian food. She
www.visitchapelhill.org
visit www.facebook.com/
loves to travel, especially back
VitaminOrangeCounty to learn
to Europe where she can snap
more.
up her favorite food: mom’s
The Visitors Center on Franklin Street provides information, maps, tours, an interactive guide and guidance
The Orange County Neighborhood Guide © March 2018 by the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau. Graphic Design
homemade marmalade.
Gwendolen Blackburn. All photos by Alicia Stemper unless otherwise credited. Material in the Orange County Neighborhood Guide may not be reproduced without written permission. Requests should be made to the above address.
Important Websites
facebook.com/visitchapelhill
www.visitchapelhill.org • www.townofcarrboro.org
Twitter: @ visitchapelhill
www.Orangecountync.gov www.townofchapelhill.org www.visithillsboroughnc.com • www.unc.edu
Orange County Neighborhood Guide | 44
News and Accolades One look, and Orange County, North Carolina, quickly illuminates itself as a top choice for both optimal business growth…and easy living.
#1 Top Business Climate in 2010 (Site Selection magazine, November 2010) #3 Best State for Business (Forbes.Com, October 2010) #3 Hospitality Job Growth (U.S. Census bureau of labor statistics, October 2010) #4 Top State for Business (CNBC, July 2010)
Carolina (January 2016) Orange County is the Third-Best Place in the US to Retire, according to real estate research site findthehome (September 2015) Hillsborough came in #3 in Budget Travel Magazine’s America’s 10 Coolest Small Towns (March 2015)
#2 Best State for Business (Chief Executive, May 2010)
Garden & Gun named Hillsborough Best Literary Town in April 2011
Hillsborough
The NC Open government coalition recognized Orange County at the annual Sunshine awards ceremony for work to help keep citizens informed about their governments. The coalition honors one outstanding journalist, government employee or organization, and an advocate for transparency each year. Orange county is the first county government to be recognized in the government category.
The 10 most charming towns and small cities in North Carolina includes Hillsborough, NC (Travelmag – March 2017) America’s Little Literary Town (Wall Street Journal – September 2014) Hillsborough among Buzzfeed’s 15 Stunning NC Towns You Need to Visit (January 2016) The Culture Trip names Hillsborough one of 10 Most Beautiful Towns in North
Award-winning UNC Hospitals
A Fall trail run
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Hillsborough’s Last Fridays
Chapel Hill and Carrboro are great places: For singles!
National Geographic
• Carrboro was ranked at the top of livability’s list of “10 best cities for singles”
• Chapel Hill is best town for college basketball fans by wallethub
For foodies!
• Athlon Sports Experts Poll Names Chapel Hill One of 10 Best College Towns in Nation
• Weathervane named one of top 100 best brunch restaurants in US by OpenTable, Carrboro and the Chapel Hill Farmers’ Markets among HomeSnacks 10 Best Farmers Markets in North Carolina
Long-time resident and advocate Missy Julian-Fox
Orange County Neighborhood Guide | 46
For anyone! • Carrboro ranked one of the top 10 best suburbs to buy a house in North Carolina by niche.com
• Mama Dip’s named one of the top 11 best fried chicken places in US by Thrillist
• Carrboro among the top 100 best small towns in the US by livability.com
• Durham-Chapel Hill is no. 1 ‘Vegetarian City’ in the US according to The Huffington Post
• Chapel Hill among “most educated places” in America by nerdwallet
For sports fans!
• Chapel Hill is on list of South’s Prettiest Cities per Southern Living
• Chapel Hill named one of four slam dunk college towns by
Historic Moorefields in Hillsborough
weLcoMe to ouR playGRound. Nestled in the rolling hills of the North Carolina Piedmont, Orange County is the perfect setting for a trio of unique and charming Southern cities: idyllic college town Chapel Hill; progressive former railroad and mill town Carrboro; and historic and artsy Hillsborough.
chapel hILL
Home to UNC-Chapel Hill, this is the college town on which all college towns are modeled, a hub of trendsetting sights, sounds, and tastes.
caRRboRo
Plug in and chill out with plenty of places to relax, eat, drink, shop, hear wonderful music, see great art, or just people-watch.
VISITCHAPELHILL.ORG 888.968.2060
hILLsboRouGh
A small town with a big history boasting a writer’s colony, gourmet restaurants, unique stores, and pastoral views.