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Orange County Indexed

Local history at OCPL

Find Orange County books and the Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection at the Main Library in Hillsborough. Use the room plan or browse the book lists 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 broader local history collection, 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 4shelves 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 a location or move your pointer over it to see what is 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 county map G F: Framed print: the courthouse F J: Poster: Hillsborough Military Academy buttons J K: Framed print: the 1768 town plan K E-2: Reference bookshelf, E-2 E-2 E-1: North Carolina bookshelf, E-1 E-1 D-2: Genealogy bookshelf, D-2 D-2 D-1: Genealogy bookshelf, D-1 D-1 D-3: Poster: Rebecca B. Wall D-3 L: Black file cabinet L M: Maps M N: Elizabeth Keckly display N O: Elizabeth Keckly display, continued O C: Research computer with microfilm reader and scanner C B: Microform 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

    Older and fragile books, opened by staff on request: church and school histories, the Hillsborough Historical Society Journal (volumes 1 to 7), early state histories such as Wheeler’s and Williamson’s, Lefler and Wager’s Orange County, 1752-1952, Orange High School yearbooks, and the Eno River Association’s calendars from 1972 on. On top: a pastel portrait of Rebecca Wall signed in Paris in 1933, a photograph of her as a young woman, the platter she painted of Thomas Ruffin’s law office at 201 South Cameron Street, and a small model of the Burwell School.

    Browse this shelf →
  2. Microform cabinet

    About 270 reels of microfilm in five drawers: the Hillsborough Recorder, 1820 to 1877, and the Hillsborough Recorder and Durham Recorder, 1878 to 1888; the News of Orange County, 1915 to 2026; federal census returns from the 1800s to 1930; and Orange County records, among them court minutes from 1752, deeds and their indexes from 1755 to 1962, marriage bonds from 1752, cohabitation certificates of 1866 to 1868, tax lists from 1779, Board of Education minutes from 1872, a WPA index of cemetery inscriptions, and Confederate soldier records. The reels hold more than the drawer labels list; What’s here gives them reel by reel.

    What's here

    Newspapers

    • Hillsborough Recorder, March 1, 1820 to December 26, 1877, on seven State Archives rolls with no gaps between them
    • Hillsborough Recorder and Durham Recorder, 1878 to 1888, one roll
    • News of Orange County, January 1915 to June 2026, on about 75 reels; the first roll skips from about 1924 to 1944, and January to June 1986 is on a duplicate reel only

    Federal census

    • Orange County returns for 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850 (free and slave schedules), 1860 (free and slave), 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930, with some rolls for neighboring counties

    Courts

    • County court minutes, 1752 to 1868 (no film for 1767 to 1776)
    • Superior Court minute dockets, 1807 to 1897
    • Court of Equity minute dockets, 1789 to 1793, 1834 to 1853 and 1855 to 1864
    • Index to judgments and liens, 1868 to 1962; equity partitions, 1859 to 1938; orders and decrees, 1868 to 1906

    Land

    • Record of deeds, volumes 1 to 40, 1755 to 1872
    • Indexes to deeds, grantor and grantee, 1755 to 1962
    • Indexes to mortgages and deeds of trust, 1870 to 1962

    Wills and estates

    • Record of wills, volumes A to J, 1752 to 1929, and the index to wills, 1756 to 1962
    • Inventories, sales and accounts of estates, 1758 to 1785 and 1800 to 1912
    • Guardian accounts, 1819 to 1910; guardian bonds, 1868 to 1899; administrators’ bonds, 1868 to 1913; appointments of executors, 1870 to 1915; record of settlements, 1868 to 1907

    Marriages

    • Marriage bonds, 1752 to 1868
    • Marriage registers, 1851 to 1872, white and Black
    • Marriage licenses, 1866 to 1962 (no film for 1876 to 1878 or 1904 to 1905)
    • Cohabitation certificates of formerly enslaved couples, 1866 to 1868

    Taxes, the poor and county government

    • Tax lists, 1779 to 1783; lists of taxables, 1780 to 1827; tax scrolls, 1866 to 1915
    • Wardens of the Poor, 1832 to 1856, and their proceedings, 1856 to 1879; Poor House book, 1842 to 1868
    • Minutes of the Board of County Commissioners, 1868 to 1936, and of the Board of Education, 1872 to 1962

    Other

    • WPA index of cemetery inscriptions made before 1914 (the reels from Alice to Skinner)
    • Confederate service records: 26th Infantry, and parts of the 1st Cavalry and 62nd Infantry
    • North Carolina Troops roster, volumes 1 to 4; Records of the Moravians in North Carolina, volume 9

    Online

    • The census population schedules are also on HeritageQuest, through NC LIVE, and on Ancestry Library Edition on the library’s public computers.
  3. Research computer with microfilm reader and scanner

    Read the microfilm and scan pages here; scans save to a USB thumb drive, so bring one. The computer also opens Ancestry Library Edition and HeritageQuest.

  4. Genealogy bookshelf, D-1

    At the end of the range, research help and the current journals. Then the Orange County records under orange labels: court minutes and dockets, land and deed records, road and bridge records, marriages, deaths, wills and estates, and binders of marriages and deaths by surname. Then North Carolina county records, alphabetically by county; census; North Carolina wills; African-American and Native American genealogy; Revolutionary records; and the Colonial Records of North Carolina.

    What's here

    Orange County court records

    • Court minutes, 1752 to 1793, books 1 to 4
    • Abstracts of the minutes of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, 1777 to 1788
    • Hillsborough District Superior Court of Law, 1789 to 1798
    • Hillsborough District and Orange County Superior Court records concerning land
    • Inventories and accounts of sales, 1758 to 1785 and 1800 to 1808
    • Tavern bonds, 1755 to 1874; mill records, 1782 to 1859
    • Salisbury District Superior Court ejectments, 1753 to 1809

    Orange County land records

    • Granville Proprietary Land Office: abstracts of loose papers; deeds and surveys, 1752 to 1763; miscellaneous records
    • State land grants 1 to 1,000; land grant entry books; land entries, 1778 to 1795
    • Land records, 1752 to 1899; ejectments, 1787 to 1902; land confiscation records, 1779 to 1800
    • Histories of the town lots of Hillsborough and Chapel Hill, and an index to Hillsborough’s town lots

    Road, bridge and deed records

    • Bridge records, 1787 to 1865; road records, 1786 to 1883
    • Lost deed records, 1752 to 1769; miscellaneous deeds, 1764 to 1925
    • Deed book abstracts: books 1 to 3, 5, 6 and 7, 8 and 9, 10 and 11, 12, and 15 and 16; deeds, 1803 to 1804
    • Register of Orange County deeds, 1752 to 1768 and 1793

    Marriages, deaths, wills, estates and other records

    • Marriages of Orange County; Freedmen’s marriage records index, April to September 1866
    • Death and marriage notices from the Hillsborough Recorder, 1820 to 1879, and the Hillsboro Recorder, 1887 to 1888
    • Abstracts of wills recorded in Orange County, 1752 to 1850; estate records
    • Taxpayers, 1784 to 1793; appointments of postmasters, 1825 to 1929; enslaved people named in estate records, 1840 to 1865
    • St. Mary’s Chapel cemetery records and archaeological assessment
    • Binders: marriage bonds and marriages by surname of groom and of bride; deaths by surname, 1913 to 2000
    • Orange County cemetery records, A to K and L to Z
    Browse this shelf →
  5. Genealogy bookshelf, D-2

    War of 1812 and Civil War records; other states’ records; family histories, shelved by family name; North Carolina biographies, shelved by the subject’s surname; and long runs of the North Carolina Historical Review from 1926, the North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal from 1975, the Durham-Orange Genealogical Society’s publications and The Trading Path.

