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Orange County Indexed

Chronology

Key events from Orange County history: 100 highlights to start, then the full chronology of 6,171 dated events and 63 storylines, each connected to the index. A storyline gathers many dated events into one history, such as the Regulator crisis.

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8 dated events match your filters.

Searched the full chronology of 6,171 dated events and 63 storylines, not only the highlights. Showing 1–8.Back to highlights

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8 dated events
1805Antebellum and Civil War
  1. Antebellum and Civil War · 1800–1865
  2. A brick house is built on West Queen Street for Rhody Berry, mother of builder John Berry

    Construction or physical change · Berry Brick House, 208 West Queen Street, Hillsborough

    The one-and-a-half-story Federal house, the oldest surviving brick dwelling in the original town, was built about 1805 for Mrs. Rhody Berry. Tradition credits her son John Berry, but he was seven that year, and the 2014 nomination suggests neighbor Samuel Hancock, the brickmason who later became his partner.

    People: Samuel Hancock

    Subject: Berry Brick House

  3. The Hillsborough Presbyterian Church is built on the old St. Matthew's church lot with lottery money

    Construction or physical change · Hillsborough Presbyterian Church, 102 West Tryon Street, Hillsborough

    The brick church on West Tryon Street was built in 1815 and 1816 near the site of the colonial St. Matthew's church, lost in the 1790s, with money raised by a lottery the state authorized. The brickmasons John Berry and Samuel Hancock are credited with the work.

    People: John Berry · Samuel Hancock

    Subject: Hillsborough Presbyterian Church

  4. Samuel Hancock buys lots near the Eno for a brickyard

    Hillsborough

    With a $50 loan from Dr. James Webb, brickmason Samuel Hancock bought lots near the Eno River for a brickyard, which became known as the Webb-Hancock brickyard. Webb's 1842 bankruptcy papers say the two men ran it as partners.

    People: James Webb

  5. Brickmason Samuel Hancock joins the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church he helped build

    Hillsborough

    Samuel Hancock joined the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church on November 17, 1821, five years after his wife Susan. He rented a pew and gave toward the pastor's salary and a bell.

    Subject: Hillsborough Presbyterian Church

  6. James S. Smith's building commission starts Hillsborough's brick Masonic Hall

    Construction or physical change · Hillsborough, Masonic Hall (Eagle Lodge)

    In July 1823 commissioners James S. Smith, Thomas Clancy and J. P. Sneed advertised in the Hillsborough Recorder for proposals to build a brick Masonic Hall in the town. The cornerstone was laid on November 23, 1823, for the Greek Revival hall designed by William Nichols and built by local brickmasons John Berry and Samuel Hancock.

    People: John Berry · William Nichols · Samuel Hancock

    Subject: Eagle Lodge

  7. The cornerstone of Eagle Lodge's Masonic hall is laid on West King Street

    Construction or physical change · Eagle Lodge, 142 West King Street, Hillsborough

    The cornerstone of the brick Masonic hall at 142 West King Street, designed by state architect William Nichols and believed built by brickmasons John Berry and Samuel Hancock, was laid on November 23, 1823. The lot was deeded to the lodge in 1824 after the building went up.

    People: John Berry · William Nichols · Samuel Hancock

    Subject: Eagle Lodge

  8. John Berry and Samuel Hancock build St. Matthew's Episcopal Church to William Nichols's design

    Construction or physical change · St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, 210 St. Mary's Road, Hillsborough

    St. Matthew's, an early Gothic Revival church of Flemish-bond brick, was built in 1825-1826 by the local masons John Berry and Samuel Hancock to a design by William Nichols, who set its size at 35 by 45 feet. It replaced an earlier church at Churton and West Tryon streets that had burned in 1793.

    People: William Nichols · Samuel Hancock

    Subject: St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church

  9. Samuel Hancock goes bankrupt and Dr. James Webb buys his house and the enslaved man Abram

    Hillsborough

    In 1834 Samuel Hancock went bankrupt. Dr. James Webb bought the Hancocks' house and lot, their furniture and Abram, a man they enslaved, and rented all of them back to Hancock for $1 a year.

    People: James Webb

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A dated event is a fact, filed on the page of the subject it belongs to: a person, a place, a theme, or a named event or history. Pages are subjects, with their own works and sources; the Place, community, or institution filter also gathers the institutions that recur in the entries without a page of their own. The page opens on the highlights; a search or any filter looks through every dated event and storyline, and each filter’s counts say how many entries choosing it would show alongside the others. A storyline is a longer history that gathers related dated events, and each storyline’s page lists its own. Counts give dated events and storylines separately. Dates come from the sources named on the cards and from the index’s event pages; where sources disagree, the card follows the county records. Entries marked approximate or needing research say so on the card; the rest were checked against the source named on it. The correction link under the entries opens the contact form; name the entry and its date and the Friends will check the source. Suggest an event →

Compiled and maintained by the Friends of the Orange County Public Library from county records, the sources named on each card, and the index’s event pages. Last updated October 2, 2026.

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