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Houses, farms, parks and cemeteries

Ayr Mount

In Hillsborough. 6 dated events, 1811–1993.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange and OpenStreetMap; town and community pins mark the middle of their mapped buildings.

People in its history

Indexed works

Books, articles, records and pictures in the index about Ayr Mount, found by its names in titles, catalog subjects and the index’s descriptions, and read one by one. Those held at OCPL come first.

Held at OCPL

The Kirklands of Ayr Mount

Anderson, Jean Bradley · 1991 · University of North Carolina Press

Jean Bradley Anderson's family history of the Kirklands, the Scottish family who built Ayr Mount, the plantation house that still stands outside Hillsborough. Beginning with a 1696 marriage in Lochfergus, Scotland, the account centers on William Kirkland, born 1768, who came to North Carolina from Scotland, married Margaret Blain Scott in 1792 and established the family at Ayr Mount, and it follows their descendants. Published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1991, 241 pages plus 22 pages of plates, with maps.

✓ Held at OCPL · NC 975.656 AND NC Cardinal UNC Duke NC State Durham Chapel Hill PL Library of Congress Wake Forest Davidson

Elsewhere

Ayr Mount on the Eno River, near Hillsborough, North Carolina

Sanders, John L. · 1989

John L. Sanders writing on Ayr Mount, the house built for William Kirkland on the Eno River near Hillsborough. Printed as an offprint from the May 1989 issue of The Magazine Antiques, with a bibliography on page 13. Covering historic buildings in Orange County and Kirkland himself, who lived from 1768 to 1836, it is a compact account of one of the county's landmark houses.

UNC

Ayr Mount

North Carolina ECHO (Project) · 2002

Roadside sign marking the entrance to Ayr Mount, the Kirkland family house in Hillsborough, photographed on 6 April 2002 for the North Carolina ECHO project.

DPLA

Ayr Mount

North Carolina ECHO (Project) · 2002

Side view of the exterior of Ayr Mount in Hillsborough, taken on 6 April 2002 as part of the North Carolina ECHO project.

DPLA

Ayr Mount

North Carolina ECHO (Project) · 2002

Ayr Mount in Hillsborough seen from the front, one of a set of views of the house made for the North Carolina ECHO project on 6 April 2002.

DPLA

Ayr Mount

North Carolina ECHO (Project) · 2002

In the Warming Room at Ayr Mount, books about the Hillsborough house are set out on display. Photographed 6 April 2002 for the North Carolina ECHO project.

DPLA

Ayr Mount

North Carolina ECHO (Project) · 2002

William Kirkland, a Scottish merchant and investor, built Ayr Mount in Hillsborough. His portrait was photographed at the house on 6 April 2002 for the North Carolina ECHO project.

DPLA
Show 6 more works

Ayr Mount

North Carolina ECHO (Project) · 2002

John Broadwood pianoforte of 1797 that belonged to the Kirkland family and has always been part of Ayr Mount in Hillsborough. North Carolina ECHO project photograph, 6 April 2002.

DPLA

Ayr Mount

North Carolina ECHO (Project) · 2002

Etchings of North Carolina by Louis Orr at Ayr Mount in Hillsborough, which owns and exhibits the complete set. Taken on 6 April 2002 for the North Carolina ECHO project.

DPLA

Ayr Mount

North Carolina ECHO (Project) · 2002

Side table original to Ayr Mount in Hillsborough, possibly made by the cabinetmaker Thomas Day. North Carolina ECHO project photograph of 6 April 2002.

DPLA

Ayr Mount

North Carolina ECHO (Project) · 2002

Handmade crib that belonged to the Kirkland family, on display on the second floor of Ayr Mount in Hillsborough. Photographed 6 April 2002 for the North Carolina ECHO project.

DPLA

Ayr Mount

North Carolina ECHO (Project) · 2002

Close view of how the Kirkland family crib at Ayr Mount in Hillsborough was built, one of the North Carolina ECHO project photographs of the house from 6 April 2002.

DPLA

Ayr Mount

North Carolina ECHO (Project) · 2002

Tall case clock made about 1806 by Thomas Emond, standing in the foyer of Ayr Mount in Hillsborough. North Carolina ECHO project photograph, 6 April 2002.

