Skip to content
Orange County Public Library (opens the library’s website in a new tab)

Natural feature in Orange County

Cane Creek

A tributary of the Haw River in western Orange County, dammed in 1989 for the Cane Creek Reservoir after a long fight between OWASA and the valley’s farm families.

Source: NCpedia, North Carolina Gazetteer

22 works about Cane Creek are indexed here.

Common subjects in works about Cane Creek

Cane Creek Reservoir and Bingham TownshipWater for the towns: University Lake, the 1976–77 drought, and OWASAEno & EnvironmentGrowth, Land & PlanningCommunity & Civic OrganizationsFarms & Rural LifeBlack Life & Civil RightsFamilies, Land & Genealogy
Search these works Research sources View indexed works ↓

In the chronology

Storylines about Cane Creek, in date order. Each has its own page.

StorylineNaming the father: bastardy bonds and support awards in the county court, 1784–18181784–1818 · 34 events · When a single woman in Orange County had a child, the bastardy law aimed to keep the child from becoming a charge on the county: the man she named as father gave a bond and could be ordered to pay support, called the usual allowance of £27 by 1796. From 1784 to 1818 the county court took these bonds, set awards, sent for men who resisted and let juries decide when a man denied it. Some women gave the bond themselves, mothers sued to collect, the court sometimes paid others to keep a child, and some named men married the mother within days. StorylineFriends meetings and children born outside marriage, 1799–18281799–1828 · 7 events · The Friends meetings at Cane Creek and Spring held members to account for children born outside marriage, sometimes after the same cases had come before the county justices. In 1799 the Cane Creek women disowned Elizabeth Wells, who had named the father to Orange justices in October 1798, and in April 1803 accepted her written acknowledgment. The Spring women issued a testimony against Rachel Jackson in 1800, and Cane Creek one against Miriam Lamb in 1805. In December 1816 the Spring meeting disowned James Jackson after he was lawfully charged as a father. The disownings of Anna E. Culbertson in 1825 and Elizabeth Marshall in June 1828 close the run. StorylineThe Farmers' Alliance in Orange County, 1887–18951887–1895 · 16 events · Orange County farmers began organizing in 1887 and within a year had joined the Farmers' Alliance. Bingham Township farmers formed a club at Oaks that June, and in September an Orange County Club organized under Alex. McIver, though small attendance soon led it to put off a farmers' institute. After the Alliance's state organizer spoke at Hillsborough in March 1888, chapters formed quickly, and on May 18 delegates created the County Alliance under Sheriff John Knox Hughes. It opened an exchange in Hillsborough in 1890 and in 1891 endorsed the sub-treasury plan and all the Alliance demands. In 1893 a county committee called a bill to repeal the State Alliance charter a scheme to destroy the order. StorylineCane Creek Reservoir and Bingham Township1961 to 1989 · 65 events · From the first engineering studies of 1961 to the filling of the reservoir in 1989: OWASA's Cane Creek Reservoir, the watershed land purchases, and the Bingham Township farm families displaced.

