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Orange County Indexed

Local history at OCPL

The Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection and the Orange County books at the Main Library in Hillsborough: a plan of the room, and both collections searchable shelf by shelf.

This page covers two overlapping sets of books at OCPL: the Orange County works in the index that the library holds, and the Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection, the library’s wider local history room, from county deed and will abstracts to North Carolina histories. Some books belong to both. Start with the plan of the room, or go straight to either list.

About these counts

The index counts works, not copies or editions: the editions of one book are gathered under one entry, so the library’s own catalog lists more titles than the 357 here. The Wall Collection figure is the library’s inventory of that collection as of September 2026, counted by catalog title; the Orange County works shelved there are in both counts.

357Orange County works at OCPL 1,287titles in the Wall Collection 5shelves in the local history room 1library card opens NC LIVE

The Local History Room

Find your way around the local history room

Find the books, maps, research equipment, and displays of the Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection at the Main Library in Hillsborough. The lettered locations below match the plan; tap or hover one to see what stands there.

The collection at OCPL →
Plan of the Local History Room at the Main Library, after the library’s diagram Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection entrance E D I: Framed print: the Nash and Kollock School I H: Framed print: Hillsborough, County Down H G: Framed print: the 1892 county map G F: Framed print: the courthouse F J: Framed print: Hillsborough Military Academy J K: Framed print: the 1768 town plan K E-2: Reference bookshelf, E-2 E-2 E-1: North Carolina history bookshelf, E-1 E-1 D-2: Genealogy bookshelf, D-2 D-2 D-1: Genealogy bookshelf, D-1 D-1 D-3: Genealogy bookshelf, D-3 D-3 L: Black file cabinet L M: Assorted maps M N: Elizabeth Keckly display N O: Elizabeth Keckly display, continued O C: Research computer with microfilm reader and scanner C B: Gray file cabinet B A: Locked cabinet A
After the library’s own diagram of the space. Bookshelves in dark blue, cabinets in gray, framed prints in orange, the maps and the Keckly display in a lighter blue.
  1. Locked cabinet

    Fragile items that mending would damage. Above it, a platter Rebecca Wall painted of the law office of Thomas Ruffin, an ancestor of hers, at 201 South Cameron Street, and a pastel portrait of her in her fifties.

  2. Gray file cabinet

    Microfilm of the local newspaper and federal census returns from the 1800s; Orange County court records, vital statistics, tax lists and Confederate soldier records reaching back to the 1700s. On top, a photograph of Rebecca Wall in her twenties and a wooden model of the Burwell School.

  3. Research computer with microfilm reader and scanner

    Read and scan the microfilm here, and search Ancestry and other research sites.

  4. Genealogy bookshelf, D-1

    Historical records of many kinds, color-coded and labeled by county and record type, with books on how to do genealogical research.

    Browse this shelf →
  5. Genealogy bookshelf, D-2

    Published family histories, biographies and genealogical journals; the colonial and higher-court records of North Carolina; lives of local figures from William Tryon to John Blackfeather.

    Browse this shelf →
  6. Genealogy bookshelf, D-3

    More about Rebecca Wall.

    Browse this shelf →
  7. North Carolina history bookshelf, E-1

    North Carolina histories of every kind, from the university and the State Fair to natural history and Durham’s Hayti.

    Browse this shelf →
  8. Reference bookshelf, E-2

    Traditional general reference books, still valuable as comprehensive, authoritative sources.

    Browse this shelf →
  9. Framed print: the courthouse

    Hope Summerell Chamberlain’s 1926 pen-and-ink rendering of the county courthouse; she was an author, artist and civic worker.

  10. Framed print: the 1892 county map

    George W. Tate’s 1892 map of Orange County.

  11. Framed print: Hillsborough, County Down

    Views of the Irish town the county seat is named for.

  12. Framed print: the Nash and Kollock School

    Chamberlain’s 1926 interpretation of a late-1800s photograph of the school, which stood at 137 West Margaret Lane, the Main Library’s address today.

  13. Framed print: Hillsborough Military Academy

    Uniform buttons from the academy, which ran from 1859 to 1861 off Barracks Road in West Hillsborough; outbuildings still stand.