DPLA

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Ayr Mount alone: the architectural surveys that cover its town or the county, and maps drawn while it stood. Several of the surveys can be read free online at NC Digital Collections.

Hillsborough architectural survey

Slane, Heather Wagner · 2017 · hmwPreservation

Survey of Hillsborough's historic buildings by Heather Wagner Slane of hmwPreservation, completed in September 2017. The 40-page report covers the town's architecture and history with color illustrations and maps.

NC Cardinal DPLA

Time in place, place in time : history and sense of place in Hillsborough, North Carolina

Warren, Cheryl Davis · 2005

Cheryl Davis Warren's 2005 study of history and sense of place in Hillsborough, 216 leaves with illustrations, maps and a bibliography. Written as human geography, it treats the town's past alongside its social conditions and the ways residents understand where they live.

UNC

Plan of the town of Hillsboro, taken in October 1863

1863

Plan of Hillsborough drawn in October 1863, showing the downtown blocks around the crossing of Tryon and Churton Streets, with the Eno River, spelled Enoe on the sheet.

DPLA

Birdseye View of Hillsboro, N.C. Looking East

1905 · A. C. Bosselman & Co., New York, N.Y

Bird's-eye view of Hillsborough looking east, with houses and industrial buildings, on a postcard published by A. C. Bosselman & Co. of New York about 1905 to 1915. Card number 11116.

DPLA

Found a book OCPL doesn’t own? You can often borrow it through interlibrary loan at OCPL.

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection at the Main Library in Hillsborough whose titles, catalog subjects or descriptions are about this site. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.656 AND The Kirklands of Ayr Mount Anderson, Jean Bradley · 1991

    Jean Bradley Anderson's family history of the Kirklands, the Scottish family who built Ayr Mount, the plantation house that still stands outside Hillsborough. Beginning with a 1696 marriage in Lochfergus, Scotland, the account centers on William Kirkland, born 1768, who came to North Carolina from Scotland, married Margaret Blain Scott in 1792 and established the family at Ayr Mount, and it follows their descendants. Published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1991, 241 pages plus 22 pages of plates, with maps.

Where to look next on the shelf

These books don’t necessarily mention Ayr Mount, but they cover where it stands, its kind of building and the land, family and burial records behind it, and they are where a search for a place like this usually goes next. All are at OCPL, most in the Wall Collection.

Histories of the town and county

  • Start here · NC 975.656 LLO History of the Town of Hillsborough, 1754-1982 Lloyd, Allen Alexander · 1983

    A 1982 revision of Allen Alexander Lloyd's history of Hillsborough, now written with Pauline O. Lloyd and carried forward from the town's founding in 1754 to 1982. Published in Hillsborough by A. A. Lloyd, 310 pages with illustrations and a bibliography.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.656 HOLADAY Hillsborough Holaday, Chris · 2002

    J. Chris Holaday's Images of America volume on Hillsborough (Arcadia, 2002), built mostly from photographs and postcards. Chapters cover homes, churches and schools, business and industry, local people, scenes around town, and sports, entertainment and events.

  • Foundational · 975.656 RYAN Orange County Trio: Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro, North Carolina, Histories and Tour Guides Ryan, Elizabeth Shreve · 2004

    Elizabeth Shreve Ryan's combined histories and tour guides for Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro, the three towns of Orange County, with the University of North Carolina treated alongside Chapel Hill. Each town gets a narrative history and a tour of its streets and buildings. Published by Chapel Hill Press in 2004, 369 pages with illustrations and maps.

Buildings and surveys

  • Foundational · NC 720.975 BIS A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina Bishir, Catherine W. · 2003

    Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern's field guide to the historic buildings of the North Carolina Piedmont, arranged county by county from Wake and Franklin in the east to Mecklenburg and Gaston in the west. The Orange County section takes in Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro along with the rural county, with entries on individual buildings and maps for finding them. Published 2003, 596 pages with illustrations and maps.

  • Foundational · NC 720.975 HILLSBOR Hillsborough Historic District Inventory 2006

    An inventory of the buildings in the Hillsborough Historic District, dated 2006. It concerns historic buildings and the buildings and structures of Hillsborough. Useful for anyone checking a particular property in the town's historic district.