Other dated events here, in date order. See these 106 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Cane Creek Monthly Meeting disowns Herman Husband The Quakers of Cane Creek Monthly Meeting disowned Herman Husband for openly criticizing the meeting's grant of a certificate of removal to Rachel Wright, a member who had committed some disorder. People: Herman Husband Also named: Rachel WrightSearch the index · Internet Archive: Archibald Henderson, ed., "Hermon Husband's Continuation of the Impartial Relation", North Carolina Historical Review 18 (1941), p. 57
  2. Cane Creek Baptist Church is organized Thomas Cates and members of the Cates family organized Cane Creek Baptist Church, the oldest Baptist church on the chapter's list. It later planted Antioch and Mars Hill churches. Also named: Thomas Cates, Richard Cates, Joseph Cates, Bernard Cates, Robert CatesSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 300
  3. The Cane Creek women's meeting disowns Elizabeth Wells The Cane Creek Women's Meeting of Friends disowned Elizabeth Wells for having a child while unmarried. In October 1798 she had named Thomas Crayton of Randolph County as the father before Orange justices, and her daughter Margaret was born on 8 December. Also named: Elizabeth Wells, Thomas CraytonSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Natural Child: Legitimacy, Sexuality and Shame in the Court Records of Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  4. The Cane Creek women's meeting accepts Elizabeth Wells's acknowledgment Elizabeth Wells, disowned four years earlier, gave the Cane Creek Women's Meeting a written offering condemning her past conduct, which the meeting received as satisfaction. Also named: Elizabeth WellsSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Natural Child: Legitimacy, Sexuality and Shame in the Court Records of Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  5. Cane Creek Friends read out a testimony against Miriam Lamb In April 1805 (fourth month) the Cane Creek preparative meeting complained of Miriam Lamb for having a child while unmarried. The women's meeting signed a testimony against her in May, the monthly meeting approved it, and Joseph Hill was appointed to read it out at the close of a meeting for worship at Cane Creek, which was reported done in June. Also named: Miriam Lamb, Joseph Hill, Ann HillSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Natural Child: Legitimacy, Sexuality and Shame in the Court Records of Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  6. Cane Creek Baptists organize the Haw River Mountain Church, later Antioch Cane Creek Baptist Church set up a new congregation called Haw River Mountain Church, which moved in 1830 and became Antioch Baptist Church. Also mentions: Antioch Baptist Church, Cane Creek Baptist ChurchSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 301
  7. Cane Creek Baptists replace their first meeting-house with a larger building The church's history committee judges that the log meeting-house of 1789 was probably replaced by a larger and more lasting building around 1806, the year the Sandy Creek Baptist Association held its meeting at Cane Creek.Search the index · Cane Creek Baptist Church Historical Research Committee, A Cane Creek Tapestry: A Picture History of Cane Creek Baptist Church and the Orange Grove Community (2003), scan p. 12
  8. The grand jury presents John Little, a child of color living south of the Haw River The county grand jury presented a child of color called John Little, living on the south side of the Haw River on the waters of Cane Creek, near John Newlin's. By 1830 the court had bound him to Joseph Clendenin; that August, Clendenin having died, his son Alexander brought John into court and the court bound him to Alexander to learn farming. Also named: John Little, Joseph Clendenin, Alexander ClendeninMark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  9. The Cane Creek Agricultural Society asks Orange County farmers to share their experiments A committee of the Cane Creek Agricultural Society of Orange County, chaired by John Newlin, urged farmers to report their improvements and trials to it, and proposed a tax on distilling grain heavy enough nearly to prohibit it. Also named: John NewlinSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, October 24, 1821, p. 2
  10. Orange County's wheat crop largely fails The Cane Creek Agricultural Society reported that the county's wheat crop had largely failed and that the corn crop would be no more than enough, leaving the coming year's food supply in doubt.Search the index · Hillsborough Recorder, October 24, 1821, p. 2
  11. The West Cane Creek Agricultural Society asks James Mebane to stand for the Commons The West Cane Creek Agricultural Society resolved that its chairman, John Newlin, ask James Mebane whether he would serve in the House of Commons if elected. Mebane agreed to run but said that, because of the electioneering of recent years, he would not canvass and would leave the choice to the voters. People: James Mebane Also named: John NewlinSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, June 29, 1825, p. 3
  12. Fire destroys the Rev. Elijah Graves's house on Cane Creek The Rev. Elijah Graves's dwelling house on Cane Creek burned on the night of Friday, June 6, and his family narrowly escaped. The paper understood that an enslaved man in the household, unwilling to stay at the place Graves had just moved to, set the fire to force a return to the old one; he was jailed the next day to await trial. People: Elijah GravesHillsborough Recorder, June 11, 1828, p. 3
Show all 106 dated events
  1. Cane Creek women Friends disown Elizabeth Marshall for having a child while unmarried On a complaint from the Cane Creek preparative meeting, the Cane Creek Women's Meeting of Friends disowned Elizabeth Marshall from membership for having a child while unmarried. Also named: Elizabeth MarshallSearch the index · Mark Chilton, Natural Child: Legitimacy, Sexuality and Shame in the Court Records of Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
  2. Bethlehem School on Cane Creek offers college preparation under George W. Morrow Bethlehem School, on Cane Creek twelve miles from Hillsborough, offered studies to prepare boys for college under George W. Morrow in 1829. Also named: George W. MorrowLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 136
  3. Members of Cane Creek organize Mars Hill Baptist Church Members of Cane Creek Baptist Church organized Mars Hill Baptist Church, near the old Eno Quaker burying ground off the Hillsborough-Schley road. Also mentions: Cane Creek Baptist ChurchSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 301
  4. Cane Creek Baptist Church joins the Beulah Association Cane Creek joined the Beulah Baptist Association in 1837. Its pastor Stephen Pleasant, put out of the County Line Association for supporting missions, had been one of the Beulah Association's founders. Also named: Stephen PleasantSearch the index · Cane Creek Baptist Church Historical Research Committee, A Cane Creek Tapestry: A Picture History of Cane Creek Baptist Church and the Orange Grove Community (2003), scan p. 31
  5. The Cane Creek Farmers and Mechanics Company starts a cotton mill In 1837 the Cane Creek Farmers and Mechanics Company of Orange and Chatham Counties set up a cotton mill in southern Orange County, giving local farmers a place to have their raw cotton spun for sale.Search the index · NC Digital Collections: Historic Resources of Orange County, National Register multiple property documentation form (1993), p. 20
  6. Orange Whigs meeting at the Cane Creek Cotton Factory back William A. Graham for Congress Citizens of Orange met at the Cane Creek Cotton Factory with Richard Freeman in the chair and resolved to support William A. Graham of Hillsborough for Congress, after Willie P. Mangum, whom some of them had named in June, declined. They named a committee to work with Graham's supporters elsewhere in the Orange, Wake and Person district. People: William A. Graham, Willie P. Mangum Also named: Richard FreemanSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, July 14, 1837, p. 3
  7. Fire destroys the Cane Creek cotton factory The Cane Creek Cotton Manufactory caught fire and burned to the ground; the paper did not know whether any of the machinery was saved.Search the index · Hillsborough Recorder, November 15, 1838, p. 3
  8. Green, an enslaved man, is jailed on a charge of robbing and burning Thomas Thompson's house on Cane Creek Green, enslaved by Hugh Wilson, was committed to jail on a charge of setting fire to Thomas Thompson's house on Cane Creek while the family was at church, after taking about sixty dollars from it. At the fall superior court his trial for arson was put off to the next term for want of time. Also named: Hugh Wilson, GreenHillsborough Recorder, June 22, 1843, p. 3
  9. The Assembly confirms the line between Orange and Alamance The 1849 act creating Alamance named Edward Benson for Alamance and Freeman Walker for Orange to survey the new county line, but Walker would not act with Benson, and the line was run by Benson with W. S. Moore of Orange. It started at a gum sapling on the Caswell line and ran due south, crossing Cane Creek three times, to a birch bush on the bank of the Haw River, then followed the river to the Chatham line. Walker and others measured nine miles due west from Hillsborough and came up 44 yards short of it. The General Assembly's 1850-51 session declared the Benson and Moore line the boundary. Also named: Edward Benson, Freeman Walker, W. S. MooreInternet Archive: David Leroy Corbitt, The Formation of the North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943 (1950; 1975 printing), p. 169, quoting Public Laws of North Carolina, 1850-51, ch. 43; the commissioners' report is printed on pp. 246-247
