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Schools and academies

Hillsborough High School

Hillsborough High School occupied the Classical Revival brick building on West Tryon Street finished in 1922, meant by the county board as a memorial to its First World War dead. Its high school grades moved to Orange High School in 1963, and the building, a school until 1980, now houses the Richard E. Whitted Human Services Center.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

People in its history

People named in events about this site, ordered by number of mentions. Each example links to an entry with a source citation.

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Sites linked through the same people

Indexed works

Books, articles, records, and images about Hillsborough High School. Each has been reviewed for relevance; materials held at OCPL appear first.

About the site

Contract documents for school construction and appurtenant work : Aycock School (white), Carrboro School (white), Chapel Hill school (Negro), Hillsboro School (Negro), Murphey School (white), Orange Grove School (white), St. Mary's School (white)

Atwood and Weeks, Inc., architects and engineers, H.D. Carter, associate · 1935 · Orange County Board of Education

Contract documents prepared in 1935 by the architects and engineers Atwood and Weeks, with H. D. Carter, for a Public Works Administration school-building program in Orange County, PWA project NC 1005, issued by the county Board of Education in Hillsboro. The title lists seven schools, five for white pupils, Aycock, Carrboro, Murphey, Orange Grove and St. Mary's, and two for Black pupils, at Chapel Hill and Hillsboro, in the period's own labels. 49 leaves plus 20 unnumbered.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

UNC

Plumbing : contract documents for school construction and appurtenant work : Aycock School (white), Carrboro School (white), Chapel Hill school (Negro), Hillsboro School (Negro), Murphey School (white), Orange Grove School (white), St. Mary's School (white)

Atwood and Weeks, Inc., architects and engineers, H.D. Carter, associate · 1935 · Orange County Board of Education

Plumbing contract documents for a 1935 school construction program of the Orange County Board of Education, a Public Works Administration project numbered NC 1005, covering seven schools: Aycock, Carrboro, Murphey, Orange Grove and St. Mary's, designated for white pupils, and the Chapel Hill and Hillsboro schools, designated for Black pupils. Prepared by Atwood and Weeks, architects and engineers, with H. D. Carter, 39 leaves.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

UNC

Case histories of nine retarded students in the Hillsboro High School

Craig-Scott, Ellen J. · 1926

Ellen J. Craig-Scott's 1926 study of nine pupils at Hillsboro High School whom the school had classed as slow learners, written up as individual case histories with attention to their reading. The period language of the title reflects the terms educators used at the time. One hundred fifteen leaves with illustrations and a bibliography.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

UNC

Not a step upward, but a whole stair-case

Browning, Alan (Artist) · 1922

A picture concerning Hillsboro High School by the artist Alan Browning, made at Hillsborough in 1922. Measures 36 by 53 centimeters.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

UNC

Hillsboro High School, Hillsboro, N.C.

A. A. Lloyd and Lowe, Hillsborough, N.C

Published by A. A. Lloyd and Lowe of Hillsborough, this card shows the building the title calls Hillsboro High School.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

DPLA

Published by or for this institution

Silhouette

Hillsborough High School · Hillsborough High School

Hillsborough High School's own annual, published by the school under the title Silhouette and filed with school yearbooks for Hillsborough and Orange County. Volumes of this kind serve genealogists and school historians who need to place a student in a particular class year.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

UNC

Silhouette [1960]

1960

Hillsborough High School published 'Silhouette' as its yearbook, and this is the issue for 1960. Orange County Public Library supplied the copy that appears in DigitalNC's North Carolina Yearbooks collection.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

DigitalNC DPLA

Silhouette [1957]

1957

The 1957 'Silhouette' from Hillsborough High School, covering that school year. Orange County Public Library is named as the source, and the volume belongs to DigitalNC's North Carolina Yearbooks collection.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

DigitalNC DPLA

Silhouette [1955]

1955

Silhouette for 1955 is the yearbook of Hillsborough High School, in the Orange County town of Hillsborough. It came to DigitalNC's North Carolina Yearbooks collection from the Orange County Public Library.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

DigitalNC DPLA

Silhouette [1944]

1944

A 1944 Silhouette from Hillsborough High School. Like the other Hillsborough volumes, it reaches DigitalNC's North Carolina Yearbooks collection through the Orange County Public Library.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