    Browse this shelf →
  6. Poster: Rebecca B. Wall

    The library’s poster on Rebecca B. Wall (1898 to 1986), the career librarian and benefactor the collection is named for. She served on the Orange County Board of Education from 1925 to 1929, worked at the New York Public Library and Greensboro Senior High School, and retired in 1964 as chief librarian of the Veterans Administration Hospital in Fayetteville. She owned Heartsease at 115 Queen Street and descended from Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin and Duncan Cameron. The library dedicated the collection to her on August 6, 2010.

  7. North Carolina bookshelf, E-1

    North Carolina books in call-number order, from libraries and religion through society, the arts, travel and biography to the state’s history and its counties and towns, with a shelf for Durham and Orange County history, including Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough.

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

    General reference, not specific to North Carolina: the World Book Encyclopedia, the Encyclopedia of Religion, the Dictionary of Art, the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, American National Biography, encyclopedias of American and African American history, and the New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture.

    Browse this shelf →
  9. Framed print: the courthouse

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

  10. Framed print: the county map

    George W. Tate’s map of Orange County, copyrighted in 1891 and published at the Bingham School, drawn from actual surveys. It marks churches, schools, mills, residences and the county’s soil belts.

  11. Framed print: Hillsborough, County Down

    Postcard views of Hillsborough in County Down, Ireland. The town takes its name from the first Earl of Hillsborough, whose title came from his castle there. Presented by Chief Justice Walter Clark.

  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. Poster: Hillsborough Military Academy buttons

    A poster of the uniform button types recovered from the Hillsborough Military Academy, which ran from 1859 to 1861 off Barracks Road in West Hillsborough, among them the academy’s own buttons of 1859 and 1860 and Confederate academy buttons of the early 1860s. Donated by Rob Golan.

  14. Framed print: the 1768 town plan

    C. J. Sauthier’s plan of Hillsborough, surveyed and drawn in October 1768. Its caption explains that Governor Tryon commissioned it as the first of ten military maps of colonial towns, and that it is the only known eighteenth-century map of Hillsborough.

  15. Black file cabinet

    Vertical files compiled and donated by researchers: two drawers of family files, Albright to Wilson; a drawer of North Carolina subject files, from African American history and the Battle of Alamance to Tryon Palace; and a drawer of Orange County and Hillsborough files on buildings, churches, cemeteries and historic preservation. 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.

    What's here

    Family files (drawers 1 and 2)

    • Albright, Allen, Allison, Anthony, Armstrong, Ashley, Barbee, Beverly (Beverley), Blount, Boatman, Boone, Bourland, Boylan, Bradford, Brewer, Brooks, Brown, Burke, Cagle, Campbell, Carden, Carr, Caruthers, Castleberry, Cates, Charles, Cheek, Churton, Clapp, Clark, Clodfelter, Coble, Cole, Conrad, Cook, Cooley, Cooper, Copeland, Couch, Craig, Crawford, Crutchfield, Curtis, Daniel, Davis, Delaney, Dixon, Dodd, Dunagan, Ephland, Faucette, Few (with notes on Few properties and buildings), Fields, Foster, Foushee, Fox, Freeland, Freeman, Freshwater, Gordon, Graham, Graves, Hargraves, Harris, Hart, Harvey, Hastings, Henderson, Hicks, Idol, Isley, Jackson, Jenkins, Johnston, Jones, Kerr, Kirk, Kirkpatrick, Lackey, Lamont, Lane, Lea, Lee, Lentz, Leonard, Lewis, Lindley, Lloyd, Loudermilk, Low, Loy, Lynch, Martin, May, McAdams, McCord, McDade, McDaniel, McJunkin, Murray, Nelson, Nutt (McNutt), O’Daniel, O’Neal, Paul, Pickard, Poindexter, Pool (Poole), Pope, Rich, Roberson, Robinson, Roundtree, Saunders, Sharp, Shaw, Shepherd, Shoffner, Smith, Snipes, Southard, Squires, Stroud, Stubbins, Stubbs, Thompson, Thornburgh, Tickle, Tinnin, Trollinger, Turner, Wagoner, Walker, Wallace, Wilson, and a few more.

    North Carolina subject files (drawer 3)

    • African American history; the battles of Alamance, Clapp’s Mill, Lindley’s Mill and Moore’s Creek Bridge; Pyle’s Massacre; Alamance and Durham; authors; historic buildings; businesses; churches; the Civil War, the surrender and Reconstruction; the Department of Agriculture; the Executive Mansion; the flag; fishing and hunting; geography; gardening; pirates; Roanoke Island; songs; Transylvania; Tryon Palace; transportation

    Orange County and Hillsborough subject files (drawer 4)

    • Orange County; architecture; churches; historic preservation; the old courthouse; Eno, New Hope and Little River Presbyterian churches; Hillsborough and its architecture and buildings; Ayr Mount; Hillsborough biography; the Margaret Lane and Old Town cemeteries; Hillsborough Methodist and Presbyterian churches; the Hillsborough Military Academy; the Thompson land, the fairground and the Eno River; county flood maps; the Hillsborough Historical Society, with its newsletter from 1962 and the Historic Hillsborough Commission’s
  16. Maps

    Twenty-one rolled maps, listed on the index posted beside them: Stout’s historical research maps of Alamance, Caswell, Durham, Orange and Person counties; county road maps of 1985 and 1990; maps of downtown Hillsborough from 1979 and 1987; Markham’s maps of land grants to early settlers in old Orange County and in Wake County; Sauthier’s 1768 plan; Chapel Hill about 1818 as W. D. Moseley remembered it; river basin maps; and topographic quadrangles.

    What's here

    Maps 1 to 7

    • Stout historical research maps, 1982 roads: Alamance, Caswell, Durham, Orange and Person counties
    • Orange County road maps, 1985 and 1990

    Maps 8 to 14

    • Downtown Historic Hillsborough, established 1754 (1987)
    • Historic downtown Hillsborough, stereophotogrammetric map (1979)
    • Land grants to early settlers in present Wake County, 1739 to 1820 (A. B. Markham, 1973)
    • Land grants to early settlers in old Orange County, 1743 to 1810 (Markham, 1973, and a revised edition)
    • Plan of the town of Hillsborough (Sauthier, 1768)
    • Chapel Hill about 1818 as remembered by W. D. Moseley (Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1976)

    Maps 15 to 21

    • Discover Your River Basin (1996); Discover North Carolina’s River Basins (1999)
    • Hillsborough quadrangle, 7.5 minute series (1968, revised 1981)
    • Northeast, Southeast and Northwest Durham quadrangles (1973, revised 1981 and 1987)
    • Orange and Durham counties wall map (2013)
  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 →

Travel, description and geography 910 to 919: 4 works as they shelve at OCPL, in call-number order. All 357, with filters by place, theme, and material, in the search →

  • Best Easy Day Hikes Chapel Hill Molloy, Johnny · 2020 · Guidebooks & tours

    Johnny Molloy's pocket guide to short day hikes around Chapel Hill, one of the FalconGuides series. Trails and hiking in the Chapel Hill area are its whole subject, with directions and a map for each walk. Published in Guilford, Connecticut in 2020, 112 pages with illustrations and maps in a small format.