  10. Cane Creek Baptist Church buys ten acres from Thomas Brewer The congregation bought ten acres from Thomas Brewer; the deed calls it the Regular Missionary Baptist Church of Christ. The committee thinks a third church went up on this land near the old stage road. Also named: Thomas BrewerSearch the index · Cane Creek Baptist Church Historical Research Committee, A Cane Creek Tapestry: A Picture History of Cane Creek Baptist Church and the Orange Grove Community (2003), scan p. 12
  11. The present Morrow's Mill is built on Cane Creek The timber-framed mill on a stone foundation known as Morrow's Mill was built in 1878 on Cane Creek in southwestern Orange County, the third mill on a site whose stone dam enslaved laborers had built before the Civil War. It ground grain until 1930, and the 1993 county survey found it the only rural mill building besides Faucett's still standing, with its dam kept up.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 30, 1956, p. 5 (the Forbus house, a converted grist mill) · Also: NC Digital Collections: Historic Resources of Orange County, National Register multiple property documentation form
  12. Two cotton gins operate on Cane Creek in Bingham Township Bingham Township, where cotton was a cash crop, had two cotton gins on Cane Creek in 1880. The township also had three flour and grist mills running full time, two on Cane Creek and one on Turkey Creek, and four sawmills on Morgan, Cane and Tom creeks.Search the index · NC Digital Collections: Historic Resources of Orange County, National Register multiple property documentation form (1993), p. 35
  13. Cane Creek Baptists build a new church after five years of setbacks In November 1883 the congregation chose to build instead of repairing its old church. Failed lumber orders, two refused calls to preachers, cost overruns and a building chairman's resignation held the work up until late 1888, and the old building was sold at auction for $58.50.Search the index · Cane Creek Baptist Church Historical Research Committee, A Cane Creek Tapestry: A Picture History of Cane Creek Baptist Church and the Orange Grove Community (2003), scan p. 13
  14. S. W. Andrews's free public school in the Cane Creek district holds its closing exercises The free public school in the Cane Creek district, taught by S. W. Andrews, held its closing exercises, which a visitor described for the Observer. People: Samuel Weldon AndrewsSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough): "Closing Exercises of Mr. S. W. Andrews' School,", October 22, 1887, p. 3
  15. Bingham Township farmers form a Farmers' Alliance at Cane Creek Farmers at Cane Creek in Bingham Township formed a Farmers' Alliance and elected W. H. Lloyd president, T. J. Oldham vice president and Edward Snipes treasurer. People: Thomas J. Oldham Also named: W. H. Lloyd, Edward SnipesSearch the index · Hillsboro Recorder, March 22, 1888, p. 3
  16. A night storm washes out a Cane Creek mill dam and sends the Eno to a six-year high A heavy thunder and rain storm on the night of May 11 did great damage in the Cane Creek country and other parts of the county, washing away the dam of the Company mill on Cane Creek and injuring lands and crops. At Hillsborough the Eno River rose several feet, its highest in six years. Also mentions: Eno RiverSearch the index · Hillsboro Recorder, May 17, 1888, p. 3
  17. Cane Creek Baptist Church gives part of its lot for an academy Under pastor J. F. MacDuffie the church voted to set aside church land for an academy and school, called Rock Spring in the motion. MacDuffie bought a house nearby and the school opened as Orange Grove Academy. Also named: J. F. MacDuffie · Also mentions: Orange Grove AcademyCane Creek Baptist Church Historical Research Committee, A Cane Creek Tapestry: A Picture History of Cane Creek Baptist Church and the Orange Grove Community (2003), scan p. 40
  18. The name Orange Grove first appears with the Cane Creek church school Through the 1800s the Hillsborough Recorder called the neighborhood around Cane Creek Church Rock Spring. The earliest use of the name Orange Grove the church historians found is the renaming of the church's academy as Orange Grove Academy. Also mentions: Orange Grove AcademySearch the index · Cane Creek Baptist Church Historical Research Committee, A Cane Creek Tapestry: A Picture History of Cane Creek Baptist Church and the Orange Grove Community (2003), scan p. 74
  19. County commissioners order new bridges over New Hope Creek, Cane Creek and Little River The Orange County commissioners ordered new bridges built over New Hope Creek at Robson Station, over Cane Creek near Oaks, and over Little River at Anderson Toler's. At the same meeting they settled with the county treasurer and revised the jury list.Search the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 6, 1901, p. 3
  20. A new Orange Grove school building goes up at Cane Creek Work was moving fast on the new Orange Grove school building, with five large rooms and offices downstairs and an auditorium and music rooms upstairs. Principal Walter Crawford planned music and business departments; neighbors near Efland were hauling logs to the sawmill to help with the building. Also named: Walter CrawfordSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), August 23, 1906, p. 4
  21. Cane Creek Baptist Church votes a larger school building and sells the first one to the county The church voted to put up a much larger building for its Orange Grove School, south of the church, and to sell the original academy building to Orange County for use as a public school. Also mentions: Orange Grove SchoolSearch the index · Cane Creek Baptist Church Historical Research Committee, A Cane Creek Tapestry: A Picture History of Cane Creek Baptist Church and the Orange Grove Community (2003), scan p. 104
  22. Orange Grove Academy's commencement program reports its music classes and ball team The academy's 1908 commencement program counted 86 enrollments in music under Prof. C. E. Redmon, among them 18 in the band and 12 in the orchestra, and told of a baseball team that played Wake Forest, Trinity Park, Elon and Bingham School. Also named: C. E. Redmon · Also mentions: Bingham SchoolSearch the index · Cane Creek Baptist Church Historical Research Committee, A Cane Creek Tapestry: A Picture History of Cane Creek Baptist Church and the Orange Grove Community (2003), scan p. 102
  23. Cane Creek Baptist Church buys its first organ A 1904 business meeting voted to buy an organ to replace the old piano; the money was not raised until 1919, and John Cheek bought the instrument in 1920. Also named: John CheekSearch the index · Cane Creek Baptist Church Historical Research Committee, A Cane Creek Tapestry: A Picture History of Cane Creek Baptist Church and the Orange Grove Community (2003), scan p. 70
  24. The Teer family starts a dairy in the Cane Creek community The Teer family began its dairy business in 1927 with six cows, on land in the Cane Creek community the family had farmed since its forebear James Polk Teer settled there, according to the family's account in a 1980 Daily Tar Heel feature. By 1980 the 487-acre farm milked 102 cows and stood to lose 125 acres of bottom land to OWASA's proposed Cane Creek reservoir.The Daily Tar Heel, September 17, 1980, p. 6
  25. Sample and Ina Forbus make the old Morrow's Mill on Cane Creek their home Sample B. Forbus, later director of Watts Hospital, and the writer Ina B. Forbus bought the 1878 grist mill on Cane Creek in 1938 and converted it into their permanent home in 1939, keeping its hand-hewn beams and setting millstones in the garden. The mill had run until 1930. Also named: Sample B. Forbus, Ina B. Forbus · Also mentions: Watts HospitalSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 30, 1956, p. 5 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, June 28, 1957, p. 5
  26. The old Orange Grove Academy building is torn down After Orange Grove School closed, Cane Creek Church took over its 1907 building, holding Sunday school downstairs while the Grange met in the upstairs hall. The building was demolished in 1949. Also mentions: Orange Grove SchoolSearch the index · Cane Creek Baptist Church Historical Research Committee, A Cane Creek Tapestry: A Picture History of Cane Creek Baptist Church and the Orange Grove Community (2003), scan p. 104
  27. Cane Creek Baptist Church breaks ground for a new church After committees appointed in May 1949 priced a remodeling of the old church against a new building, the congregation chose to build. Tommy Lloyd, chairman of the deacons, turned the first earth at the groundbreaking. Also named: Tommy LloydSearch the index · Cane Creek Baptist Church Historical Research Committee, A Cane Creek Tapestry: A Picture History of Cane Creek Baptist Church and the Orange Grove Community (2003), scan p. 24
  28. Cane Creek Baptist sells its old church building at auction Cane Creek Baptist Church sold its old church building at public auction, putting the money toward finishing its new church. The congregation had advertised the sale of the building, about eight miles south of Hillsboro, in February.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 9, 1950, p. 4