DigitalNC DPLA

Silhouette [1942]

1942

The Hillsborough High School yearbook for 1942, titled Silhouette. The Orange County Public Library supplied it to DigitalNC's North Carolina Yearbooks collection.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

DigitalNC DPLA
Show 4 more of its own publications

Silhouette [1940]

1940

Students at Hillsborough High School issued 'Silhouette' for 1940. The Orange County Public Library contributed it to the North Carolina Yearbooks collection at DigitalNC.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

DigitalNC DPLA

Silhouette [1938]

1938

Silhouette, 1938, from Hillsborough High School in Orange County. Another of the Orange County Public Library's yearbooks in DigitalNC's North Carolina Yearbooks collection.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

DigitalNC DPLA

Silhouette [1939]

1938

Hillsborough High School's 'Silhouette' for 1939, listed with a date of 1938. The copy comes from Orange County Public Library and sits in DigitalNC's North Carolina Yearbooks collection.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

DigitalNC DPLA

Silhouette [1937]

1937

A 1937 'Silhouette', the yearbook of Hillsborough High School in the Orange County seat. The volume came to DigitalNC's North Carolina Yearbooks collection from the Orange County Public Library.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

DigitalNC DPLA

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Hillsborough High School 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.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Cardinal NC Digital Collections DPLA

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

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.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Hillsboro, Orange County, North Carolina.

1905

Fire insurance map of Hillsborough, spelled Hillsboro, drawn by the Sanborn Map Company in January 1905 on two sheets, from the Sanborn Maps collection.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

Library of Congress Digital Collections

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.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

DPLA

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

Start at OCPL

    Where to look on the shelf

    These books don’t necessarily mention Hillsborough High School, 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.

    Show 1 more
    • Start here · NC 371.097 PENDER 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.

    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.