    Call number 917.56 FALCON 2020Chapel Hill View in OCPL catalog →
  • Best Hikes Molloy, Johnny · 2020 · Guidebooks & tours

    Johnny Molloy's guidebook to forty hikes within roughly an hour's drive of Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh, in a second FalconGuides edition of 2020. Each hike gets a description, a specifications box and GPS coordinates for its trailhead, with color photographs and maps throughout; most routes are rated easy or moderate and were chosen with families and new hikers in mind. 213 pages.

    Call number 917.56 FALCON 2020Chapel Hill View in OCPL catalog →
  • Hugh Morton's North Carolina Morton, Hugh M. · 2003 · Pictorial works

    Photographs by Hugh Morton of North Carolina people, places and sporting events, published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2003. Topics include pictorial works on the state, on notable North Carolinians and on sports at the university, and the volume runs to xvi and 207 pages, chiefly pictures, some of them in color. Part of the library's Wall Local History Collection.

    Call number 917.56 MORNorth Carolina (statewide)Carolina SportsUNC & Campus Life View in OCPL catalog →
  • The Pelican Guide to Hillsborough, Historic Orange County, North Carolina Dula, Lucile Noell · 1989 · Guidebooks & tours

    Lucile Noell Dula's guidebook to Hillsborough and its historic buildings, published by Pelican in 1989. It pairs a tour of the town with notes on its history, in 128 illustrated pages with a bibliography. Part of the Wall Local History Collection.

    Call number 917.565 DULHillsboroughBuildings & Preservation View in OCPL catalog →

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 →

Research help genealogy guides, in Dewey order: 20 titles as they stand on the shelf at OCPL, in call-number order. Genealogy bookshelf, D-1: Research help and the current journals at the end of the range; the Orange County records under orange labels; North Carolina county records, alphabetically by county; census; North Carolina wills; African-American and Native American genealogy; Revolutionary records; and the Colonial Records of North Carolina. Arranged by subject rather than call number.

  • Guide to County Records in the North Carolina State Archives North Carolina · 2009 Wider context

    The North Carolina State Archives' guide to the original and microfilmed county records in its care. This twelfth revised edition, issued in 2009 by the Office of Archives and History, is the first under the present title; earlier editions, going back at least to 1977, appeared as Section B: County Records of the Guide to Research Materials in the North Carolina State Archives. It runs to vi, 394 pages with a map and an index.

    Call number NC 016.975 NORTH View in OCPL catalog →
  • What Did They Mean by That?: A Dictionary of Historical & Genealogical Terms Old & New Drake, Paul · 2013

    Obsolete words and forgotten meanings that turn up in old documents fill Paul Drake's dictionary, together with newer terms used by historians and genealogists. It is illustrated and includes maps. First published in 1994, it appeared in a new edition in 2000, of which this is a 2013 printing.

    Call number NC 423.1 DRAKE View in OCPL catalog →
  • Reading Early American Handwriting Sperry, Kip · 1998

    Kip Sperry teaches the reading of handwriting in wills, deeds, church registers and other early American records. He covers letter forms, numbers and Roman numerals, abbreviations and contractions, common terms, and dates across the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, then offers nearly a hundred sample documents of rising difficulty, each with his transcription on the facing page. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1998; 289 pages with a long bibliography.

    Call number NC 427.973 SPE View in OCPL catalog →
  • The Handwriting of American Records for A Period of 300 Years Kirkham, E. Kay · 1981

    A guide to reading the handwriting in three centuries of American records, written by the genealogist E. Kay Kirkham with particular attention to identifying surnames from clues other than their spelling. Sections deal with abbreviations, dates, writing materials and research methods. First published by Everton Publishers of Logan, Utah, in 1973; this 1981 printing has vii and 106 illustrated pages.

    Call number NC 652 KIR View in OCPL catalog →
  • Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources From Artifacts to Cyberspace Mills, Elizabeth Shown · 2024

    Elizabeth Shown Mills's manual for citing historical sources and weighing the evidence they hold, first published in 2007 and here in its fourth edition of 2024. It supplies citation models for kinds of material that general guides such as the Chicago Manual of Style leave out, from courthouse and church papers to microfilm and digital, audio and video sources, and explains how each kind of source came into being so its reliability can be judged.

    Call number NC 907.2 MILLS View in OCPL catalog →
  • North Carolina State Archives: State Agency Finding Aids of Interest to Genealogists Bennett, William D. · 1997

    William Doub Bennett's guides to state agency records in the North Carolina State Archives that serve family historians. Volume 1 treats the colonial higher courts, the district superior courts, the state Supreme Court, and the papers of the treasurers, comptrollers and auditors; volume 2 covers the military collection and the adjutant general's papers. Issued by Bennett in Raleigh from 1997, with indexes; Southern Historical Press reissued the work in 2023.

    Call number NC 929.1 BEN View in OCPL catalog →
  • They Went Thataway Hamlin, Charles Hughes · 1974

    Virginia genealogical material compiled by Charles Hughes Hamlin, first issued in parts beginning in 1964 and reprinted by the Genealogical Publishing Company in 1974 with the volumes bound together.

    Call number NC 929.1 HAM View in OCPL catalog →
  • History for Genealogists, Using Chronologica Time Lines to Find and Understand your Ancestors. Revised Edition, With 2016 Addendum Incorporating Editorial Corrections to the 2009 Edition by Denis Larson Jacobson, Judy · 2016

    Judy Jacobson shows genealogists how to set ancestors against the events of their time using chronological time lines: why families emigrated, how they traveled and arrived, family myths and secrets, hard-to-find people and community history, followed by time lines state by state and region by region. This revised edition adds a 2016 addendum by Denis Larson with corrections to the 2009 edition. Clearfield, Baltimore; x, 310 pages with an index.

    Call number NC 929.1 JACOBSON View in OCPL catalog →
  • Mastering Genealogical Proof Jones, Thomas W. · 2013

    Thomas W. Jones's guide to the Genealogical Proof Standard. After chapters on the standard and its core concepts, he takes its five elements in turn: thorough research, source citations, analysis and correlation, resolving conflicts and assembling evidence, and the written conclusion, then shows the standard in use, with two articles in the appendices. Published by the National Genealogical Society in 2013 as Special Publication 107; 178 pages.

    Call number NC 929.1 JON View in OCPL catalog →
  • Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources From Artifacts to Cyberspace Mills, Elizabeth Shown · 2015

    Elizabeth Shown Mills's manual for citing and weighing historical sources, including the original records that general style manuals like Chicago leave out. Opening chapters on evidence analysis and citation principles lead to more than a thousand model citations arranged by record type: artifacts, business, cemetery, census, church, court, vital, land and probate records, national government files, and published and online material. Third edition, Genealogical Publishing Company, 2015; 892 pages.