  • Start here · NC 720.975 BEL Photocensus: A Photographic Survey of Buildings in the Hillsborough, N.C. Historic District Built Before 1950 Bellinger, Susan McArtor · 1991

    Susan McArtor Bellinger's photographic survey of the buildings in the Hillsborough Historic District put up before 1950, self-published in Hillsborough in 1991. Arranged as a guidebook, it records houses and other structures in photographs. 142 pages with illustrations.

Show 1 more
  • Rebecca Wall Collection · 917.565 DUL The Pelican Guide to Hillsborough, Historic Orange County, North Carolina Dula, Lucile Noell · 1989

    Lucile Noell Dula's guidebook to Hillsborough and its historic buildings, published by Pelican in 1989. It pairs a tour of the town with notes on its history, in 128 illustrated pages with a bibliography. Part of the Wall Local History Collection.

Land, family and burial records

  • Foundational · NC 333.3 DUNAWAY Hillsborough, North Carolina History of Town Lots: The Complete Reference Guide Dunaway, Stewart E. · 2013

    Stewart E. Dunaway worked through Hillsborough, N.C., lot by lot, giving each town lot a synopsis of its history, a plat showing where it sits and transcripts of the deeds he could locate for it. The second issue runs to 720 pages with illustrations, maps and facsimiles.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 333.3 DUNAWAY Hillsborough, North Carolina History of Town Lots: Addendum 2015 Dunaway, Stewart E. · 2015

    Stewart E. Dunaway's 2015 addendum to his history of Hillsborough's town lots, adding deed records arranged by lot number and further town history, with the expansion of the 1890s covered for the first time. Self-published in North Carolina as version 1.0, 446 pages with illustrations, facsimiles and maps. Topics include deeds, court records, land titles and real property in Hillsborough.

  • Foundational · NC 333.3 IND An Index to the Town Lots of Hillsborough: Orange County, North Carolina 1982

    An index to the town lots of Hillsborough, Orange County, compiled in 1982 as a guide to the deeds and court records that trace each lot's ownership.

Show 2 more

In the chronology

  1. William Kirkland gives four enslaved people to Thomas and Anne Ruffin Out of affection for his son-in-law Thomas Ruffin and his daughter Anne, William Kirkland of Ayr Mount conveyed to Ruffin a woman named Juley, her two children, John and an infant, and a young girl, all of them already in the Ruffins' household. The deed was proved at the Orange County court that August. People: William Kirkland, Thomas Ruffin, Anne Kirkland Ruffin
  2. Ayr Mount is completed Scottish-born merchant William Kirkland built Ayr Mount, a Federal-style brick plantation house near Hillsborough, in 1815. Its brick was made on the plantation, and carpenter John J. Briggs, a mason named Collier and joiner Elhannon Nutt worked on the house. People: William Kirkland
  3. William Kirkland dies, leaving Ayr Mount to his widow William Kirkland died in 1836 and left his estate to his wife, Margaret Scott Kirkland; their son John Umstead Kirkland later acquired Ayr Mount from her estate. The inventory taken after his death lists twenty enslaved people, some of whom worked at his store, tannery and other businesses in Hillsborough. People: John U. Kirkland
  4. Ayr Mount is listed in the National Register On August 26, 1971 the National Park Service listed Ayr Mount in Hillsborough in the National Register of Historic Places.
  5. Richard Jenrette buys Ayr Mount Richard H. Jenrette bought Ayr Mount, the 1815 Kirkland house outside Hillsborough, from the Kirkland family and paid for its restoration, hiring specialists to find its original paint colors and decor. It was the only house he bought in North Carolina.
  6. Jenrette founds the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust with Ayr Mount Richard Jenrette founded the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust with his gift of Ayr Mount, which became the first of his houses opened to the public. The trust, later renamed the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation, came to own land around Ayr Mount including Poet's Walk and the Occoneechee Speedway site.

Open these in the chronology →

Research sources

Background context 3

Background from selected state and local sources

Places to visit 6

Maps, surveys, and the ground itself

Read contemporary evidence 5

Newspapers, photographs, and records of the time

Search beyond the index 4

Other catalogs, databases, and guides worth searching

Ask locally 5

Local organizations that preserve the story and can help you go further

Nearby

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