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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 →

Orange County 975.656: 10 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 →

Schools and the university 370 to 379: 37 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.

  • First in America: An Education Governor Challenges North Carolina Hunt, James B. · 2001

    James B. Hunt Jr., governor of North Carolina from 1977 to 1985 and again from 1993 to 2001, lays out his views on public schools, education reform and early childhood programs, Smart Start among them, and challenges the state to build the best schools in the nation. Issued by the First in America Foundation in Raleigh in 2001, 93 pages.

    Call number NC 370.973 HUN View in OCPL catalog →
  • So Proudly We Taught: Retired Tar Heel Teachers 1976

    History of schooling in North Carolina told by the state's retired teachers, compiled by the North Carolina Retired School Personnel division of the North Carolina Association of Educators and edited by a committee of retired educators under Clarinda A. and James E. Britt. It appeared in 1976 as part of the National Retired Teachers Association's Bicentennial project, 'A Pride in America', in 246 pages with plates and an index.

    Call number NC 370.975 SO View in OCPL catalog →
  • The Impact of Slavery on the Education of Blacks in Orange County, North Carolina 1619-1970 Moore, Rosetta Austin · 2015 Foundational

    Rosetta Austin Moore's survey of Black education in Orange County from the colonial era to 1970, in a revised edition published in 2015 through Lulu in Morrisville. After chapters on slavery nationally and on schooling for enslaved people in North Carolina, the book turns to the county: its formation, the growth of its schools, the arrival of free public schooling for all, and the schools and African American educators of the twentieth century. 265 pages with maps, portraits and facsimiles.

    Call number 371.009 MOORE View in OCPL catalog →
  • Hillsborough Negro School 1936-1968: The First State Supported Negro School in Orange County, North Carolina Ruffin-Villines, Donna · 1998 Foundational

    Donna Ruffin-Villines documents the school that served African American students in Hillsborough from 1936 until 1968, described as the first state supported school of its kind in Orange County. Published in 1998 concerning African American public schools and their history in the county. A starting point for anyone tracing segregated education in Hillsborough.

    Call number NC 371.009 RUF View in OCPL catalog →
  • A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 Pender, Irene Oliver · 1983 Start here

    Irene Oliver Pender's history of the public schools of Orange County from 1752 to 1983, covering more than two centuries of schooling in Hillsborough, Efland, Cedar Grove and the rural districts of the county. Published in 1983, 186 pages with illustrations.

    Call number NC 371.097 PENDER View in OCPL catalog →
  • A History of North Carolina Retired School Personnel: A Division of North Carolina Association of Educators, 1961-1978 Browning, Alma · 1978

    The history of North Carolina Retired School Personnel from 1961 to 1978, told by Alma Browning. The group, a division of the North Carolina Association of Educators, brings together retired teachers and other school employees. Printed by Heritage Printers in 1978; 99 pages.

    Call number NC 371.1 BRO View in OCPL catalog →
  • PTA Impact: 50 Years in North Carolina, 1919-1969 Stem, Thad · 1969

    Thad Stem Jr.'s history of the parent-teacher movement in North Carolina over its first fifty years, beginning with the 1919 meeting in Charlotte that formed a state branch of the national congress. The branch, renamed the North Carolina Congress of Parents and Teachers in 1924, published the book in 1969, 267 pages with photographs and portraits. That same year it merged with the North Carolina Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers.

    Call number NC 371.103 STE View in OCPL catalog →
  • Ordinary Women Extraordinary Service to Family, Community, and North Carolina Hammett, Wilma · 2011 Foundational

    Wilma Hammett, Jan Christensen and Joan Gosper wrote and compiled this illustrated book about North Carolina women whose service reached their families, communities and state. The North Carolina Family and Consumer Sciences Foundation published the 340 pages in 2011 with the foundation of the state's Extension and Community Association.

    Call number NC 371.35 HAMMETT View in OCPL catalog →
  • The Book of Burwell Students: Lives of Educated Women in the Antebellum South Engstrom, Mary Claire · 1979 Foundational

    Mary Claire Engstrom's biographical register of the young women who attended the Burwell School in Hillsborough, subtitled lives of educated women in the antebellum South. The school was kept by Margaret Anna Burwell and her husband, and the book bears on women's education in nineteenth-century North Carolina. Published by the Historic Hillsborough Commission, 1979, 256 pages with illustrations and portraits.

    Call number NC 371.82 ENG View in OCPL catalog →
  • Their Highest Potential: An African American School Community in the Segregated South Siddle Walker, Vanessa · 1996

    Vanessa Siddle Walker's case study of the Caswell County Training School, a school for Black students in segregated Caswell County, and of the community around it. Caswell was formed from Orange County in 1777, with Yanceyville as its seat. UNC Press, 1996; 259 pages with illustrations, a map, a bibliography and an index.

    Call number NC 371.979 WAL View in OCPL catalog →
  • Final Report of Orange Curriculum Study 1960-1961 1961

    Final report of the Orange curriculum study of 1960 and 1961, issued by the Orange County Board of Education in Hillsborough in 1961. It covers school curricula and the county's schools, in 83 pages with plans.

    Call number NC 373.19 ORA View in OCPL catalog →
  • North Carolina Schools and Academies, 1790-1840: A Documentary History Coon, Charles L. · 1915

    Charles L. Coon's documentary history of North Carolina academies and schools from 1790 to 1840, published by the North Carolina Historical Commission in 1915. Its 846 pages reprint academy notices, legislative acts and items from the Raleigh Register and other papers, with a section on the colleges' beginnings. Hillsborough Academy trustees' notices are among them, and Coon's introduction notes how many academy principals came from the University in Chapel Hill.

    Call number NC 373.756 COO 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