    Call number NC 929.1 MILLS View in OCPL catalog →
  • North Carolina Research: Genealogy and Local History Leary, Helen F. M. · 1996

    Helen F. M. Leary edited this North Carolina Genealogical Society guide to family and local history research in the state, much of which applies across the common-law states of the Southeast. The 1996 second edition revises the 1980 guide she edited with Maurice R. Stirewalt, with a new format and index, updated coverage of State Archives holdings, finding aids and state and federal records, and a rewritten chapter on research strategy.

    Call number NC 929.1 NOR View in OCPL catalog →
  • Colonial Granville County and Its People: Loose Leaves From The Lost Tribes of North Carolina Ray, Worth S. · 1956

    Part two of Worth S. Ray's 'The Lost Tribes of North Carolina', first issued in 1945: a genealogical miscellany centered on colonial Granville County. Ray gathers the county's first courts, a 1754 muster roll, 1788 taxpayers, marriage bonds and notes from several other counties, with studies of some two dozen families, among them Bennett, Boyd, Harrison, Jones, Knight and Williams. Reissued in Baltimore by the Southern Book Company in 1956.

    Call number NC 929.1 RAY View in OCPL catalog →

The microform cabinet, B on the room plan

Microfilm in the local history room

269 reels in five drawers: local newspapers, federal census returns, and Orange County court, deed, will, marriage and tax records on State Archives film. Search the labels as they read on the boxes, or open a drawer. Each drawer holds four lanes of boxes, listed from the front of the drawer.

Search a title, a record or a year, or open a drawer below.

Drawer 1 Hillsborough Recorder, 1820 to 1888; News of Orange County, 1915 to 1995 53 reels

Lane 1

  1. HILLSBORO / Hillsborough Recorder / March 1, 1820-Dec. 17, 1834 / HiHR 1 / N.C. State Archives
  2. HILLSBORO / Hillsborough Recorder / Jan. 2, 1835-Dec. 22, 1842 / HiHR 2 / N.C. State Archives
  3. HILLSBORO / Hillsborough Recorder / Jan. 5, 184[..]-Dec. 20, 1848 / HiHR 3 / N.C. State Archives
  4. HILLSBORO / Hillsborough Recorder / Jan. 3, 1849-Dec. 20, 1854 / HiHR 4 / N.C. State Archives
  5. HILLSBORO / Hillsborough Recorder / Jan. 3, 1855-Dec. 20, 1860 / HiHR 5 / N.C. State Archives
  6. HILLSBORO / Hillsborough Recorder / Jan. 2, 1861-Dec. 25, 1867 / HiHR 6 / N.C. State Archives
  7. HILLSBORO / Hillsborough Recorder / Jan. 8, 1868-Dec. 26, 1877 / HiHR 7 / N.C. State Archives
  8. Handwritten: "HILLSBORO RECORDER 1878-1888 / DURHAM RECORDER 1878-1888"
  9. Handwritten: "NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY 01/14/1915 - 09/28/1944 / #1 / skips from 1924[?]-1944!"
  10. POSITIVE / Title: News of Orange County / Oct. 5, 1944 thru Dec. 25, 1947 / No. 2 / Date 6/63 / Mann Film Laboratories of Winston-Salem, N. C.
  11. Same form / News of Orange County / Jan. 8, 1948 thru Aug. 31, 1950 / No. 3 / Date JUN 1963 / Mann
  12. Same form / News of Orange County / Sept. 7, 1950 thru April 30, 1953 / No. 4 / Date 6/63 / Mann
  13. Same form / News of Orange County / May 7, 1953 thru Dec. 29, 1955 / No. 5 / Date 6/63 / Mann
  14. Same form / News of Orange County / Jan. 5, 1956 thru Oct. 30, 1958 / No. 6 / Date 6/63 / Mann

Lane 2

  1. POSITIVE / News of Orange County / November 6, 1958 thru July 29, 1960 / No. 7 / Date Oct., 63 / Mann Film Laboratories of Winston-Salem
  2. POSITIVE / News of Orange County / Aug 4, 1960 thru Sept 28, 1961 / No. 8 / (no date) / Mann
  3. POSITIVE / News of Orange County / August 4, 1960 thru September 28, 196[1] / No. 8 / Date Oct., 63 / Mann (second copy of No. 8)
  4. POSITIVE / News of Orange County / Oct. 5, 1961 thru Dec. 27, 1962 / No. 9 / Date 6/63 / Mann
  5. POSITIVE / News of Orange County / January 3, 1963 thru December 23, 1963 / No. 10 / Date 2/64 / Mann
  6. POSITIVE / Orange County News / January 2, 1964 thru December 31, 1964 / No. 11[?] (handwritten) / Date 3/65 / Mann
  7. POSITIVE / Orange County News / January 1, 1965 thru December 31, 1965 / No. 12[?] (handwritten) / Date 1/66 / Mann
  8. POSITIVE / Orange County News / Jan. 6, 1966 thru Dec. 29, 1966 / No. 13 / Mann Film Labs., a subsidiary of Atlantic Microfilm Corp.
  9. POSITIVE / The News of Orange County / Jan. 5, 1967 thru Dec. 28, 1967 / No. 14 / Mann Film Labs. (Atlantic Microfilm)
  10. POSITIVE / News of Orange County / Jan. 4, 1968 thru Dec. 26, 1968 / No. 15 / Mann Film Labs. (Atlantic Microfilm)
  11. POSITIVE / The News of Orange County / January 2, 1969 thru December 23, 1969 / No. 16 / Date 2/70
  12. NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / JAN 1 1970 -- DEC 31 1970 / handwritten "17" / The Forman Co., Monmouth, Ills.
  13. NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / JAN 7 1971 -- DEC 30 1971 / handwritten "18"[?] / The Forman Co., Monmouth, Ills.
  14. HILLSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA / "NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY" / JAN 6 1972 -- DEC 28 1972 / The Forman Co., Monmouth, Ills.

Lane 3

  1. HILLSBOROUGH NC "NEWS ORANGE CO" / JAN 4 1973 ** DEC 27 1973 / The Forman Co., Monmouth, Ills.
  2. HILLSBOROUGH NC "NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY" / JAN 3 1974 ** DEC 26 1974 / The Forman Co., Monmouth, Ills.
  3. Handwritten (blue box): NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 01/2/1975 - 12/25/1975
  4. Handwritten (orange box): NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 01/1985 - 06/1985
  5. Roll No. 891 / Contents: THE NEWS OF ORANGE / JAN 1, 1976 - DEC. 30 1976 (red ink; "Positive" written above)
  6. Handwritten: THE NEWS OF ORANGE / Jan. 6, 1977 - Dec. 29, 1977
  7. Roll No. / Contents (blank) / THE NEWS OF ORANGE / JAN 5, 1978 - DEC 28, 1978
  8. Handwritten slip: NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 01/1979 - 12/1979 / Dup
  9. Film Records box: "News of Orange" / Date: 1/3-12/25 / Dept. 1980 / "Dup." / "N"
  10. Handwritten: NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 01/1981 - 12/1981
  11. Film Records box, typed: NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / JANUARY 1982 THROUGH / DECEMBER 29 1982 / "Positive" struck out, "N" added
  12. Handwritten: News of Orange County / Jan.-Dec., 1983 / Negative
  13. Typed: NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / JANUARY 1984 THROUGH / DECEMBER 26 1984 / "Positive" struck out

