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Searched the full chronology of 6,171 dated events and 63 storylines, not only the highlights. Showing 1–17.Back to highlights
Entries
Early twentieth century · 1900–1944
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Fairview is platted as a neighborhood for Black families north of US 70
The first of Hillsborough's mid-century African American subdivisions was laid out in 1943 along roads that were already there, with twenty-five-foot lots meant to be bought in combination. Local builder James J. Freeland, who owned land in Fairview, built many of its houses.
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James Freeland opens the Fairview Bowling Alley in Hillsborough
James Freeland opened the Fairview Bowling Alley in a building he put up himself, casting the cinder blocks and laying the concrete floor. It opened with three duckpin alleys and room for a tenpin lane.
Civil rights era · 1945–1975
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Bowling alley owner James Freeland knocks out a Black man who asked to bowl
Lorenzo Thompson, a Black man, came into the Fairview Bowling Alley late at night, said he had bowled up north and would not leave when told he could not bowl. Owner James Freeland knocked him unconscious and dragged him outside, and Thompson needed stitches.
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James Freeland opens a barbecue pit behind his Fairview Bowling Alley
James Freeland opened a barbecue pit behind the Fairview Bowling Alley and began serving barbecue every day. As with the alley, he built most of it himself.
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Fire destroys the barbecue pit at Dud's Tavern near Hillsborough
A Monday afternoon fire destroyed the barbecue pit building and its contents at Dud's Tavern, with damage put at $1,800. The fire had gained too much headway by the time the Hillsborough fire department reached it.
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Matthew Strum takes over Dud's Tavern
Dud's Tavern advertised that it was under the new ownership and management of Matthew Strum, offering home-cooked food along with gas, oil and auto service.
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Dud's Tavern reopens after a July fire
Mr. and Mrs. Dud Walters thanked the Hillsborough and Mebane fire departments for helping save Dud's Tavern from a July fire and announced that business would resume on Sunday, August 1.
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The Fairview Extension is platted and filled with look-alike Ranch houses
The south end of Fairview, west of North Nash Street and south of US 70, was platted in 1959. Its houses are three variations on one Ranch design that differ only in their outside materials, which suggests they were built on speculation.
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The Gormleys take over Dud's Tavern as Gormley's Truck Stop and Restaurant
Mr. and Mrs. L. H. Gormley, who had run the Castle Steak House in Durham, took over Dud's Tavern on Highway 70 and advertised it as Gormley's Truck Stop and Restaurant.
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Dud Walters reopens his old tavern as Dud's Fish House
J. Dud Walters and his wife reopened the former Dud's Tavern and Truck Stop after renovations as Dud's Fish House and Restaurant, serving fish and seafood with curb service and take-home orders.
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A government grant paves Fairview's streets and repairs its houses
Fairview, then outside the town and known to residents as a mud hole with bad septic systems and no paved streets or streetlights, had its streets paved in the 1970s with a government grant, which also paid to repair houses that lacked indoor plumbing.
Recent decades · 1976–2026
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Hillsborough annexes "Northern Fairview"
The June 1988 annexation took in nearly 150 acres, including much of the town's mid-century African American housing north of US 70. It brought town services but also higher taxes, which angered some residents.
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A tornado strikes Fairview, killing two people and destroying 29 houses
The 1992 tornado was probably the largest physical change to the neighborhood after its streets were paved. Rebuilding the lost houses renewed residents' sense of community and drew town attention and new infrastructure.
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Fairview residents build a baseball field on a former dump
Residents built a ball field on the site of an old dump in 1999 and started a league to use it. For a decade it and a set of swings were about all Fairview Park had.
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A police substation with community services opens in Fairview
In 2002 a police substation, shared with other community programs, opened on Rainey Street.
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UNC public health students complete a community study of Fairview
After interviewing residents in 2001 and 2002, students in the UNC Department of Health Behavior and Health Education issued an action-oriented community diagnosis of Fairview. It is one of the few written histories of Hillsborough's northern Black neighborhoods.
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Work begins on improvements to Fairview Park
Construction started in 2009 on parking, playgrounds, picnic shelters and basketball courts at the park, which had until then been little more than the residents' ball field.
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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 1, 2026.