  14. Framed print: the 1768 town plan

    C. J. Sauthier’s 1768 map of the town of Hillsborough.

  15. Black file cabinet

    Family and local histories researched, compiled and donated by patrons, with local history odds and ends. On top, a model of the county courthouse by Allen Alexander Lloyd (1914 to 2006), lifelong Hillsborough resident and keeper of the town clock, who with his wife Pauline wrote the histories of the town and of its churches that stand in this room.

  16. Assorted maps

    Maps of the county and the town.

  17. Elizabeth Keckly display

    Keckly was enslaved in Hillsborough by her half-brother Robert Burwell, minister of the Presbyterian church and founder of the Burwell School. A seamstress of rare skill, after her emancipation in 1855 she became dressmaker and confidante to Mary Lincoln.

  18. Elizabeth Keckly display, continued

    The second panel of the Keckly display.

On the shelves

Orange County works at OCPL

These works connect to Orange County and are held at OCPL. Search by title, author, or description, or pick a section to browse it in call-number order. Open the catalog record for location and availability.

Filter all 357 in the search →

Biography BIO, 920: 17 works as they shelve at OCPL, in call-number order. All 357, with filters by place, theme, and material, in the search →

The Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection

Browse the full Wall Collection

The wider local history collection, named for Rebecca Wall, the retired librarian whose 1986 bequest built it: genealogy, North Carolina history, and regional reference works, alongside the Orange County titles. Browse it shelf by shelf or search by title, author, subject, or description.

Search it alongside the indexed works →

Orange County 975.656: 47 titles as they stand on the shelf at OCPL, in call-number order. North Carolina history bookshelf, E-1: North Carolina histories of every kind, from the university and the State Fair to the state’s natural history and Durham’s Hayti.

  • Durham County: A History of Durham County, North Carolina Anderson, Jean Bradley · 2011

    Jean Bradley Anderson's history of Durham County, from prehistory to the end of the twentieth century. Its early chapters concern eighteenth-century Orange County, from which Durham was cut in 1881, and later ones cover the rise of Durham town, an independent Black culture after emancipation, the civil rights years and county government to 1981 and beyond. Published by Duke University Press in 2011, 596 pages with plates.

    Call number NC 975.656 AND View in OCPL catalog →
  • The Kirklands of Ayr Mount Anderson, Jean Bradley · 1991

    Jean Bradley Anderson's family history of the Kirklands, the Scottish family who built Ayr Mount, the plantation house that still stands outside Hillsborough. Beginning with a 1696 marriage in Lochfergus, Scotland, the account centers on William Kirkland, born 1768, who came to North Carolina from Scotland, married Margaret Blain Scott in 1792 and established the family at Ayr Mount, and it follows their descendants. Published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1991, 241 pages plus 22 pages of plates, with maps.

    Call number NC 975.656 AND View in OCPL catalog →
  • The Age of Orange: Political and Intellectual Leadership in North Carolina, 1752-1861 Blackwelder, Ruth · 1961 Start here

    Ruth Blackwelder's study of political and intellectual leadership in Orange County and North Carolina from 1752 to 1861, published in Charlotte by W. Loftin in 1961. Topics include state politics and government, intellectual life before the Civil War, and county genealogy. It runs 216 pages with illustrations and a bibliography. Part of the Wall Local History Collection.

    Call number NC 975.656 BLACKWEL View in OCPL catalog →
  • African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History Bolduc, Jean · 2016 Foundational

    Jean Bolduc's 2016 collection of interviews with African American residents of Durham and Orange counties, presented as short biographies. The subjects are Floyd McKissick (1922-1991), the first African American admitted to UNC's law school, Walter Jackson, Brenda Stephens, Nate Davis, poet Jaki Shelton Green, Jackie Wagstaff, Diane Wright and Michelle Johnson, with a closing chapter on the Ku Klux Klan. 125 pages with illustrations.

    Call number NC 975.656 BOLDUC View in OCPL catalog →
  • Collective History: Stories of the Colonial Inn Boyd, Amanda · 2021 Start here

    Amanda Boyd's stories of the Colonial Inn in Hillsborough, gathered as anecdotes of the inn and of the town's social life. The inn on West King Street is one of Hillsborough's landmarks. Published in Durham in 2021, 120 pages with illustrations, facsimiles, maps and portraits, many in color.