Lane 4

  1. Handwritten (orange box): NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 07/1985 - 12/1985
  2. Metal can, handwritten, partly hidden: NEWS OF OR[..] / DUPLICATE / 01/1986
  3. ARCHIVES BOOK BINDERY / THE NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 07/02/86 thru 12/31/86
  4. ARCHIVES BOOK BINDERY / THE NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 01/07/87 thru 12/30/87
  5. ARCHIVES BOOK BINDERY / THE NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 01/06/88 thru 12/28/88
  6. ARCHIVES BOOK BINDERY / THE NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 01/04/89 thru 12/27/89
  7. ARCHIVES BOOK BINDERY / THE NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / JAN,03, 1990 thru DEC. 30, 1990
  8. ARCHIVES BOOK BINDERY / THE NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / JAN1,1991 thru dec.1,1991 (as printed)
  9. ARCHIVES BOOK BINDERY ROLL#1 / THE NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY. / 01/08/92 thru [01/30/92 struck out] 12/30/92 (handwritten)
  10. ARCHIVES BOOK BINDERY ROLL#1 / NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 01/06/93 thru 12/29/93 / MASTER ONLY
  11. ARCHIVES BOOK BINDERY ROLL#1 / NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY 1994 / 01/05/94 thru 12/28/94 / MASTER
  12. ARCHIVES BOOK BINDERY / THE NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / JANUARY 1, 1995 THRU DECEMBER 27, 1995 / ORIGINAL ROLL
Drawer 2 Federal census, 1800 to 1850; News of Orange County, 1996 to 2026 44 reels

Lane 1

  1. National Archives / Call No. 929.9 Mic 43 / Roll No. 3[..] / Population schedules of the second census of the United States, 1800. North Carolina: Hyde, Martin, Northhampton, Orange, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington Counties.
  2. National Archives / Call No. 929.9 Mic 38 / Roll No. 4[..] / Population schedules of the third census of the United States, 1810. North Carolina: Martin, Montgomery, Moore, Nash, Onslow, Orange, Pasquotank, Perquimans, and Pitt Counties.
  3. National Archives / Call No. 929.9 Mic 28 / Roll No. 82 / Population schedules of the fourth census of the United States, 1820. North Carolina: Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Chatham, Greene, Orange, Person, Pitt, Rockingham, Surry and Warren Counties.
  4. National Archives / Call No. 929.9 Mic 37 / Roll No. 12[..] / Population schedules of the fifth census of the United States, 1830. North Carolina: Macon, Montgomery, Northhampton, New Hanover, Nash, Onslow, and Orange Counties.
  5. National Archives / Call No. 929.9 Mic 45 / Roll No. 367 / Population schedules of the sixth census of the United States, 1840. North Carolina: Onslow and Orange Counties.
  6. Handwritten: M432-619 / 1850 CENSUS (FED) - NC / Alamance, Alexander, Anson
  7. Handwritten: M432-623 / 1850 CENSUS (FED.) - NC / Caldwell, Camden, Carteret, Caswell
  8. Handwritten: M432-639 / 1850 CENSUS (Fed.) - NC / Northhampton, Onslow, Orange
  9. Handwritten: M432-640 / 1850 CENSUS (Fed.) - NC / Pasquotank, Perquimans, Person
  10. National Archives / Call No. 929.6 Mic 57 / Roll No. 639 / National Archives Microfilm Publications. Microcopy No. 432 - Population schedules of the Seventh Census of the United States - 1850 - Roll 639 - N. C. - Northhampton, Onslow, and Orange Counties.
  11. National Archives / Call No. 929.9 Mic 16 / Roll No. 639 / Population schedules of the seventh census of the United States, 1850. North Carolina: free schedules, Northhampton, Onslow and Orange Counties.
  12. Handwritten: M432-655 / 1850 CENSUS (Fed.) - NC / Slave Schedules: Orange, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Person, Pitt
  13. National Archives Microfilm Publications / Call No. 929.9 Mic 40 / Roll No. 655 / Population schedules of the seventh census of the United States, 1850, slave schedules. North Carolina: Orange, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Person, Pitt, Randolph, Richmond, Robeson, Rockingham, and Rowan Co[unties].
  14. Handwritten: M432-647 / 1850 CENSUS (Fed) - NC / Union, Wake

Lane 2

  1. Same form / 01/05/2022 - 06/28/2023 / Silver Pos
  2. Same form / 07/05/2023 - 12/25/2024 / Silver Pos
  3. Hillsborough, NC / The News of Orange County / 01/01/2025 - 06/24/2026 / Advantage Archives-Cedar Rapids-IA-Made in the U.S.A. / Silver Pos

Lane 3

  1. Handwritten: NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 01/2007 - 12/2007 / MASTER
  2. THE NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 01/02/2008 THRU 12/31/2008 / REEL # 1 OF 1
  3. THE NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 01/07/2009 THRU 12/30/2009 / REEL # 1 OF 1
  4. THE NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 01/06/2010 THRU 12/29/2010 / REEL # 1 OF 1
  5. THE NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / JANUARY 5, 2011 VOL. 118, NO. 1 THRU OCTOBER 5, 2011 VOL. 118, NO. 40 / Master
  6. THE NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / OCTOBER 12, 2011 VOL. 118, NO. 41 THRU MAY 30, 2012 VOL. 119, NO. 22 / Master
  7. THE NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / JUNE 6, 2012 VOL. 119, NO. 23 THRU NOVEMBER 21, 2012 VOL. 119, NO. 47 / Master
  8. THE NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / NOVEMBER 28, 2012 VOL. 119, NO. 48 THRU DECEMBER 26, 2012 VOL. 119, NO. 52 / Master
  9. Orange County Public Library / Orange_County_Public_Library / FR: 20130102 / TO: 20131225
  10. Hillsborough, NC / The News Of Orange County / 01/01/2014 - 12/30/2015 / Advantage Archives, Silver Pos (gray box)
  11. Same form / 01/06/2016 - 06/28/2017 / Silver Pos
  12. Same form / 07/05/2017 - 12/26/2018 / Silver Pos
  13. Same form / 01/02/2019 - 06/24/2020 / Silver Pos
  14. Hillsborough, NC / The News of Orange County / 07/01/2020 - 12/29/2021 / Advantage Archives, Silver Pos