  29. Cane Creek Baptist Church holds its first service in its new church The congregation's fifth building was finished in 1951 and first used for worship on May 7. The 1888 church, already stripped of doors and windows, was torn down soon after.Search the index · Cane Creek Baptist Church Historical Research Committee, A Cane Creek Tapestry: A Picture History of Cane Creek Baptist Church and the Orange Grove Community (2003), scan p. 22
  30. Harry Byrd becomes Cane Creek Baptist Church's first full-time pastor Until the late 1940s Cane Creek shared its preacher with another church and held services on two Sundays a month. Harry Byrd, a 1953 Wake Forest graduate, came that year as its first full-time pastor and stayed until 1957. Also named: Harry ByrdSearch the index · Cane Creek Baptist Church Historical Research Committee, A Cane Creek Tapestry: A Picture History of Cane Creek Baptist Church and the Orange Grove Community (2003), scan p. 52
  31. Cane Creek Baptist Church sets the dedication of its new church The church announced dedication services for its church, built in 1949 to 1951, on the annual homecoming day, Sunday, May 16, 1954, with a dedicatory sermon by I. G. Greer of Chapel Hill, memorial services and recognition of former pastors. Julius Andrews chaired the building committee, and the new pastor Harry Byrd was to take part. Also named: I. G. Greer, Julius Andrews, Harry ByrdSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 13, 1954, p. 1 · Also: Cane Creek Baptist Church Historical Research Committee, A Cane Creek Tapestry: A Picture History of Cane Creek Baptist Church and the Orang
  32. UNC considers the Jordan Reservoir for its water and Okun argues for Cane Creek While Okun was on sabbatical in 1961 the university began considering the Jordan Reservoir as a water source; on his return he persuaded the board that Cane Creek, which his students had studied in the 1950s, was the better site. People: Daniel A. OkunSearch the index · The Carolina Story: Cane Creek Reservoir (Water at UNC-Chapel Hill)
  33. Engineering study for UNC recommends a reservoir on Cane Creek After the 1968 drought left University Lake dangerously low, a study sponsored by the University of North Carolina and conducted by the engineering firm Hazen and Sawyer recommended damming Cane Creek. The Haw River, the proposed Jordan reservoir, an enlarged University Lake and the Eno were among the alternatives set aside. People: Daniel A. OkunCaselaw Access Project: In re Appeal from Environmental Management Commission, 53 N.C. App. 135 (1981)
  34. Cane Creek Baptist Church holds an annual Old Timers' Day Pastor James Bouseman started an Old Timers' Day at which members dressed in the fashions of an earlier time; it was held each year from 1974 through 1976, the last one part of the national bicentennial. Also named: James BousemanSearch the index · Cane Creek Baptist Church Historical Research Committee, A Cane Creek Tapestry: A Picture History of Cane Creek Baptist Church and the Orange Grove Community (2003), scan p. 68
  35. Cane Creek is chosen as the site of a new reservoir and area landowners organize against it A consultant's feasibility study concluded that Cane Creek, west of Carrboro, was the best site for a reservoir to supplement University Lake. The new Orange Water and Sewer Authority approved Cane Creek as the site in late August 1976 and began assembling land there. Cane Creek residents and farmers, who by the Daily Tar Heel's later account had been fighting the reservoir since October 1976, formed a conservation group and fought the project in court for years, arguing that it would destroy farms and hasten the decline of agriculture and that expanding University Lake had not been properly considered. People: Daniel A. Okun Also mentions: Orange Water and Sewer AuthorityANCHOR, A North Carolina History Online Resource: Cane Creek Reservoir · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, August 30, 1976, p. 16; The Daily Tar Heel, August 31, 1976, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, October 11, 1976, p. 3; The Daily Tar Heel, March 21, 1979, p. 1
  36. UNC trustees approve a Cane Creek pipeline on OWASA's recommendation With University Lake 64 inches below capacity, the UNC Board of Trustees approved an $824,450 pipeline and small temporary dam to draw water from Cane Creek, described as a step toward the planned reservoir. OWASA, due to take over the University water system in January 1977, recommended the Cane Creek project over alternatives that included pumping raw water from the Haw River to a treatment plant.The Daily Tar Heel: Board of Trustees approve $824,000 pipeline from Cane Creek, October 11, 1976
  37. Orange Grove residents form the Cane Creek Conservation Authority Farm families around Cane Creek organized the Cane Creek Conservation Authority to stop the dam and elected 23-year-old dairy farmer Bobby Kirk president; the group had about 100 active members and said 12 dairy farms would be affected. It argued that the reservoir would end farming in the area, that owners had not been consulted, and that Jordan Lake and other sources were alternatives. People: Bobby KirkThe Daily Tar Heel: Area groups opposed to planned Cane Creek reservoir, December 6, 1976
  38. OWASA reopens its study of enlarging University Lake at the Cane Creek farmers' request Though it had chosen Cane Creek for a second reservoir, the Orange Water and Sewer Authority reactivated studies of raising the University Lake dam at the request of the Cane Creek Conservation Authority, while continuing its field surveys at Cane Creek. The farmers' attorney said raising the dam 22 feet would store as much water as the Cane Creek project.The Daily Tar Heel, January 17, 1977, p. 2
  39. OWASA presses on with its Cane Creek reservoir survey over landowners' objections The Orange Water and Sewer Authority went ahead with surveying and final planning for the proposed Cane Creek reservoir, taking no action on Cane Creek landowners' request that an anonymous consultant review figures from its engineers, Hazen and Sawyer. Authority member Shirley Marshall called the request a delaying tactic and said the landowners had also refused to let surveyors onto their land; the landowners proposed enlarging University Lake instead, which Marshall said would cost too much and not solve Chapel Hill's water problems. Also named: Shirley Marshall · Also mentions: Orange Water and Sewer AuthorityThe Daily Tar Heel, March 15, 1977, p. 2
  40. Court rules OWASA may survey Cane Creek land, staying the order for an appeal The Orange Water and Sewer Authority won a court ruling that it could survey land along Cane Creek for its proposed reservoir, but the court granted the Cane Creek landowners' association a 30-day stay to appeal to the state Court of Appeals. The Orange Grove group, formed in October 1976, said the reservoir would ruin dairy farms and drown bottomland forest; OWASA called Cane Creek the best long-term source.The Daily Tar Heel, June 2, 1977, p. 4
  41. Court of Appeals lets OWASA survey Cane Creek land over owners' objections Landowners including the estate of Nancy Armstrong had refused OWASA's surveyors access to the dam site. After a trial court ordered access on April 28, 1977, the N.C. Court of Appeals held that the authority could enter and survey before starting eminent domain proceedings. Also named: Nancy ArmstrongCaselaw Access Project: Orange Water & Sewer Authority v. Estate of Armstrong, 34 N.C. App. 162 (1977) · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, September 27, 1977, p. 1
  42. Cane Creek landowners vote to take the reservoir survey case to the state Supreme Court A week after the N.C. Court of Appeals let OWASA survey their land, members of the Cane Creek Conservation Authority voted unanimously to ask the N.C. Supreme Court to review the decision and considered seeking a stay of the survey. By mid-October their petition was before the Supreme Court while OWASA scheduled its surveyors to start Oct. 17.The Daily Tar Heel, October 5, 1977, p. 3
  43. The Women's Club of Chapel Hill calls for a halt to the Cane Creek reservoir The Women's Club passed a resolution, sent to OWASA and the mayor of Chapel Hill, asking a moratorium on the Cane Creek reservoir and answers on alternatives such as enlarging University Lake or drawing on Jordan Lake, joining Orange Grove residents and Cane Creek farmers in the fight. Club president June Howard said OWASA had decided by itself; executive director Everett Billingsley said Cane Creek would be the supply for the foreseeable future. Also named: June Howard, Everett BillingsleyThe Daily Tar Heel, March 14, 1978, p. 3
  44. UNC trustees back OWASA's bid to condemn land for the Cane Creek reservoir The UNC Board of Trustees authorized the University to intervene on the side of the Orange Water and Sewer Authority at the state Environmental Management Commission's hearing on OWASA's request to condemn land for the $9 million Cane Creek reservoir, joining the Chapel Hill and Carrboro boards of aldermen, which had passed similar motions the week before. Landowners in the Cane Creek Conservation Authority opposed the reservoir to protect the area's dairy farms. People: Braxton Foushee Also mentions: Orange Water and Sewer AuthorityThe Daily Tar Heel, April 17, 1978, p. 3
