James John Freeland

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 24 dated events in the chronology →

1. 1934 James J. Freeland moves to Hillsborough Born in Durham in 1918, Freeland came to Hillsborough in 1934. In his early years there he operated the Sunny Side Inn, a barbecue restaurant, worked part time at a sawmill and helped run a dry cleaning plant in West Hillsborough. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 20
2. 1942 James J. Freeland builds his first house at US 70 and Faucette Mill Road Three years after marrying Maxine Hayes, Freeland built the family's first home where Highway 70 crosses Faucette Mill Road, next to land that became the Fairview subdivision the following year. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 20
3. 1943 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. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 24
4. 1950s and 1960s James J. Freeland develops Mountain View and Colonial Hills east of Hillsborough Freeland laid out two small subdivisions of Minimal Traditional and Ranch houses on curving streets: Mountain View, beside the Eno on its north side at Highway 70 Business, where the family built its second house, and Colonial Hills, off Lawrence Road close to Highway 70A. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 20
5. 1950s James J. Freeland develops a small group of houses on Daye Street Moving beyond single houses, Freeland laid out a small development along Daye Street northwest of Fairview, where tax records show he owned the land. He was known for selling homes to families who could not otherwise buy, with no down payment and a second mortgage instead. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 20
6. 1952 James and Maxine Freeland open the Ja-Max Motor Lodge on US 70 Named for its owners, the long one-story motel northwest of town on the main Greensboro-Durham road let guests park at their own doors, and its hipped roof, stone veneer and horizontal-pane windows borrow from the Ranch house. It was probably the first of Freeland's motels, a string that later ran to Durham, Mebane and Roxboro and included Chapel Hill's Tar Heel Motel. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 20
7. October 1952 Fairview Baptist Church is organized in Hillsborough Fairview Baptist Church was organized in Hillsborough in October 1952 under pastor James Clegg and put up a 250-seat building that year. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 302
8. 1953 Hillsborough Heights is laid out, with a street named for James J. Freeland The African American neighborhood on Terrell, Central, Forrest, Coley and Freeland streets, below US 70 on the west side of North Nash Street, was laid out in the 1950s. Its Freeland Street was named for the builder, who probably put up houses there. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 38
9. 1960 James Freeland builds the General Joseph E. Johnston Motel at US 70 and Interstate 85 Builder James Freeland put up the General Joseph E. Johnston Motel on US 70 near the new Interstate 85, part of a roadside group with his ice rink and, across the highway, the General Sherman Restaurant. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · DigitalNC: The News of Orange County, December 8, 1960, p. 12
10. 1960s James J. Freeland develops Holiday Park with a swimming pool In the 1960s Freeland built Holiday Park northwest of town, a development with its own pool and other amenities; some of its houses were former Eno Mill village houses moved to the site. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 21
11. 1960s James J. Freeland remodels and sells the Colonial Inn Freeland, who also restored and moved old buildings, owned the Colonial Inn on West King Street for a time and remodeled it before selling it in the 1960s. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 21
12. December 1960 James Freeland opens his rebuilt Holiday Ice Rink beside the General Johnston Motel James Freeland opened a new 65 by 180 foot Holiday Ice Rink on US 70 three miles west of Durham, replacing a rink whose roof had caved in under snow the winter before. It stood next to his new General Johnston Motel. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · DigitalNC: The News of Orange County, December 8, 1960, p. 12
13. early 1961 James Freeland's General Sherman Restaurant opens at US 70 and Interstate 85 The General Sherman Restaurant, built by James Freeland across the highway from his General Johnston Motel, opened around the clock and was billed as Orange County's newest. It became a common place for Democratic Party dinners and club luncheons in the early 1960s. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · DigitalNC: The News of Orange County, March 2, 1961, p. 6
14. February 24, 1961 Orange County's fourth ABC store opens at US 70 and Interstate 85 Orange County's fourth and largest ABC liquor store opened beside the General Sherman Restaurant, half a mile from the Durham County line. James Freeland built the colonial-style building and leased it to the county board; it was said to be the only ABC store in North Carolina on an interstate highway. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · DigitalNC: The News of Orange County, February 23, 1961, p. 3
15. September 27, 1962 James J. Freeland's Dixie Motor Inn opens at Interstate 85 and NC 86 The Dixie Motor Inn, owned by James J. and James Rae Freeland, opened two miles south of Hillsborough where Interstate 85 meets NC 86. It had 16 air-conditioned units and was the sixth motel the elder Freeland had built in Orange, Durham and Wake counties. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · DigitalNC: News of Orange County, September 27, 1962, p. 2
16. 1964 James J. Freeland builds his third family house on Highway 70 After homes near Fairview and in his Mountain View development, Freeland built the family's third house in 1964 on Highway 70 a little northwest of that subdivision, and lived there the rest of his life. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 20
17. by 1966 James J. Freeland opens the Daniel Boone Inn and restaurant at South Churton Street and I-85 A 1966 plat of the "Daniel Boone Inn and Restaurant Tract", eleven acres lying behind the Shell station on the northeast side of the interchange, shows a pond, a general store, a restaurant later known as the D. B. Cafeteria and a long two-story motel. It was the start of Daniel Boone Village. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 21
18. 1970s James J. Freeland remodels the William Whitted House on East Queen Street In the 1970s Freeland remodeled the William Whitted House, one of several historic Hillsborough buildings he restored or moved. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 21
19. by 1972 Daniel Boone Village grows into an amusement park By 1972 the Daniel Boone Recreation Park had a roller rink, an ice rink, a ski lift, a refrigerated toboggan slide, an antique car and wax museum, a fort, an amphitheater and a campground, circled by a small railroad on which costumed performers staged holdups. With relocated log cabins and false-front shops it looked like a frontier town, and Freeland was dubbed the "Walt Disney of Hillsborough." People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 21
20. late 1970s The Daniel Boone amusement park closes and Boone Square replaces its north end By the end of the 1970s the rides were gone, leaving only the campground, ice rink and amphitheater, and the northern part of the property was rebuilt as the Boone Square shopping center; a big-box supermarket stood on the ride site by 1983. Daniel Boone Village became a center for antique shops and restaurants, with the Big Barn Convention Center for community events. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 22
21. 1978 James J. Freeland moves the Gatewood House from Yanceyville to Daniel Boone Village Continuing his habit of relocating old buildings to his South Churton Street development, Freeland brought the Gatewood House from Yanceyville in Caswell County to Daniel Boone Village in 1978. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 21
22. 1981 James J. Freeland moves Poplar Hill across the Eno to South Cameron Street Freeland, who had moved the Gatewood House in 1978, had the Poplar Hill house hauled over the Eno River from Tuscarora Drive to a new lot at 203 South Cameron Street, just south of Burnside, on the north side of the river. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District, National Register additional documentation (2014), section 7, p. 20
23. 1989 James J. Freeland dies The Hillsborough builder, motel owner and developer of Daniel Boone Village died in 1989 at the Highway 70 house he had built in 1964. His children kept Daniel Boone Village and Boone Square. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 22
24. September 13, 2017 The Hillsborough survey proposes the Ja-Max Motor Lodge for the state Study List The survey report recommended the 1952 motel on US 70 for North Carolina's National Register Study List as one of the town's few surviving mid-century motels. It cited the eleven rooms, each with its own bath and parking at the door, the lamp-lined drive, and Ranch-house features rarely used on a commercial building, and proposed a 2.87-acre boundary. The National Register Advisory Committee added the motel to the Study List on October 12, 2017. People: James John FreelandSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 41