    Call number NC 975.656 BOYD View in OCPL catalog →
  • Valley Of The Eno : Some Of Its Lands - Some Of Its People - Some Of Its Mills Browning, Hugh Conway · 1973 Start here

    Hugh Conway Browning's 1973 history of the Eno River valley, subtitled some of its lands, some of its people, some of its mills, treating the tracts, families and water mills along the river in Orange and Durham counties. Among the people it covers is William Andrew Browning, 1835 to 1916.

    Call number NC 975.656 BROWNING View in OCPL catalog →
  • Hillsborough and the Regulators Cameron, Annie Sutton · 1964 Foundational

    Annie Sutton Cameron's short account of Hillsborough during the Regulator uprising of 1766 to 1771, when backcountry farmers protested colonial officials and courts and Hillsborough, as the seat of Orange County, stood at the center of the conflict. Published by the Orange County Historical Museum in Hillsborough in 1964, 36 pages with illustrations.

    Call number NC 975.656 CAM View in OCPL catalog →
  • Growing up With Chapel Hill Coolidge, Jane Toy · 1977

    Jane Toy Coolidge, born in 1901, recalls her childhood and youth in Chapel Hill in this memoir published by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in 1977. The cover dates it as the village from 1901 to 1925, and one catalog subtitle extends the span to 1942. Topics include the Toy family and Chapel Hill biography and history. 112 pages with illustrations.

    Call number NC 975.656 COO View in OCPL catalog →
  • A Folklore Study of West Hillsborough, N.C: Including Local Legends and Games Davis, Bryant Kenneth · 1986 Foundational

    Bryant Kenneth Davis's folklore study of West Hillsborough from 1986, including local legends and games according to the full title. Twentieth-century folklore of Hillsborough and the town's history are its ground, and it records a neighborhood's own lore at a single point in time.

    Call number NC 975.656 DAV View in OCPL catalog →
  • The Durham Centennial Celebration: Commemorating One Hundred Years of Progress, Featuring the Spectacle "Durham's Centurama," Duke Stadium, 8:30 P.m., April 27-May 2, 1953 Durham Centennial and Historical Commission · 1953

    An 80-page illustrated booklet issued by the Durham Centennial and Historical Commission for the city's centennial in 1953, marking a hundred years since 1853. It presents the historical pageant 'Durham's Centurama', staged at Duke Stadium from April 27 to May 2, with pictures and biographical sketches from Durham's past. Durham County was formed from parts of Orange and Wake in 1881.

    Call number NC 975.656 DUR View in OCPL catalog →
  • Celebrating A Triangle Millennium Gaddy, Charlie · 1999

    Large-format pictorial volume marking the turn of the millennium in the Triangle, compiled by Charlie Gaddy and published in 1999 by Towery of Memphis. Its 399 pages of illustrations, many in color, cover the Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh regions, with profiles of area business enterprises and an index. Topics include the civilization and pictorial record of all three regions.

    Call number NC 975.656 GAD View in OCPL catalog →
  • Who's Gonna Cover 'em Up?!: Chapel Hill Uncovered--1950-1985 : Featuring the Newsman's Notepad Giduz, Roland · 1985 Foundational

    Roland Giduz, a Chapel Hill newsman, gathers anecdotes and humor about the town from 1950 to 1985 in this 1985 book, subtitled Chapel Hill uncovered and featuring the newsman's notepad. Illustrated, with an index. Part of the Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection.

    Call number NC 975.656 GID View in OCPL catalog →

Research help, online and in the room

More ways to continue your research

Through the library Use OCPL Resources Newspapers, maps, genealogy tools, and reference works that OCPL offers, many through NC LIVE, North Carolina’s statewide library service. Some are free to anyone; others need an OCPL card. Find library resources for local history → Help from a person Get research help Local History Help Hours at the Main Library, or the Local History Liaison for a difficult trail. Find Local History Help Hours → In the room, outside the catalog Microfilm, records and maps Local newspapers and census returns on microfilm, county court records, tax lists and soldier records back to the 1700s, family histories donated by patrons, and the research computer. The collection at OCPL →
Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library
Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026