    In the chronology

    1. The Hillsboro school committee buys the town's first public schoolhouse and lot The committee bought a house on a two-acre lot, known as the Wash Bruce or Gill lot, from E. S. Cooley for $500. Pender says Hillsboro had never before owned a school building; the county board furnished it and paid for repairs. DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 53
    2. Robert McArthur Wilson teaches at the Hillsboro High School Between graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1909 and entering the Columbia University summer school in 1911, Robert McArthur Wilson, who grew up in Goldsboro, taught in the Hillsboro High School. In 1911 he became principal of the Rocky Mount High School and in 1914 superintendent of its city schools. Internet Archive: R. D. W. Connor, William K. Boyd and J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, History of North Carolina (1919), vol. 5, p. 39
    3. Principal R. M. Wilson resigns from the Hillsboro High School R. M. Wilson, principal of the Hillsboro High School for two years and just re-elected, resigned to take a position in the Rocky Mount schools. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 6, 1911, p. 5
    4. The county teachers' institute opens at the Hillsboro High School The two-week Orange County teachers' institute opened with a large attendance in the Hillsboro High School building, conducted by J. Henry Highsmith of Wake Forest College with Anna Meade Michaux and Superintendent T. Wingate Andrews. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 20, 1911, p. 5
    5. N. E. West becomes principal of the Hillsboro High School The Hillsboro High School prepared to open on September 18 under a new principal, N. E. West of Wilmington, a recent graduate of the university, with Mary Tinnin, Catharine Norfleet and Flossie Martin teaching the lower grades. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), September 14, 1911, p. 4
    6. Hillsboro High School opens its term with a record 136 pupils The Hillsboro High School opened with 136 pupils enrolled on the first day, which the paper called the largest attendance in the school's history. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), September 21, 1911, p. 5
    7. Annie Sutton Cameron begins teaching first grade at the Hillsboro school By The News of Orange County's account in 1944, Annie Sutton Cameron became the first-grade teacher at the Hillsboro elementary school in 1916 and was still in that post. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 2, 1944, p. 1 (This Week's Orange Woman)
    8. The county board commits $20,000 to a new Hillsboro school as a memorial to the county's war dead The board first offered Hillsboro $5,000 for a new school plant if the town raised $2,500, then settled on $20,000, and asked that the building honor the men of the county killed in the First World War. It offered Carrboro $2,500 on condition that voters there pass a $20,000 bond issue. DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 67
    9. Hillsboro finishes its new $100,000 school building The town's new brick school on West Tryon Street was reported ready within a week in September 1922, though a shortage of desks held up the opening. By early 1923 it housed grades one through eleven for the consolidated Hillsboro schools under principal J. A. Abernethy. DigitalNC: Charlotte Observer, September 22, 1922, p. 7 · Also: Durham Morning Herald, February 4, 1923, p. 21
    10. Hillsboro's first public schoolhouse is gone and its lot is set aside for an athletic field Once the new consolidated school opened, the grounds where the old Hillsboro schoolhouse had stood were to become the new school's athletic field, according to a February 1923 report. DigitalNC: Durham Morning Herald, February 4, 1923, p. 21
    11. Orange County schools hold their annual Music Night at Hillsboro The county schools held their annual Music Night in the Hillsboro high school auditorium, with choral singing, dancing, a toy band and a harmonica band, and an address by a speaker from the North Carolina College for Women. The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 5, 1932, p. 2
    12. The American Legion Auxiliary holds an Americanism program in Hillsboro Lieutenant Governor A. H. Graham spoke on Americanism at the Auxiliary's exercises in the Hillsboro high school auditorium on February 27, with Boy Scouts presenting the colors and Mrs. Lyman Cotten speaking on the restoration of Stratford, the Lee home. A tea for the members and guests followed at the home of Mrs. R. R. Hayes. People: Alexander H. "Sandy" Graham The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 2, 1934, p. 5
    Show all 62 dated events
    1. Parents turn back a plan to merge the Aycock, Efland and Hillsboro schools A large crowd of parents appeared before the board to fight a plan that would have folded the Aycock, Efland and Hillsboro schools into one. The opposition was strong enough that the board dropped the plan, which returned in 1963 as Orange High School. DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 79
    2. Hillsboro High School gets an addition built with PWA money An addition to the Hillsboro high school was under construction in May 1936 as part of the county's $346,000 school building program, paid for partly by a federal Public Works Administration grant. The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 22, 1936, p. 1 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, October 11, 1935, p. 1
    3. The county board applies for home economics and agriculture teachers at Hillsboro School The board voted in April 1936 to apply for teachers of agriculture and home economics at the Hillsboro School, while seeking federal funds for new buildings and additions. DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 80