  45. The state Environmental Management Commission hears OWASA's Cane Creek condemnation request The N.C. Environmental Management Commission held a two-day public hearing at Grey Culbreth Junior High School on the Orange Water and Sewer Authority's request to condemn land for a reservoir of about 700 acres on Cane Creek. The Army Corps of Engineers asked for a delay, saying OWASA had not counted the cost of lost farmland, while UNC professor Daniel Okun testified that Cane Creek was the cleanest and cheapest source and that only two families would be displaced. Also named: Daniel OkunThe Daily Tar Heel, April 27, 1978, p. 1
  46. County commissioners reappoint Paul Morris to OWASA over Cane Creek landowners' request The Orange County commissioners reappointed Paul Morris to the Orange Water and Sewer Authority board by a 4-0 vote, after members of the Cane Creek Association asked for a representative from Bingham Township and Commissioner Norman Walker nominated Joe Howard, an Environmental Protection Agency chemist. The landowners were fighting OWASA's plan for a reservoir that would flood about 480 acres, including the Teer family farm and the old Teer general store and post office. Also named: Paul Morris, Norman Walker, Joe Howard, Mike TeerThe Daily Tar Heel, July 6, 1978, p. 3
  47. The Cane Creek Conservation Authority asks OWASA to halt the Cane Creek reservoir until Jordan Lake is built The Cane Creek Conservation Authority and allied groups asked the Orange Water and Sewer Authority for a moratorium on the planned Cane Creek reservoir until the Jordan Lake project was finished, arguing that Jordan Lake could supply southern Orange County for 70 years and spare their farms. OWASA, which needed about 700 acres, expected to start construction by mid-1979.The Daily Tar Heel, October 4, 1978, p. 1
  48. UNC students organize the Friends of Cane Creek A group of 20 to 25 UNC students organized as the Friends of Cane Creek to back the Cane Creek Conservation Authority's fight against OWASA's proposed reservoir, building public awareness and raising money for the landowners' court battle. Founder Mitch Lerner said students should take part because their growing numbers had helped create the area's water shortage; the group set its first fund-raiser, a square dance at the Mad Hatter, for October 8. Also named: Mitch Lerner · Also mentions: Mad HatterThe Daily Tar Heel, September 18, 1979, p. 4
  49. A state hearing panel recommends denying OWASA the power to condemn Cane Creek land A three-member panel of the state Environmental Management Commission recommended against the permit OWASA needed to condemn land for the Cane Creek reservoir. The majority found OWASA had not seriously weighed alternatives such as Jordan Lake because its contract for taking over the University's water system tied it to Cane Creek, and it cited the harm to the area's dairy farms and community.The Daily Tar Heel, March 21, 1979, p. 1
  50. Orange County commissioners put off OWASA's request to condemn the Cane Creek land After the state panel's recommendation, OWASA board members asked the Orange County commissioners to condemn the Cane Creek reservoir site themselves, since a county needs no state permit to do so. The commissioners answered that they would decide whether to step in only after a new countywide task force drew up a water resources plan.The Daily Tar Heel, March 26, 1979, p. 3
  51. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asks for 1,500 acres of wildlife land to offset Cane Creek On April 23, 1979, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommended to the Army Corps of Engineers that OWASA acquire 1,500 acres of wildlife mitigation land beyond the 780 acres needed for the Cane Creek reservoir. The Corps had to consider but not follow the advice.The Daily Tar Heel, April 24, 1979, p. 1
  52. A consultant's study ranks Cane Creek eighth of 11 water sources on cost On April 25, 1979, L.E. Wooten and Company of Raleigh gave the Army Corps of Engineers an economic analysis that ranked OWASA's proposed Cane Creek reservoir eighth of 11 possible water sources and the Haw River first; OWASA's own studies had put Cane Creek first. The Corps had hired the firm because its cost figures and OWASA's differed while it weighed OWASA's dredge-and-fill permit.The Daily Tar Heel, April 26, 1979, p. 1
  53. Cane Creek landowners appeal the state ruling that lets OWASA condemn their land The Cane Creek Conservation Authority, whose members own much of the 758-acre reservoir site, filed an appeal in Wake County Superior Court against the Environmental Management Commission's decision giving the Orange Water and Sewer Authority condemnation rights at the Cane Creek dam site. The hearing was later set for December 17, and OWASA agreed to give the owners a week to ten days' notice before starting any condemnation.The Daily Tar Heel, September 25, 1979, p. 1
  54. OWASA agrees to buy 218 acres beside the Cane Creek reservoir site The Orange Water and Sewer Authority approved buying 218 acres on State Road 1101, a quarter mile east of the proposed Cane Creek reservoir, from the estate of Dr. Rainey Stanford for $152,000, its first land purchase for the project. Executive director Everett Billingsley said the land would serve as wildlife mitigation land and for trades with owners whose farms the reservoir would take; OWASA still had to acquire 758 acres inside the project area. Also named: Everett BillingsleyThe Daily Tar Heel, December 4, 1979, p. 2
  55. Teer Farms sues to block OWASA's purchase of land near Cane Creek Teer Farms, Inc., whose land bordered the tract on two sides, sued Central Carolina Bank, executor of the Stanford estate, in Orange County Superior Court to stop the sale of the 218 acres to OWASA. Mike Teer, a company officer and president of the Cane Creek Conservation Authority, said his family had been the only bidder, at $125,000, at a November 10 auction and had paid a $25,000 deposit before the bank refused the contract on November 20; OWASA's Everett Billingsley said the authority bought on the open market after no acceptable bid was made. Also named: Mike Teer, Everett BillingsleyThe Daily Tar Heel, December 7, 1979, p. 2
  56. Wake County judge upholds OWASA's power to condemn land for the Cane Creek reservoir On February 8, 1980, Wake County Superior Court Judge D. B. Herring upheld the state Environmental Management Commission's 1979 decision giving the Orange Water and Sewer Authority power to condemn land for the Cane Creek reservoir, though he said he would not have ruled for OWASA had he sat on the commission. The Cane Creek Conservation Authority, the landowners fighting the reservoir, gave notice of appeal; OWASA needed 758 acres and had hired a negotiator to begin buying land. Also named: D. B. HerringThe Daily Tar Heel, February 12, 1980, p. 2
  57. OWASA adopts a budget with $265,000 for the Cane Creek Reservoir The Orange Water and Sewer Authority approved a 1980-81 budget of more than $5 million that included $265,000 for the Cane Creek Reservoir from a trust the University had set up, and planned to start the dam in 1981 if the Army Corps of Engineers granted its permits. About $2.3 million went into a $24 million special projects fund for Cane Creek, the Mason Farm treatment plant, sludge disposal and sewer extensions to septic-tank areas. Also mentions: Mason Farm, Orange Water and Sewer AuthorityThe Daily Tar Heel, July 3, 1980, p. 5
  58. The Chapel Hill Town Council endorses OWASA's Cane Creek Reservoir Ahead of the Army Corps of Engineers hearings, the council formally endorsed the proposed 3-billion-gallon reservoir, citing the draft environmental impact statement's finding that Cane Creek would give purer water than the Haw River or B. Everett Jordan Lake. The same night it approved the Phase IV plan for North Forest Hills over Piney Mountain Road neighbors' protests, with R. D. Smith and Bill Thorpe opposed, and put off acting on the town's ban on drive-in windows. People: Bill Thorpe, R. D. SmithThe Daily Tar Heel, August 27, 1980, p. 1
  59. The Army Corps of Engineers holds Cane Creek hearings as OWASA announces a wildlife mitigation agreement Shortly before the Corps' hearings on the Cane Creek draft environmental impact statement opened at Chapel Hill High School, OWASA announced an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to buy a tract from the Weyerhaeuser Corp. as habitat for displaced wildlife, open to hunters, naturalists and hikers. Former board member Robert Epting led OWASA's case that Cane Creek was the cheapest and cleanest source, while the Cane Creek Conservation Authority argued for Jordan Lake instead. Also named: Robert EptingThe Daily Tar Heel, September 5, 1980, p. 1
  60. EPA gives conditional approval to the Cane Creek reservoir impact statement In a September 15 letter to the Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rated the Corps' draft environmental impact statement on OWASA's proposed Cane Creek Reservoir ER-2, meaning significant environmental reservations, and listed 21 points. Among them it asked for a wildlife mitigation plan for expanding University Lake, more attention to the public health effects of drinking impure water, and documentation of industries upstream of Jordan Lake that did not meet pollution standards.The Daily Tar Heel, September 23, 1980, p. 2
