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Community in Orange County

Efland

An unincorporated community in western Orange County that grew along the North Carolina Railroad and took the name of a local family. Its records are mostly church, school and family histories.

Source: NCpedia, North Carolina Gazetteer

50 indexed works are connected with this place. 3 held at OCPL →

Themes here. The subjects the index files most often under Efland.

In the chronology

Dated events connected with this place: sixteen of 117, the highlights and a sample of the rest spread across the years, in date order. See all 117 dated events in the chronology →

Earliest first. Scroll sideways, or use the arrows.

16 dated events
  1. German settler David Ephland comes to Orange County

    Migration or settlement · Efland

    David Ephland, later spelled Efland, arrived with other German settlers in the 1760s. His descendants still lived in the railroad town that carries the family name when the county was surveyed in 1993.

  2. Fairfield Presbyterian Church builds a new Gothic frame church north of Efland

    Construction or physical change · north of Efland

    The Fairfield congregation, dating to 1834, put up a new steep-roofed church with Gothic windows in the 1880s, sheathed inside with flush boards.

    Subject: Fairfield Presbyterian Church

  3. S. T. Forrest buys out his partners in S. T. Forrest & Co. at Efland

    Property or economic transaction · Efland

    The Efland firm of S. T. Forrest & Co. was dissolved by mutual consent. Partners C. C. Taylor and Charles L. Boggs sold and assigned their whole interest to Stephen T. Forrest.

  4. The Efland Hosiery Mills is incorporated at Efland

    Founding or opening · Efland

    The Efland Hosiery Mills received a state certificate of incorporation with its principal office at Efland and an authorized capital of $50,000. By July the mill was reported nearly finished.

  5. Plans are drawn for the first cottage of the Efland Home

    Construction or physical change · North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home), 201 Redman Crossing, Efland

    In a letter of September 5, 1921, to state welfare commissioner Kate Burr Johnson, Charlotte Hawkins Brown reported that plans were under way for a cottage at the Efland site estimated at $5,000. The architect is not known, but the finished building follows a professional drawing except for its weatherboard walls, which replaced brick to save money.

    People: Charlotte Hawkins Brown

    Subject: North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home)

  6. A Superior Court judge rules against the county school board in the Efland School site dispute

    Law, policy or court · Efland School site, Efland

    The county board of education had gone to court against Thomas Forrest and James O. Webb over the acre-and-a-fraction Efland School site. At a hearing in Graham the judge ruled against the board, which told its lawyers to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

    Subject: Efland schools

  7. The Efland Home's eighteen girls come from ten counties across the state

    Statistic or record · North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home), 201 Redman Crossing, Efland

    In 1930 the home held eighteen girls, all committed by juvenile courts, from Buncombe, Carteret, Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, Mecklenburg, Pasquotank, Robeson, Vance and Wake counties; Durham sent the most, five. It was then one of ten such institutions for Black girls in the United States.

    Subject: North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home)

  8. Hilda C. Allen becomes superintendent of the Efland Home after a poor state report

    Appointment, election or service · North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home), 201 Redman Crossing, Efland

    Following a critical June 1935 state inspection and complaints about the home's management, the board's executive committee met in Durham in July and soon hired Hilda C. Allen as superintendent, keeping Lula Henderson as matron.

    People: Hilda C. Allen · Lula B. Henderson

    Subject: North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home)

  9. District health department holds midwife classes across Orange County

    Health or relief action · Orange County

    Classes for midwives were held at Efland and Hillsboro and began for those in and near Chapel Hill at the health department offices, with attendance required before a permit to practice would be issued. Health officer W. P. Richardson said 17 percent of births in the county were attended by midwives, against 31 percent statewide.

    Part of Public health in rural Orange County · 27 events

  10. Hilda Allen resigns as superintendent, leaving Lula Henderson in charge of the Efland Home

    Appointment, election or service · North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home), 201 Redman Crossing, Efland

    Saying she could not handle all her duties, Hilda C. Allen resigned in early May 1937 after making real gains in the home's conditions, and matron Lula Henderson took charge.