    4. The county school board pulls down a century-old house opposite the Hillsboro school An old house across from the Hillsboro school, given to the school board by former resident Edward Harris, collapsed from dry rot and termites when the board tried to move it, and the board tore it down to use its sound timber for a janitor's cottage. On September 24 H. D. Carter auctioned its five mantels, thought to be 100 to 125 years old, and some doors in the high school gym for $101.16. People: H. D. Carter The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 17, 1937, p. 1
    5. Hillsboro's polling place moves to the high school athletic building The county board of elections ordered a new registration of all voters in the Hillsboro precinct, October 10 to 29, voiding the old books, and moved the precinct's polling place from the board of education building to the athletic building of Hillsboro High School. People: Frederick O. Bowman The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 23, 1938, p. 5
    6. Hillsboro High School opens wartime welding and carpentry classes The agriculture department of Hillsboro High School began two wartime courses for the county's young men, one in welding and one in carpentry, meeting three nights a week. About twelve students had enrolled, and the school said places were still open. The News (Chapel Hill), February 3, 1944, p. 2
    7. Hillsboro High students put out the first issue of the Yellow Jacket Students at Hillsboro High School published the first issue of the Yellow Jacket, a mimeographed school paper planned for every two weeks, with commercial teacher Mrs. B. P. Gordon Jr. as sponsor. The first issue ran thirteen pages, from school sports to a lovelorn column. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 2, 1944, p. 1
    8. Hillsboro High opens a lunchroom under the federal child feeding program The new lunchroom in the school's extension next to the cannery served a class A lunch to about 400 pupils a day for ten cents, with free meal tickets for children who could not pay; the county gave $3,000 and the government paid nine cents a meal. Six of the nine white county schools and one Black school, Gravely Hill, now served class A lunches. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 11, 1945, p. 1
    9. Hillsboro parents air complaints about the town's schools at a mass meeting After the regular PTA meeting, a citizens' mass meeting in Hillsboro aired complaints about the town's schools, from failing students to pupils idling on the streets in school hours. Principal G. A. Brown answered at length, blaming wartime losses of six men teachers and frequent janitor changes and saying only one of the last 25 graduates to go to college had failed; a motion to add two members to the school committee was withdrawn because the meeting was unofficial. People: Grady A. Brown The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 12, 1945, p. 1
    10. Hillsboro High graduates forty-five seniors, two of them war veterans Hillsboro High School's graduation exercises on June 5 were to give diplomas to forty-five seniors, among them two overseas veterans who had left school for the service and since earned the credits they lacked: an Army private wounded overseas and an Air Forces pilot who had flown in Europe. Dr. C. Sylvester Green, editor of the Durham Morning Herald, gave the address, and Mayor Ben G. Johnston presented the diplomas. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 31, 1945, p. 1 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 7, 1945, p. 4
    11. The community cannery at Hillsboro High School opens for the season The cannery at the Hillsboro high school opened on July 19 under acting supervisor G. A. Munn. It was open to anyone in the county who wished to do canning, every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., on a trial schedule while the hours people needed were worked out. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 19, 1945, p. 1
    12. The county board closes the Caldwell high school and sends its pupils to Hillsboro During the 1946 summer recess the county board of education, on the state board's suggestion, closed the high school at Caldwell for low attendance and sent its pupils to Hillsboro High School. That fall the Caldwell school also struggled to keep a teacher for its seventh and eighth grades until a former Hillsboro teacher took the post in November. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 17, 1946, p. 1
    13. The state gives Orange Furniture Craftsmen its first Certificate of Safety Achievement State Labor Commissioner Forrest H. Shuford presented the Hillsboro plant of White Furniture Company with the first of North Carolina's new Certificates of Safety Achievement, earned by working two six-month periods without a lost-time accident. Governor R. Gregg Cherry spoke to about 400 employees, officials and townspeople in the Hillsboro high school auditorium, and the company gave a barbecue supper afterward. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 19, 1946, p. 1
    14. Elmer R. Dowdy holds forestry thinning demonstrations for Schley farmers Elmer R. Dowdy, agriculture teacher at the Hillsboro school and director of its veterans' farm training program, held forestry thinning demonstrations on the Ed Wilson and H. Parker farms in the Schley neighborhood, with the district forester and the Soil Conservation Service marking the trees. About fifty farmers attended. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 6, 1947, p. 6 (Soil Conservation News)
    15. Frank P. Graham tells a Hillsboro audience the atomic age needs a spiritual revolution University president Frank P. Graham spoke to nearly 500 people in the Hillsboro high school auditorium on why the atomic revolution called for a spiritual one, opening a monthly series of talks by the newly reorganized Laymen's League of the town's Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian and Episcopal churches. People: Elmer R. Dowdy The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 27, 1947, p. 1