  61. OWASA receives the final environmental impact statement on the Cane Creek reservoir The Army Corps of Engineers delivered its final environmental impact statement on the Cane Creek reservoir to the Orange Water and Sewer Authority board, which also discussed buying the American Stone quarry west of Carrboro before its lease-purchase option ran out.The Daily Tar Heel, April 30, 1981, p. 2
  62. Army Corps of Engineers issues the federal permit for the Cane Creek dam The Corps' district engineer issued OWASA a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit to place fill for the dam on the same day the Court of Appeals voided the state certificate. The permit was set to expire on August 31, 1982 unless construction had begun.Caselaw Access Project: Cane Creek Conservation Authority v. Orange Water and Sewer Authority, 590 F. Supp. 1123 (M.D.N.C. 1984) · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, July 30, 1981, p. 2
  63. OWASA votes 7 to 1 to accept the federal permit for the Cane Creek dam The OWASA board voted 7 to 1 to accept the Army Corps of Engineers permit for a dam on Cane Creek in Bingham Township, a reservoir yielding 10 million gallons a day that would flood 480 acres. Board member Eddie Mann, the county's appointee from the Cane Creek area, cast the lone no vote. Also named: Eddie MannThe Daily Tar Heel, July 30, 1981, p. 2
  64. OWASA raises water and sewer rates 13 percent to pay for Cane Creek and a rebuilt sewage plant At its annual meeting in the Carrboro Town Hall on September 17, 1981, the OWASA board approved a 13 percent water and sewer rate increase effective January 1, 1982, part of a plan to cover $26 million in capital work over four years, chiefly the Cane Creek reservoir and rebuilding the wastewater treatment plant. A household using 1,000 gallons or less would pay $7.99 instead of $7.04, and large users 19 percent more. The board also elected Betty Sanders chair. Also named: Betty SandersThe Daily Tar Heel, September 21, 1981, p. 5
  65. State closes comments on the Cane Creek reservoir draft impact statement On June 1, 1982, the state Division of Environmental Management received the last responses to its draft environmental impact statement on OWASA's proposed 758-acre Cane Creek reservoir, which made no choice among water sources. Chapel Hill's mayor, the Triangle J Council of Governments and the Orange County commissioners backed Cane Creek as the cleanest source, while the Cane Creek Conservation Authority argued that Jordan Lake, the Haw River or a higher University Lake dam would do as well.The Daily Tar Heel, June 3, 1982, p. 5
  66. OWASA receives the state's environmental impact statement on the Cane Creek reservoir In late August 1982 the Orange Water and Sewer Authority received the environmental impact statement on the Cane Creek reservoir prepared by the N.C. Department of Natural Resources and Community Development, which the courts had required before the Environmental Management Commission could again grant condemnation rights. It rated Cane Creek, at an estimated $16.3 million, best of the alternatives (the Haw River, Jordan Lake and an enlarged University Lake) for water quality and cost while finding some unavoidable harm to the area, and a public hearing was set for October 11 at the Community Church on Purefoy Road.The Daily Tar Heel, September 21, 1982, p. 3
  67. Opponents sue in federal court, arguing the dam permit has lapsed The Cane Creek Conservation Authority filed suit in U.S. District Court claiming OWASA's Corps permit expired on August 31, 1982 because no fill had actually been placed at the site. OWASA said its preliminary work before the deadline kept the permit valid. People: Sam CrawfordThe Daily Tar Heel: Fights on to stop OWASA dam, October 20, 1982
  68. A state hearing on condemnation rights for the Cane Creek reservoir is held in Chapel Hill The state Environmental Management Commission held a week-long public hearing at the Community Church on Purefoy Road on whether to give OWASA power to condemn land for the Cane Creek reservoir, which it needed because it could not buy a dairy farm at the site. Mayor Joe Nassif and UNC's Daniel Okun testified for the reservoir, and the farm family and the Cane Creek Conservation Authority argued against it. Also named: Joe Nassif, Daniel OkunThe Daily Tar Heel, December 3, 1982, p. 1
  69. A state hearing officer recommends approving OWASA's Cane Creek reservoir for condemnation rights On January 31, 1983, Virgil McBride, who had presided over the Environmental Management Commission's hearing on the Cane Creek reservoir from November 30 to December 4, 1982, gave the commission his recommendation that it approve the project, whose approval OWASA needed to condemn land it had not been able to buy. McBride found the dam and reservoir consistent with the best use of the state's water resources; the commission set its decision for March 10, and the opponents' attorney said the officer had ignored their evidence. Also named: Virgil McBrideThe Daily Tar Heel, February 4, 1983, p. 4
  70. The Cane Creek Conservation Authority files a second federal suit against the Cane Creek dam permit On February 1, 1983, the Cane Creek Conservation Authority filed a second suit in federal district court against OWASA's planned Cane Creek dam, arguing that the Army Corps of Engineers' 404 permit had never been valid because granting it violated the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Corps' own procedures. Its first suit, filed September 29, 1982, had argued that the permit lapsed when construction did not start by August 31, 1982; neither suit had yet been heard.The Daily Tar Heel, February 4, 1983, p. 4
  71. The state Environmental Management Commission gives OWASA power to condemn land for the Cane Creek reservoir On March 10, 1983, the N.C. Environmental Management Commission granted the Orange Water and Sewer Authority condemnation rights to the land needed for the 758-acre Cane Creek reservoir in western Orange County. The Cane Creek Conservation Authority appealed, but on April 11 its lawyer withdrew a motion in Wake County Superior Court for an injunction against the condemnations after Judge James H. Pou Bailey called it premature. Also named: James H. Pou BaileyThe Daily Tar Heel, April 13, 1983, p. 2
  72. Superior Court reverses OWASA's permission to condemn Cane Creek land In August 1983 a N.C. Superior Court ruling reversed the state Environmental Management Commission's decision giving the Orange Water and Sewer Authority the right to condemn land for its proposed $16.3 million Cane Creek reservoir, 12 miles west of Chapel Hill. OWASA had bought 25 of the 50 parcels it needed since 1979 against opposition from the Cane Creek Conservation Authority, and director Everett Billingsley expected the commission to restore the right at its October 13 meeting. Also named: Everett Billingsley · Also mentions: Orange Water and Sewer AuthorityThe Daily Tar Heel, September 29, 1983, p. 3
  73. Carrboro aldermen back Cane Creek condemnation and an OWASA hookup moratorium On October 11, 1983, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen voted 3 to 2 for Alderman Steve Rose's resolution urging the state Environmental Management Commission to let OWASA condemn land for the Cane Creek reservoir, and voted unanimously to support OWASA's proposed moratorium on new water connections if it spared developments already holding permits and was tied to the level of University Lake. Rose and Ernie Patterson voted for the resolution and John Boone and Jim White against, while Joyce Garrett's abstention counted as a yes. Also named: Steve Rose, Ernie Patterson, John Boone, Jim White, Joyce GarrettThe Daily Tar Heel, October 13, 1983, p. 3
  74. OWASA agrees to buy the Stanford dairy farm at the dam site The same day the commission ruled, OWASA agreed to buy 267 acres of the dam site from dairy farmers William and Joyce Stanford for about $1.28 million, bringing it to 60 percent of the 728 acres it needed. Between 20 and 25 of the 48 affected landowners had sold by then. Also named: William Stanford, Joyce StanfordThe Daily Tar Heel: OWASA buys 60 percent of land needed for Cane Creek reservoir, October 18, 1983 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, February 12, 1980, p. 2
  75. OWASA buys out most of the Cane Creek landowners By April 1986 OWASA owned 48 of the 50 parcels needed for the reservoir, almost all bought through negotiated sales. Sam Crawford recalled an opening offer of $500 an acre that rose to about $3,500 to $3,600, and that his family lost 50 acres, including their biggest field. People: Sam CrawfordThe Daily Tar Heel: N.C. Court of Appeals upholds (Valerie Stegall), April 4, 1986
  76. Cane Creek residents file a third appeal against OWASA's condemnation power In late November 1983 the Cane Creek Conservation Authority, representing dairy-farm residents about 12 miles northwest of Chapel Hill, filed its third appeal in eight months against the state Environmental Management Commission's October grant of eminent domain power to the Orange Water and Sewer Authority for the Cane Creek reservoir. Its attorney Ted Corvette argued the project failed six of the seven criteria and was costlier than a pipeline; OWASA, still about 200 acres short of the 758 it needed, said construction had been set to start in six months, and the group also had a suit pending in federal court against OWASA and the Army Corps of Engineers. Also named: Ted Corvette · Also mentions: Orange Water and Sewer AuthorityThe Daily Tar Heel, December 2, 1983, p. 3