    People: Hilda C. Allen · Lula B. Henderson

    Subject: North Carolina Industrial Home for Colored Girls (Efland Home)

  11. Orange County sells the county home and its farm at auction

    Property or economic transaction · Orange County home, north of Efland

    The county auctioned the old county home, its 241-acre farm, buildings, stock and tools, and a Forrest was the high bidder. Its last residents had been boarded with relatives and friends at county expense, which the welfare superintendent said cost less than half as much.

    People: William T. Mattox

    Subject: Orange County poorhouse (County Home)

  12. Orange County closes thirteen small schools for Black children and consolidates their pupils

    Closing or ending · Orange County

    At the start of the 1951-52 school year the county shut thirteen one- and two-teacher schools for Black children, put eleven new buses on the roads and consolidated every Black school except three near Efland. New buildings opened that year at the Cedar Grove school.

    Subject: Cedar Grove schools

  13. First Salk polio vaccinations given to Orange County first and second graders

    Health or relief action · Orange County

    Local physicians working under the county health department gave the first round of Salk polio vaccine to more than 1,150 Orange County first and second graders. The work began on Monday, April 18, 1955 with about 500 Chapel Hill area children and finished on April 21 with the Hillsboro, Efland and Aycock schools.

    People: O. David Garvin

  14. Fire destroys the home economics building at Aycock School

    Disaster or outbreak · Aycock School, 6116 Efland-Cedar Grove Road, Cedar Grove

    The home economics building at Aycock School in Cedar Grove burned, with the loss put at $15,000 to $20,000 and fully insured through the state. The county board had approved the building in 1948.

    Subject: Aycock School

  15. Thomas S. Rankin buys the Ira Ellis House

    Property or economic transaction · Rev. Ira Ellis House (Little Ayr Mount), 1800 Hall's Mill Road (SR 1336) at the Eno River, north of Efland

    Thomas S. Rankin bought the Ellis house and its mostly wooded 60-acre tract on the Eno, where he lives with his wife Jill McCorkle. The owners later paid for a history of the house (2012) that the state's 2016 survey drew on.

    People: Jill McCorkle

    Subject: Rev. Ira Ellis House (Little Ayr Mount)

  16. A bilingual book walk is installed at Efland-Cheeks Community Park

    Construction or physical change · Efland

    The county parks department and the library installed a bilingual English–Spanish book walk at Efland-Cheeks Community Park during the 2024–25 fiscal year, paid for by the Friends of the Orange County Public Library. It brought a library reading program to a rural part of the county without a branch.

    Subject: Orange County Public Library

Maps of Efland

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. School map, Orange County, North Carolina. UNC
  2. Highway maintenance map of Orange County, North Carolina DPLA
  3. Federal-Aid Systems map of Orange County, North Carolina DPLA
  4. Orange County, North Carolina (Highway culture map) DPLA
  5. Orange County, North Carolina (Highway maintenance map) DPLA
  6. USGS topographic map, Efland quadrangle (1:24,000) U.S. Geological Survey (PDF)
  7. Highway maintenance map of Orange County, North Carolina DPLA
  8. Highway maintenance map of Orange County, North Carolina DPLA
  9. USGS topographic map, Efland quadrangle (1:24,000) U.S. Geological Survey (PDF)

Indexed works

Related works found in catalogs and archives across North Carolina, the most widely held first, novels aside. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it.

Narrow these works. Each link opens the search already limited to this place. Counts are indexed works, not copies on a shelf; a work can carry more than one period or place.

Widely held

Efland Family History

Richardson, Linda Efland · 2001 · L.E. Richardson

Linda Efland Richardson's history of the Efland family, whose name the Orange County community of Efland carries. The lineage runs from Bernhard Iffelandt through the emigrant Johan Davitt Ifflandt and Peter Iffland, who took the Efland spelling, down to the twentieth century and Sim Efland (1913-2000). Published by the author in Kernersville in 2001, 84 pages with illustrations, portraits and facsimiles.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the OCPL record: Efland (N.C.) -- History.

A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983

Pender, Irene Oliver · 1983

Irene Oliver Pender's history of the public schools of Orange County from 1752 to 1983, covering more than two centuries of schooling in Hillsborough, Efland, Cedar Grove and the rural districts of the county. Published in 1983, 186 pages with illustrations.