    16. Superintendent Proffit's $1 million school bond pays for a new Efland school for Black children and county lunchrooms The $1,000,000 school bond passed under Superintendent Glenn T. Proffit paid for grounds and a building for the Efland school for Black children, an addition to Hillsboro High School, and lunchrooms at Aycock, Efland, West Hillsborough and White Cross. It also bought a cannery and gymnasium at Aycock and a remodeling and auditorium at Caldwell. People: Glenn T. Proffit DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 129
    17. PTA spokesmen lay Orange County's school needs before the fact-finding committee At public hearings in Hillsboro, PTA groups from nearly every county school reported their needs to the education subcommittee of the county fact-finding committee, the Black schools on January 12 and the white schools on January 13. Chapel Hill asked for two elementary schools and a full high school to replace the one burned in 1942, Hillsboro for a new senior high school, and Black spokesmen for consolidating eight northern schools into one at Cedar Grove. People: Charles S. Hubbard The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 20, 1949, p. 1
    18. Marinda McPherson sponsors the annual kite contest at the Hillsboro school The annual kite contest sponsored by Mrs. M. D. McPherson was held on the school playground in Hillsboro, with prizes for the fastest getaway, the longest distance, dash and altitude, and the most original kite. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 7, 1949, p. 10 (News of Negro Community)
    19. Hillsboro High is again chosen to help train State College agriculture seniors Hillsboro High School was again selected as one of 14 schools in North Carolina for training seniors in agriculture at North Carolina State College. Its vocational agriculture teacher, Elmer R. Dowdy, went to a conference at State College to plan their course of study. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 14, 1949, p. 1 (Selected Again)
    20. Hillsboro High School begins a driver training course with a dual-control car Hillsboro High School began teaching driver training under principal G. A. Brown and coach Glenn Auman, who had taken an instructors' course at Chapel Hill that summer. Eno Chevrolet Company lent a new dual-control 1949 Chevrolet, the county paid the insurance and running costs, and fifteen students enrolled. People: Grady A. Brown The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 15, 1949, p. 1
    21. A packed hearing airs the fight over the Hillsboro and Aycock high school districts The county Board of Education heard both sides of its plan to move the Caldwell and Efland areas from the Hillsboro High School district to Aycock High at Cedar Grove. Opponents presented petitions with 2,032 signatures and another signed by the whole Hillsboro student body, Aycock's backers argued the rural school needed the territory to survive, and chairman Kemp Cate closed the meeting without a decision. People: Bonner D. Sawyer, Kemp S. Cate, Charles S. Hubbard The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 9, 1950, p. 1
    22. Hillsboro High School graduates 59 seniors Fifty-nine seniors, the largest class in recent years, received diplomas at Hillsboro High School's commencement, where acting university president W. D. Carmichael Jr. gave the address. Following a 27-year custom, the PTA gave each graduate a Bible, and the county Board of Education gave safety awards to seven student school bus drivers. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 25, 1950, p. 1
    23. The State Board of Education leaves the Hillsboro and Aycock school lines as they were Ruling on appeals from both sides, the State Board of Education decided at its June 1 meeting that pupils who had been attending Hillsboro High School would stay there and that Aycock High School would continue as it was. The county school board had first proposed enlarging the Aycock district to shore up its enrollment and then reversed itself, setting new lines that moved about six families. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 8, 1950, p. 1
    24. Hillsboro and Lincoln high schools are named farm training centers for Korean War veterans By late January 1953 the State Board of Education had named the agriculture department of Hillsboro High School the training center for white Korean War veterans studying farming under the new G.I. bill, Public Law 550, and Lincoln High School's agriculture department the center for Black veterans, the only two approved in the county. Veterans had to enroll by March 1 or wait until October. People: Elmer R. Dowdy The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 29, 1953, p. 1
    25. The county school board refuses Murphey School parents' request to send their children to Hillsboro Parents in the Murphey School district had petitioned for their children to attend Hillsboro School, saying the Murphey facilities were inferior. The Board of Education refused, saying Hillsboro had no room for more pupils in 1953-54, and promised to work with the Murphey community on the most feasible solution. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 9, 1953, p. 1
    26. Hillsboro High School restarts its band with a hired director A one-day public fund drive by the PTA and the Exchange Club raised close to $600 to pay a part-time band director, and James H. Johnson of Chapel Hill took up the work at Hillsboro High School with about 50 students enrolled. Pupils used school, family and rented instruments. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 15, 1953, p. 1
    27. Hillsboro's Business and Professional Women's Club honors Annie Cameron During National Business Women's Week the Hillsboro club honored Annie Cameron, first-grade teacher at the Hillsboro school for more than two generations of pupils, as Mayor Ben Johnston signed the week's proclamation. The club later counted her as its Woman of the Year for that year. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 14, 1954, p. 1