Lane 4

  1. ARCHIVES BOOK BINDERY / THE NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / JANUARY 3, 1996 THRU [JANUARY 25, struck out] DEC. 1996 (handwritten) / ORIGINAL ROLL
  2. ARCHIVES BINDERY / THE NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / JAN. 1,1997 THRU DEC. 25, 1997 / ORIGINAL ROLL
  3. ARCHIVES BINDERY / NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / JANUARY 7, 1998 THRU DECEMBER 30, 1998 / ORIGINAL ROLL
  4. ARCHIVES BINDERY / NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / JANUARY 6, 1999 THRU DECEMBER 29, 1999 / ORIGINAL ROLL
  5. ARCHIVES BINDERY / NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / JANUARY 6, 2000 THRU DECEMBER 27, 2000 / ORIGINAL ROLL
  6. ARCHIVES BINDERY / NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / JANUARY 3, 2001 THRU DECEMBER 26, 2001 / ORIGINAL ROLL
  7. Handwritten: NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 01/2002 - 12/2002
  8. Handwritten (upside down): NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 01/2003 - 06/2003 (the 06 written over) / ROLL 1 of 2
  9. Handwritten: NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 07/2003 - 12/2003 / ROLL 2 of 2
  10. Handwritten: NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / MASTER / 2004
  11. Handwritten: NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / MASTER / 2005
  12. Handwritten: NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 01/2006 - 06/2006 / MASTER / 1 of 2
  13. Handwritten: NEWS OF ORANGE COUNTY / 07/2006 - 12/2006 / MASTER / 2 of 2
Drawer 3 Federal census, 1850 to 1930; court minutes and dockets; deeds, volumes 1 to 10 51 reels

Lane 1

  1. Minute Docket, S.C. / 1869-1881 Vols. -----. / 30032 / N.C. State Archives
  2. Minute Docket, S.C. / 1867-1897, Vol. -. / 30011 / N.C. State Archives
  3. Minute Docket, S.C. / 1834-1866, Vols. ------. / 30031 / N.C. State Archives
  4. Minute Docket, S.C. / 1807-1833, Vols. -----. / 30030 / N.C. State Archives
  5. Minute Docket, Court of Equity / 1855-1864, Vols. -----. / 30029 / N.C. State Archives
  6. Minute Docket, Court of Equity / 1789-93, 1834-53, Vols. ---. / 30028 / N.C. State Archives
  7. Record of Deeds / 1755-178[5?] (typed end year overwritten in ink), Vols. 1,2. / 40001 / N.C. State Archives; handwritten above: "1755-1783"
  8. Record of Deeds / 1785-1793, Vols. 3,4. / 40002 / N.C. State Archives
  9. Record of Deeds / 1787-1798, Vols. 5,6. / 40003 / N.C. State Archives
  10. Record of Deeds / 1798-1800, Vols. 7,8. / 40004 / N.C. State Archives
  11. Record of Deeds / 1800-1803, Vols. 9,10. / 40005 / N.C. State Archives

Lane 2

  1. "Cross Index to Judgments" (typed and struck out) / Index to Judgments, Liens etc. / 1868-1962 / 30025 / red "13" / N.C. State Archives
  2. County Court Minutes / 1752-1766, Vol. -. / 30001 / N.C. State Archives
  3. County Court Minutes / 1777-1795, Vol. - / 30002 / N.C. State Archives
  4. County Court Minutes / 1795-1804, Vol. -. / 30003 / N.C. State Archives
  5. County Court Minutes / 1805-1814, Vol. -. / 30004 / N.C. State Archives
  6. County Court Minutes / 1815-1826, Vol. -. / 30005 / N.C. State Archives
  7. County Court Minutes / 1826-1835, Vol. -. / 30006 / N.C. State Archives
  8. County Court Minutes / 1836-1847, Vol. -. / 30007 / N.C. State Archives
  9. County Court Minutes / 1847-1856, Vol. -. / 30008 / N.C. State Archives
  10. County Court Minutes / 1854-1861, Vol. -. / 30009 / N.C. State Archives
  11. County Court Minutes / 1863-1868, Vol. -. / 30010 / N.C. State Archives
  12. T626-1726 / North Carolina 1930 Federal Census Counties: Wake (part) Warren (part) / "D" / stamped N. C. COLLECTION (back of the box: Orange County Public Library address)

Lane 3

  1. M593-1162 / North Carolina 1870 Federal Census: Wake (part) County
  2. M593-1163 / North Carolina 1870 Federal Census: Wake (part) County
  3. National Archives / Call No. 929.9 Mic 56 / Microcopy No. T9 / Roll No. (blank) / 10th Census 1880, North Carolina, vol. 16, New Hanover, Northhampton, Onslow - 274-538 - Photographed in Micro-Film Lab., Bureau of Census, Mach. #101.
  4. T9-977 / 1880 CENSUS (FEDERAL); North Carolina: Perquimans, Person, and Pitt (part) Counties
  5. National Archives / Call No. 929.9 Mic 29 / Roll No. 975 / Population schedules of the tenth census of the United States, 1880. North Carolina: Northhampton (part) Onslow, and Orange (part) Counties.
  6. National Archives / Call No. 929.9 Mic 53 / Roll No. 976[?] (a figure written over) / 10th Census 1880 North Carolina, vol. 17 - Orange County, Pasquotank, Pamlico, and Pender, 139-559, Mach. #101.
  7. National Archives / Call No. 929.9 Mic 39 / Roll No. 976 / Population schedules of the tenth census of the United States, 1880. North Carolina: Orange (part), Pamlico, Pasquotank, and Pender Counties.
  8. National Archives / Call No. 929.6 Mic 63 / Microcopy No. T623 / Roll No. (blank) / 12th Census of Population, - 1900 - North Carolina - Vol. 48 - Northhampton Co. E.D. 67 to 80. Bureau of the Census, Microfilm Laboratory. Handwritten addition: "+ OE[?] 127-187[?]"
  9. National Archives / Call No. 929.9 Mic 55 / Microcopy No. T623 / Roll No. (blank) / 12th Census of Population North Carolina, vol. 49, Onslow County, (E.D.'s 79 to 84) Orange County, (E.D.'s 65 to 71)
  10. National Archives / Call No. 929.9 / Microcopy No. T625 / Roll No. 1314 / 14th Census 1920, Census Population North Carolina, Vol. 65, Orange (E.D.'s 174-185), Person Co. (E.D.'s 186-196) Swain Co. (E.D.'s 175-182)
  11. National Archives / Call No. 929.9 / Microcopy No. T624 / Roll No. 1126 / 13th Census 1910, Census of Population North carolina, Vol. 63, Pender Co. (E.D.'s 1-118), Orange Co. (E.D.'s 119-282), Pitt County (E.D.'s 1-284)
  12. T626-1671 / North Carolina 1930 Federal Census Counties: Alamance Alexander (part) / D / N. C. COLLECTION
  13. T626-1711 / North Carolina 1930 Federal Census Counties: Northampton (part) Onslow Orange Pamlico (part) / D / N. C. COLLECTION
  14. T626-1725 / North Carolina 1930 Federal Census County: Wake (part) / D / N. C. COLLECTION