Ridge Garden United Methodist charge cookbook

Clover Garden United Methodist Church & Chestnut Ridge United Methodist Church · 2025 · Clover Garden United Methodist Church

Community cookbook from the Ridge Garden charge, the pairing of Clover Garden United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill and Chestnut Ridge United Methodist Church in Efland, published by Clover Garden in 2025. Topics include both congregations' histories as well as cooking in Chapel Hill and Efland. Seven preliminary pages and 130 pages.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: North Carolina -- Efland.

UNC

Circle of blessings

2007 · Efland UMC

A community cookbook from Efland United Methodist Church in Efland, in western Orange County, published by the church in 2007, that also carries a history of the congregation alongside its recipes. 116 numbered pages with six unnumbered pages at either end, an illustration and a color portrait.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: North Carolina -- Efland.

UNC

The treatment of African American girls in progressive era North Carolina's juvenile justice system (1890-1930)

Brice, Tanya Smith · 2003

Tanya Smith Brice studies how North Carolina's juvenile justice system treated African American girls between 1890 and 1930, naming among its institutions the North Carolina Industrial School for Negro Girls at Efland in Orange County. Health and hygiene, juvenile delinquency and the state's social conditions are among its subjects. A 2003 typescript of 89 leaves with a bibliography on the closing pages.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: North Carolina Industrial School for Negro Girls (Efland, N.C.).

UNC

The History of Chestnut Ridge United Methodist Church, 1832-1982

Compton, Stephen Charles · 1982

Stephen Charles Compton's 22-page history of Chestnut Ridge United Methodist Church at Efland, spanning the 150 years from 1832 to 1982. A short Methodist congregational history of the kind often printed for an anniversary. Published in 1982, 22 centimeters.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: North Carolina -- Efland.

UNC
Show 2 more

Council on the Status of Women, Subject Files, Female Firsts Questionnaires

North Carolina Council for Women · 1975

Questionnaires and mailing lists from 1975 to 1977 for the Council's Female Firsts project, from the North Carolina Council on the Status of Women's subject files, 101 images. Hillsborough and Efland are among the Orange County places named.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the DPLA record: Efland (N.C.).

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Council on the Status of Women, Subject Files, Congratulatory Letters, Orange County

North Carolina Council for Women · 1974

Clippings and congratulatory letters from 1974 to 1976 in an Orange County folder of the North Carolina Council on the Status of Women's subject files, with Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Efland among the places named. Eleven images.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the DPLA record: Efland (N.C.).

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Recently indexed: Cross Reference Directory, Greater Durham, Research Triangle Park, Butner, Creedmoor, Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, Carrboro · InfoUSA City Directories Cross Reference Directory: Consumer and Business Guide for Durham, North Carolina and Vicinity · The geology and geomorphology of the Sevenmile Creek drainage basin, Efland, North Carolina (1980) · Telephone Directory [May 1963] (1963) · Champion map of Chapel Hill-Durham, North Carolina and vicinity (1986)

Search all 50 indexed works →

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this place. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 929.209 RIC Efland Family History Richardson, Linda Efland · 2001

    Linda Efland Richardson's history of the Efland family, whose name the Orange County community of Efland carries. The lineage runs from Bernhard Iffelandt through the emigrant Johan Davitt Ifflandt and Peter Iffland, who took the Efland spelling, down to the twentieth century and Sim Efland (1913-2000). Published by the author in Kernersville in 2001, 84 pages with illustrations, portraits and facsimiles.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 929.209 PET Know your Relatives: The Sharps, Gibbs, Graves, Efland, Albright, Loy, Miller, Snodderly, Tillman, and Other Related Families Peters, Genevieve Elizabeth (Cummings) · 1953

    Genevieve Elizabeth Cummings Peters compiled this 1953 family history around the Sharp family and related lines: Gibbs, Graves, Efland, Albright, Loy, Miller, Snoderly and Tillman. Efland is also the name of the Orange County community west of Hillsborough. 242 pages with illustrations, part of the library's Wall Local History Collection.

Research sources

Resources picked for this place, each with a note on what it holds.

Background

National Register files

Historic sites, markers, and maps

Records of the time

Collections and databases

  • NC LIVE: prepared search for Efland Library card An advanced search of the state’s shared databases already scoped to Orange County’s places and this subject; edit it freely, and sign in through your North Carolina library to read

Local help

More to discover

Keep Reading Local

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

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