  77. Federal court dismisses the opponents' permit suits for lack of standing The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina dismissed the two suits brought by the Cane Creek Conservation Authority and Teer Farms, finding they alleged only a general fear of environmental loss rather than a direct injury. The court noted that OWASA had so far acquired all its land through voluntary purchases.Caselaw Access Project: Cane Creek Conservation Authority v. Orange Water and Sewer Authority, 590 F. Supp. 1123 (M.D.N.C. 1984)
  78. OWASA approves buying 120 more acres for the Cane Creek reservoir The Orange Water and Sewer Authority board approved spending more than $200,000 for about 120 acres for its proposed Cane Creek reservoir, about 11 miles west of Carrboro, and authorized executive director W. Everett Billingsley to go on with a $70,000 design for a temporary cofferdam. OWASA had bought or agreed to buy 683 of the 758 acres needed for the $14.5 million project. Also named: W. Everett Billingsley · Also mentions: Orange Water and Sewer AuthorityThe Daily Tar Heel, August 27, 1984, p. 4
  79. Orange County commissioners take comment on water quality critical areas for the University Lake and Cane Creek watersheds At a public hearing in Hillsborough on November 5, 1984, the Orange County Board of Commissioners took comment on designating 'water quality critical' areas totaling over 6,500 acres in the University Lake and proposed Cane Creek watersheds, where development standards would protect existing and planned water supplies; the hearing was held open a week for more comment. Everett Billingsley, executive director of the Orange Water and Sewer Authority, said OWASA backed the designation but found the boundaries too small and the standards too weak, and opposed any industrial development in the watersheds. Also named: Everett BillingsleyThe Daily Tar Heel, November 8, 1984, p. 3
  80. OWASA sells $11.3 million in bonds for the Cane Creek dam and other projects The Orange Water and Sewer Authority sold $11.3 million in bonds to help pay for a dam and reservoir on Cane Creek, treatment plant improvements and moving lines for Interstate 40 and N.C. 54. That September it proposed a 20 percent rate increase, its first since January 1982, and no one from the public spoke at the hearing. Also mentions: N.C. 54The Daily Tar Heel, September 20, 1985, p. 2
  81. Cane Creek Conservation Authority members go to the General Assembly to oppose an OWASA bill Fifteen members of the Cane Creek Conservation Authority traveled to the legislature to oppose a bill OWASA sought to settle its outstanding court cases and widen its authority. People: Sam CrawfordSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Oral history interview with Sam Crawford, October 26, 1985 (K-0006)
  82. OWASA builds a temporary impoundment on Cane Creek During a water shortage OWASA built a temporary impoundment at the Cane Creek site as an emergency water source, while the permanent dam was still being designed.The Daily Tar Heel: Amy Weisner on the Cane Creek Reservoir, April 13, 1988
  83. OWASA issues $10.5 million in revenue bonds for the Cane Creek reservoir OWASA issued $10,545,000 in water and sewer revenue bonds, to be repaid over 30 years, to pay for the Cane Creek reservoir, with the rest of the cost to come from higher water and sewer rates.The Daily Tar Heel, January 26, 1987, p. 6
  84. OWASA's board approves a 5 percent water and sewer rate increase for Cane Creek OWASA's board voted 6 to 0 on September 25, 1986 to approve a 5 percent water and sewer rate increase, effective Jan. 1, 1987, to help pay the bonds for the Cane Creek reservoir. It followed a 22 percent increase that took effect at the start of 1986.The Daily Tar Heel, January 26, 1987, p. 6 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, September 29, 1986, p. 1
  85. OWASA awards the $11.7 million contract to build the Cane Creek dam OWASA awarded the $11,733,815 contract to build the Cane Creek dam, clear the reservoir site and build the raw water pumping station to Gilbert Corporation of Delaware, along with a $385,873 electrical contract to Via Electric Company of Madison. The reservoir, 12 miles west of Carrboro on N.C. 54, was to hold 3 billion gallons behind an earthen dam 72 feet high. Also mentions: N.C. 54The Daily Tar Heel, January 26, 1987, p. 6
  86. OWASA breaks ground for the Cane Creek dam OWASA held a groundbreaking for the Cane Creek Reservoir, designed by Hazen and Sawyer: a 72-foot-high, 1,350-foot earthen dam on a 760-acre site, with a 480-acre lake holding 3 billion gallons. Completion was scheduled for June 1989.The Daily Tar Heel: Scott Greig on the Cane Creek groundbreaking, January 26, 1987 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, April 13, 1988, p. 3
  87. Cane Creek Reservoir construction passes the halfway mark OWASA said work on the Cane Creek dam and reservoir was about 55 percent done and slightly ahead of the June 27, 1989, completion date; the three-billion-gallon reservoir would give OWASA five times its storage capacity.The Daily Tar Heel, April 13, 1988, p. 3
  88. Orange-Chatham Joint Planning Commission agrees on courtesy reviews of development plans Meeting in Pittsboro, the commission agreed that each government would send development plans of interest to its neighbors for comment, a compromise reached after Chatham County objected that fixed review boundaries might look like joint regulation. It was the commission's second meeting since Chatham rejected an agreement to buy Cane Creek Reservoir water from OWASA, and members named the U.S. 15-501 corridor a top concern. Also mentions: U.S. 15-501Search the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 18, 1988, p. 1
  89. Cane Creek Baptist Church marks its two hundredth year The church celebrated its bicentennial with former pastor James Bouseman back as guest preacher. During the year Cecil Crawford led members on a walk to the site of the first meeting-house above Cane Creek. Also named: James Bouseman, Cecil CrawfordSearch the index · Cane Creek Baptist Church Historical Research Committee, A Cane Creek Tapestry: A Picture History of Cane Creek Baptist Church and the Orange Grove Community (2003), scan p. 68
  90. Cane Creek Reservoir is filled OWASA completed and filled the reservoir on Cane Creek west of Carrboro, adding roughly three billion gallons of storage drawn from a 32 square mile drainage area. Before it came online OWASA's estimated dependable yield was about two million gallons a day, and the 1980s had brought repeated mandatory restrictions and purchases of water from neighboring utilities.Orange Water and Sewer Authority: Asset Management Plan, FY2020 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, March 1, 1989, p. 4; The Daily Tar Heel, September 1, 1989, p. 3
  91. Winter rains refill University Lake and raise the new Cane Creek Reservoir After a dry January, rains brought University Lake from 24.5 inches below normal on February 18 to 6.75 inches over its spillway by February 22 and filled the American Stone Quarry, and the new Cane Creek Reservoir, to hold 3 billion gallons and become OWASA's main supply, rose from 378 inches below capacity on February 10 to 192 inches below on February 27, its pipeline to the treatment plant still out for bids.The Daily Tar Heel, March 1, 1989, p. 4
  92. Orange County commissioners speak against the state's plan to widen N.C. 54 At a February 19, 1991, meeting with state transportation planners, the county commissioners opposed the Department of Transportation's $48 million plan to widen 20 miles of N.C. 54 from Interstates 85 and 40 at Burlington to the N.C. 54 Bypass in Carrboro, which the state's own study said would displace 96 homes and eight businesses and could affect the Cane Creek and University Lake watersheds. Commissioner Alice Gordon asked that the project be dropped from the state's improvement program; the Carrboro aldermen and the county planning board had already passed resolutions against it. Also named: Alice Gordon · Also mentions: N.C. 54Search the index · The Daily Tar Heel, February 21, 1991, p. 3
  93. Landfill search committee returns a Cane Creek site to active study On September 25, 1991, the Orange Regional Landfill Search Committee, meeting again because some members doubted their September 4 votes, put site 2, east of the Cane Creek reservoir and north of N.C. 54, back on its list for active study, while unanimously leaving the Duke Forest site in reserve. It planned to narrow its 10 remaining sites to five on November 20. Also mentions: Duke Forest, N.C. 54The Daily Tar Heel, September 27, 1991, p. 1
  94. The Landfill Search Committee names Sites 3 and 17 as finalists for the county landfill The Landfill Search Committee named Site 3, off Eubanks Road near Horace Williams Airport, and Site 17, which takes in the Blackwood division of Duke Forest, as the finalists for Orange County's new landfill, putting Sites 9 and 11 north of Hillsborough and Site 2 near the Cane Creek Reservoir on reserve. Member Walter Faribault said the committee voted 7 to 5 to return Site 3, which the county mostly owned, to active consideration; geotechnical tests were still to come. Also named: Walter Faribault · Also mentions: Duke Forest, Horace Williams Airport, Eubanks RoadThe Daily Tar Heel, March 9, 1992, p. 3