Lane 4

  1. Handwritten slip: M432-650 / 1850 CENSUS (FED.) NC / Slave Schedules: Alamance, Alexander, Anson, Ashe, Beaufort
  2. Handwritten slip over a printed label: M432-651 / 1860[?] census (Fed.) - NC / Slave Schedules: Carteret, Caswell, Catawba, Chatham, Cherokee. The printed label underneath reads "M432-65[..] / 1850 CE[..] / Slave S[..] / Catawba".
  3. M653-886 / North Carolina 1860 Federal Census, Free Schedules: Alamance, Alexander, and Alleghany Counties
  4. M653-891 / North Carolina 1860 Federal Census, Free Schedules: Caswell and Catawba Counties
  5. National Archives / Call No. 929.9 Mic 44 / Roll No. 908 / Population schedules of the eighth census of the United States, 1860. North Carolina: Northhampton, Onslow, and Orange Counties.
  6. National Archives / Call No. 929.9 Mic64 / Roll No. 908 / Population Schedules of the Eight Census of the United States, 1860, roll 908 - N C, vol 12 (1-628), Northhampton, Onslow, and Orange Counties
  7. M653-909 / North Carolina 1860 Federal Census, Free Schedules: Pasquotank, Perquimans, and Person Counties
  8. M653-916 / North Carolina 1860 Federal Census, Free Schedules: Wake and Warren Counties
  9. National Archives / Call No. 929.9 Mic 41 / Roll No. 925 / Population schedules of the eighth census of the United States, 1860, slave schedules North Carolina: New Hanover, Northhampton, Onslow, Orange, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Person, Pitt, Polk, and Randolph Counties.
  10. M593-1121 / North Carolina 1870 Federal Census: Alamance, Alexander, and Alleghany Counties
  11. M593-1128 / North Carolina 1870 Federal Census: Caswell and Catawba Counties
  12. National Archives / Call No. 929.6 Mic 54 / Roll No. 1153 / National Archives Microfilm Publications. Population schedules of the Ninth Census of the U. S. 1870 - Roll 1153 - N. C. - Vol. 17, (1-328A), Onslow and Orange Counties.
  13. National Archives / Call No. 929.9 Mic 42 / Roll No. 1153 / Population schedules of the ninth census of the United States, 1870. North Carolina: Onslow and Orange Counties.
  14. M593-1154 / North Carolina 1870 Federal Census: Pasquotank, Perquimans, and Person Counties
Drawer 4 Deeds, volumes 11 to 40, and deed indexes; wills; marriage records 56 reels

Lane 1

  1. Marriage Licenses (16MM) / 1866-1875 / 60003 / N.C. State Archives (lid open; the same number as the Marriage Bonds reel in row 2)
  2. Negro Cohabitation Certificates / 1866-1868, Vols. -----. / 60014 / N.C. State Archives
  3. Marriage Record, 1851-66, vol. 1, Marriage Register, White, 1867-72, Vol. 2. Colored, 1867-72, Vol. 2 (cont'd) / 60001 / N.C. State Archives
  4. Record of Wills / 1752-1795, Vols. A,B. / 80001 / N.C. State Archives
  5. Record of Wills / 1794-1822, Vols. C,D. / 80002 / N.C. State Archives
  6. Record of Wills / 1822-1851, Vols. E,F. / 80003 / N.C. State Archives
  7. Record of Wills / 1851-1893, Vols. G,H. / 80004 / N.C. State Archives
  8. White replacement box: Orange County / Wills, Record of / 1893-1929 / Vol: I, J / C.073.80005
  9. Index to Wills, 1756-1961, Vols. 1,2,3, Index to Wills, Devisor & Devisee 1961-1962, Vols. A-Z. / 80011 / N.C. State Archives
  10. Administrators Bonds / 1868-1913 / 50004 / N.C. State Archives
  11. Appointment of Executors / 1870-1915 / 50010 / N.C. State Archives
  12. Guardian Bonds / 1868-1899 / 50012 / N.C. State Archives

Lane 2

  1. Marriage Bonds / 1752-1868, Vols. A-Ba-Bra / 60002
  2. Marriage Bonds / 1752-1868, Vols. Bra-Com / 60003
  3. Marriage Bonds / 1752-1868, Vols. Con-Gw / 60004
  4. Marriage Bonds / 1752-1868, Vols. Ha-How-I / 60005
  5. Marriage Bonds / 1752-1868, Vols. Ja-Lyons / 60006
  6. Marriage Bonds / 1752-1868, Vols. Mc-Mu-O / 60007
  7. Marriage Bonds / 1752-1868, Vols. Pa-Rob / 60008
  8. Marriage Bonds / 1752-1868, Vols. Roc-Ta / 60009
  9. Marriage Bonds / 1752-1868, Vols. Te-Wa / 60010
  10. Marriage Bonds / 1752-1868, Vols. We-Z / 60011
  11. Marriage Licenses / 1866-1868, 1 Vol. / 62001
  12. Marriage Licenses / 1879-1891, Vol. - / 62002
  13. Marriage Licenses / 1892-1903, Vol. - / 62003
  14. Marriage Licenses / 1906-1920, Vol. - / 62004
  15. Marriage Licenses / 1921-1937, Vol. - / 62005
  16. Marriage Licenses / 1938-1948, Vol. - / 62006
  17. Marriage Licenses / 1949-1959, Vol. - / 62007
  18. Marriage Licenses / 1960-1962, Vol. - / 62008

Lane 3

  1. Record of Deeds / 1862-1869, Vols. 37,38. / 40019 / N.C. State Archives
  2. Record of Deeds / 1869-1872, Vols. 39,40. / 40020 / N.C. State Archives
  3. Index to Deeds-Grantor / 1755-1962 Vols. A,B,Ca-Cl,Co-Cz,D-E. / 40201 / N.C. State Archives
  4. Index to Deeds-Grantor / 1755-1962, Vols. F-G,H,I-K,L / 40202 / N.C. State Archives
  5. Index to Deeds-Grantor / 1755-1962, Vols. M,N-Q,R,Sa-Sl,Sm-Sz. / 40203 / N.C. State Archives
  6. Index to Deeds-Grantor / 1755-1962, Vols. T-Z,W. / 40204 / N.C. State Archives
  7. Index to Deeds-Grantee / 1755-1962, Vols. A,Ba-Bl,Ca-Cl,Co-Cz,D-E,F-G,H (the H added in red) / 40205 / N.C. State Archives
  8. Index to Deeds -Grantee / 1755-1962, Vols. I-K,L,M,N-Q,R,S. / 40206 / N.C. State Archives
  9. Index to Deeds-Grantee / 1755-1962, Vols. T-Z,W. / 40207 / N.C. State Archives
  10. Index to Mortgages & Deeds of Trust-Grantor / 1870-1962 A-G / 40208 / red "46" / N.C. State Archives
  11. Index to Mortgages & Deeds of Trust-Grantor / 1870-1962 H-Z / 40209 / red "47" / N.C. State Archives
  12. Index to Mortgages & Deeds of Trust-Grantee / 1870-1962 A-M / 40210 / red "48" / N.C. State Archives
  13. Index to Mortgages & Deeds of Trust-Grantee / 1870-1962 N-Z / 40211 / red "49" / N.C. State Archives