Maps of Cane Creek

Dated maps that show this place, oldest first: town plans, county, road and soil maps, fire insurance sheets and the U.S. Geological Survey’s topographic maps, each linked to the library or archive that holds it. The USGS maps are free to download.

  1. Map of Orange County UNC · a county map
  2. Map of Orange County, N.C. UNC · a county map
  3. A map of Orange County, N.C. UNC · a county map
  4. Soil map, North Carolina, Orange County sheet Duke · a county map
  5. School map, Orange County, North Carolina. UNC · a county map
  6. Map of Orange County, N.C. : 1939 UNC · a county map
  7. An atlas for Orange County, North Carolina UNC · a county map
  8. USGS topographic map, White Cross quadrangle (1:24,000) U.S. Geological Survey (PDF)

Indexed works

Works about Cane Creek from library and archive catalogs. The most widely held appear first; novels are not shown here. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.

Widely held

Oral history interview with Nancy Holt, October 27, 1985: interview K-0010, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Holt, Nancy · 2007 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Raised in Orange County's Cane Creek community, Nancy Holt became one of its organizers when the Orange Water and Sewer Authority planned a reservoir there. Interviewed alongside Brian Holt by Frances E. Webb in October 1985, she describes farm life, the school and church that held the community together, how scattered neighbors cooperated, and the environmental and social costs residents expected from the reservoir. Runs about two and a half hours; electronic edition from the UNC library, 2007, through Documenting the American South.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Cane Creek Reservoir (N.C.).

NC Cardinal UNC

Oral history interview with Sam Crawford, October 26, 1985: interview K-0006, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Crawford, Sam · 2007 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Sam Crawford (born 1949) helped found Cane Creek Conservation Authority, the residents' group formed in 1975 to fight plans by OWASA, the Chapel Hill area's water utility, for a reservoir on Cane Creek in rural Orange County. In this October 1985 interview with Judith Wheeler, joined by Patty Crawford, he recounts how residents learned of the plan and organized, and the environmental and water-supply arguments on each side. A little over two hours; electronic edition from the UNC library, 2007, through Documenting the American South.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Cane Creek Reservoir (N.C.).

NC Cardinal UNC

Oral history interview with Bobby Kirk, October 28, 1985: Interview K-0013, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Kirk, Bobby · 2005 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Dairy farmer Bobby Kirk, who led the conservation authority formed at Cane Creek, describes the fight against the Cane Creek Reservoir, proposed for southwestern Orange County. In this Southern Oral History Program interview, recorded October 28, 1985, by K. Campbell, Kirk explains why he and neighboring farmers opposed the project, how residents first organized against it, and his view that the reservoir was badly planned. Just over an hour long. Published online in 2005 by the UNC-Chapel Hill Library in Documenting the American South.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Cane Creek Reservoir (N.C.).

NC Cardinal UNC

Oral history interview with Dr. Daniel Okun, October 22, 1985: Interview K-0021, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Okun, Daniel Alexander · 2004 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

The case for the Cane Creek Reservoir, made by Daniel A. Okun, professor of environmental engineering at UNC, in a Southern Oral History Program interview recorded October 22, 1985, by Laura Drey. Okun sets out why a new reservoir was needed in Orange County and answers the Cane Creek farmers' objections on water quality and watershed management. It pairs with interviews of opponents Bobby Kirk and Edward S. Johnson. Published online in 2004 by the UNC-Chapel Hill Library in Documenting the American South.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Cane Creek Reservoir (N.C.).

NC Cardinal UNC

Oral history interview with Edward S. Johnson, October 28, 1985: Interview K-0012, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Johnson, Edward S. · 2004 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Edward S. Johnson (1933-2022) recounts the organized effort to stop OWASA, the Orange County water utility, from damming Cane Creek for a reservoir, in a 40-minute Southern Oral History Program interview recorded October 28, 1985, by Patricia E. Sloan. Johnson describes how neighbors came together into a coherent opposition, the questions of eminent domain raised by the taking of farmland, and the environmental review of the project. Published online in 2004 by the UNC-Chapel Hill Library in Documenting the American South.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Cane Creek Reservoir (N.C.).

NC Cardinal UNC

Oral history interview with Joe Herzenberg, November 18, 1985: Interview K-0008. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)

Herzenberg, Joseph A. · 2004 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Joseph A. Herzenberg (1941-2007), later a Chapel Hill Town Council member, was interviewed by Mary Dexter in November 1985 about the Cane Creek reservoir fight. OWASA, the water and sewer utility serving Chapel Hill, proposed damming Cane Creek in rural Orange County, and residents there organized against it. Herzenberg supports the reservoir and discusses the local politics and water-supply questions behind the dispute. About an hour and a half; electronic edition from the UNC library, 2004, through Documenting the American South.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Cane Creek Reservoir (N.C.).

NC Cardinal UNC
Show 2 more

Draft Cane Creek EIS

1982

A draft environmental impact statement from 1982 on the Cane Creek Reservoir, the water-supply impoundment proposed for Cane Creek in southwestern Orange County near the Alamance line. Prepared by the Division of Environmental Management of the state Department of Natural Resources and Community Development, it runs 144 pages in various pagings with illustrations, maps, bibliographies and an index. Topics include reservoirs, water supply and environmental impact analysis for Orange County.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Cane Creek Reservoir (N.C.).

NC Cardinal UNC

Cane Creek Lake : black crappie surveys, 2001-2019.

2020 · North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Inland Fisheries Division

Two-page online report from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission's Inland Fisheries Division summarizing black crappie surveys at Cane Creek Lake from 2001 to 2019. Published in 2020 with charts and a map. The lake's location is uncertain in the supplied information: Union County is identified, but the work is also linked to Cane Creek Reservoir in Orange County.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Cane Creek Reservoir (N.C.) -- Statistics.

NC Cardinal

Recently indexed: Abstract of Orange County, North Carolina Cane Creek Baptist Church: Membership Rolls for May 31, 1829 and August 1856 (1993) · Before the Environmental Management Commission, in the matter of Orange Water and Sewer Authority application for the Cane Creek Reservoir : direct testimony of Hazen and Sawyer, P.C. (1982) · Cane Creek Reservoir watershed study : draft report (1996) · Environmental assessment of Cane Creek Water Supply project : prepared for the University Enterprises - Water Division, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1973) · Environmental impact assessment of proposed Cane Creek Water Supply Reservoir : prepared for Orange Water and Sewer Authority (1977) · Final Cane Creek EIS. (1982)

Search all 22 indexed works →

Research sources

Sources and research tools for this place. Research guide: Research a neighborhood or rural community.

Historic sites, markers, and maps

Collections and databases

  • NC LIVE: prepared search for Cane Creek Library card Search NC LIVE for this subject and Orange County. You can change the search terms. Sign in through your North Carolina library to access the materials.

Local help

Related themes

Cane Creek Reservoir and Bingham Township →Water for the towns: University Lake, the 1976–77 drought, and OWASA →Eno & Environment →Growth, Land & Planning →Community & Civic Organizations →Farms & Rural Life →

More to discover

Keep Reading Local

The Friends connect people with new library materials, local writers and publishers, and resources documenting Orange County.

Browse New Arrivals → Meet Local Authors → Explore Local Publishers →
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