Lane 4

  1. Record of Deeds / 1803-1807, Vols. 11,12. / 40006 / N.C. State Archives
  2. Record of Deeds / 1807-1815, Vols. 13,14. / 40007 / N.C. State Archives
  3. Record of Deeds / 1815-1818, Vols. 15,16. / 40008 / N.C. State Archives
  4. Record of Deeds / 1818-1821, Vols. 17,18. / 40009 / N.C. State Archives
  5. Record of Deeds / 1821-1824, Vols. 19,20. / 40010 / N.C. State Archives
  6. Record of Deeds / 1824-1828, Vols. 21,22. / 40011 / N.C. State Archives
  7. Record of Deeds / 1827-1832, Vols. 23,24. / 40012 / N.C. State Archives
  8. Record of Deeds / 1831-1836, Vols. 25,26. / 40013 / N.C. State Archives
  9. Record of Deeds / 1836-1840, Vols. 27,28. / 40014 / N.C. State Archives
  10. Record of Deeds / 1836-1844, Vols. 29,30. / 40015 / N.C. State Archives
  11. Record of Deeds / 1843-1847, Vols. 31,32. / 40016 / N.C. State Archives
  12. Record of Deeds / 1841-1856, Vols. 33,34. / 40017 / N.C. State Archives
  13. Record of Deeds / 1856-1862, Vols. 35,36. / 40018 / N.C. State Archives
Drawer 5 Estates, tax lists, the poor, county commissioners, Board of Education, WPA cemetery index, Confederate records 65 reels

Lane 1

  1. Record of Settlement / 1868-1907 / 50026
  2. Guardian Accounts / 1819-1853, Vols. ------. / 50040
  3. Guardian Accounts / 1853-1910, Vols. ------. / 50041
  4. Inventories, Sales and Accounts of Estates / 1758-1785,1800-1809, Vols. ----. / 50048
  5. Inventories and Sales and Accounts of Estates / 1808-1816, Vols. I,II,III. / 50049
  6. Inventories and Sales and Accounts of Estates / 1816-1823, Vols. -----. / 50050
  7. Inventories, Sales and Accounts of Estates / 1823-1830, Vols. -------. / 50051
  8. Inventories , Sales and Accounts of Estates / 1830-1834, Vols. -----. (handwritten above: "1834-1836") / 50052
  9. Inventories, Sales and Accounts of Estates / 1837-1845, Vols. ----. / 50053
  10. Inventories, Sales and Accounts of Estates / 1845-1848, Vols. -----. / 50054
  11. Inventories, Sales and Accounts of Estates / 1849-1856, Vols. -----. / 50055
  12. Inventories, Sales and Accounts of Estates / 1856-1865, Vols. -----. / 50056
  13. Inventories, Sales and Accounts of Estates / 1865-1880, Vols. -------. / 50057

Lane 2

  1. Equity Partitions / 1859-1938, Vols. -,2,3. / 30019
  2. Inventories, Sales and ACCOUNTS of Estates / 1874-1912 / C.073. 50058 / red "63"
  3. Tax List / 1779 / handwritten "A-" / 70001
  4. Tax List / 1780-1781, 1782-1783. / 70002
  5. Tax Scroll / 1866-1915, Vols. -------. / 70008
  6. List of Taxables / 1780-1783, Vols. 1,2. / 70009
  7. List of Taxables / 1784-1793, Vols. 3,4. / 70010
  8. List of Taxables / 1794-1827, Vols. 5,6. / 70011
  9. Orders and Decrees / 1868-1875, Vols. 1,2. / 90017
  10. Orders and Decrees / 1875-1906, Vols. 3,4. / 90018
  11. Wardens of the Poor / 1832-1856, Vols. -----. / 90043
  12. Wardens of the Poor Proceedings / 1856-1879, Vols. ----. / 90044
  13. Poor House Book / 1842-1868, Vols. -----. / 90045

Lane 3

  1. Minutes, Board of County Commissioners / 1868-1886 / Vol: A, B / C.073.93001
  2. Minutes, Board of County Commissioners / 1886-1920 (a purple stamp beside it, unreadable) / Vol: -, -, -, 2 / C.073.93002
  3. Minutes, Board of County Commissioners / 1921-1936 / Vol: 3, 4 / C.073.93003
  4. Minutes, Board of Education / 1872-1962 / Vol: 4 vols. / C.073.94001
  5. Z.3.19 / Begin: Alice (rest hidden)
  6. Z.3.20 / Begin: Aubert, Mrs. Bertha L.
  7. Z.3.21 / Begin: Black (Infant)
  8. Z.3.22 / Begin: Brown, A. J.
  9. Z.3.23 / Begin: Crotts, Annie Trexler
  10. Z.3.24 / Begin: Clark, Robert K.
  11. Z.3.25 / Begin: Durham, Addie
  12. Z.3.26 / Begin: Fowlkes, Amanda Malvin[a?]
  13. Z.3.27 / Begin: Gribble (Infant)
  14. Z.3.28 / Begin: Herrell, Enoch
  15. Z.3.29 / Begin: [..] (hidden; the End line seems to read "Kyle[?]")
  16. Z.3.30 / Begin: L. A.[?], End: McColum, Fannie[?]
  17. Z.3.31 / Begin: McComb, John
  18. Z.3.32 / Begin: Maye (Infant)
  19. Z.3.33 / Begin: Nadal, Edward Morse
  20. Z.3.34 / Begin: Pifer, Henry
  21. Z.3.35 / Begin: Robertson, A. B., Dr.
  22. Z.3.36 / Begin: Skinner, D. L.

Lane 4

  1. ARCHIVES & HISTORY / N.C. Troops / Vol. I, 1861-1865 (ARTILLERY) / Mic. 60 NC 975.6 N / S.8. 164 / N.C. State Archives
  2. ARCHIVES & HISTORY / N.C. Troops / Vol. II (CAVALRY) / Mic. 61 NC 975.6 N / S.8. 185 / N.C. State Archives
  3. ARCHIVES & HISTORY / N.C. Troops, A Roster / Vol. III (INFANTRY) / Mic. 62 NC 975.6 N / S.8. 188 / N.C. State Archives
  4. [ARC]HIVES & HISTORY / [N.]C. Troops / [V]ol. IV (INFANTRY) / Mic. 63 NC 975.6 N / S.8. 191 / N.C. State Archives
  5. M270-323 / Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina: 26th Infantry A - Bo
  6. M270-324 / Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina: 26th Infantry Br - Cl
  7. M270-325 / Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina: 26th Infantry Co - E
  8. M270-326 / Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina: 26th Infantry F - Hi
  9. M270-327 / Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina: 26th Infantry Ho - K
  10. M270-328 / Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina: 26th Infantry L - Mc
  11. M270-329 / Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina: 26th Infantry Me - P
  12. M270-330 / Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina: 26th Infantry R - Sm
  13. M270-331 / Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina: 26th Infantry Sn - T
  14. M270-332 / Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina: 26th Infantry U - Z
  15. M270-6 / Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina: 1st Cavalry (9th State Troops) J - Ma / D
  16. M270-553 / Compiled Service Records ... North Carolina: 62d Infantry O - S[?] (bottom line cut off) / D
  17. ARCHIVES AND HISTORY, DIV. OF HIST. / Publications. Records of the Moravians in N.C. Vol. IX / S.8. 192 / N.C. State Archives

Labels are transcribed as printed or handwritten on the boxes, photographed in October 2026; [?] marks an uncertain reading and [..] a word that could not be read. Boxes get moved, so a reel may sit a place or two from where it is listed. The room’s research computer has a microfilm reader and scanner. Each entry in the county court minutes names the reel its minute book is on.

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 → Ask a librarian Get research help Local History Help Hours at the Main Library, or contact the Local History Liaison with a research question. 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 →

Research guides → Step-by-step guides for researching a house, a family, a school or a newspaper story here, and what to bring when you ask for help.

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