    28. Hillsboro High holds its first Career Day About 135 juniors and seniors of Hillsboro High spent the day at the First Baptist Church hearing local speakers on careers they had chosen, after an opening address by Roy Armstrong on planning for careers. The program was put on by the high school service committee of the Hillsboro PTA, and the students asked that it be held every year. People: G. Paul Carr The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 17, 1955, p. 8
    29. Elmer R. Dowdy leaves Hillsboro High's agriculture department after 18 years Elmer R. Dowdy, vocational agriculture teacher at the Hillsboro school for 18 years and director of its veterans' agricultural training, resigned to become Southeastern regional manager for a California food supplement company, saying Hillsboro would become its distribution point for the region. In July the county named Clyde A. Erwin Jr., son of the late state superintendent and once Dowdy's practice teacher, to succeed him. People: Elmer R. Dowdy The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 16, 1955, p. 1
    30. Cameron Park School opens in Hillsborough with the lower grades from Hillsboro High The new Cameron Park School took all of grades one through four from the Hillsboro High School building, leaving grades five through twelve there, with Fred Rogers, formerly of Efland, as principal. Transfer requests from other districts poured in and drew pupils away from West Hillsborough School. DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 83 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 20, 1956, p. 3
    31. The school board buys the old Laws place beside Hillsboro High School At a special meeting the county Board of Education bought the old Laws place on Hazel Street, opposite the Hillsboro High School janitor's home, for $5,000, its first chance in years to add land to the crowded high school site. Officials said the land could figure in choosing a site for a new gymnasium. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 20, 1956, p. 1
    32. The school board fixes sites for new gyms at Hillsboro High and Central School The county Board of Education placed Hillsboro High's new 85-by-110-foot gymnasium behind the bus parking lot west of the school, beside new Hazel Street, and told the architect to begin drawings; at Central School it turned down the state consultants' two sites and chose to build the gymtorium behind the cafeteria as fast as possible. It also endorsed the State Board of Education's legislative program, including teacher pay raises. People: G. Paul Carr The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 7, 1957, p. 1
    33. Hillsboro High School holds its 1957 commencement Hillsboro High School held its commencement with Dr. Bernard H. Boyd of the University of North Carolina giving the address and principal G. A. Brown presenting the diplomas. Local clubs and merchants gave medals to the honor graduates, and school bus drivers received pins for safe driving. People: Bernard H. (Bernard Henry) Boyd, Grady A. Brown The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 30, 1957, p. 1
    34. Work begins on a two-story gymnasium building for Hillsboro High School T. W. Poe and Sons of Durham won the contract on June 10, 1957 and began a $180,000 physical education building with classrooms and locker rooms below and a gymnasium above, due for completion in December. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 11, 1957, p. 1 · Also: DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983
    35. County school board awards contracts for the Hillsboro High gymnasium The Board of Education accepted the low bids, totaling $178,834 before the architect's fee, and awarded contracts for the new Hillsboro High School gymnasium, putting off remodeling of the school's front entrance to cover the shortfall. T. W. Poe and Sons of Durham won the general contract, and officials set about January 1 as the target for finishing. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 12, 1957, p. 1
    36. Hillsboro High School's new science department is finished in the old basement The conversion of the Hillsboro High School basement into a modern science department, which the state science supervisor had said would match those at the Burlington and Durham high schools, was finished in September. Students described a newly painted laboratory with new desks and black-topped tables, and the science club held its first meeting there on October 10. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 26, 1957, p. 8
    37. Hillsboro's school committee endorses making Orange Speedway the high school's athletic field The Hillsboro district school committee unanimously approved using the Orange Speedway grounds as Hillsboro High School's stadium and urged a 20-year lease, after Bill France offered on April 27 to lease the plant to the schools for $100 a year and pay $250 for each of his four race Sundays. The high school's own field had been cut up by its new gymnasium, and the lease itself needed the county Board of Education. People: Enoch Staley, L. E. Beard, Bonner D. Sawyer The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 22, 1958, p. 1
    38. The county school board accepts Hillsboro High's new $190,000 gymnasium The Orange County Board of Education accepted the new physical education building at Hillsboro High School from its builders, subject to repair of roof leaks, so students could use it when school opened the next week. The $190,000 building had been under contract since early June 1957 and was months late. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 4, 1958, p. 1
    39. Bill France leases Orange Speedway to the Orange County Board of Education Bill France signed a ten-year lease letting Hillsboro High School use the Orange Speedway grounds as its athletic field, for $100 a year, while races continued. People: Enoch Staley The News of Orange County (Hillsborough): Lease for speedway for high school use, September 18, 1958, p. 1
    40. Grading begins on a Hillsboro High football field inside Orange Speedway Work began on grading the Orange Speedway infield for a Hillsboro High School football field in front of the grandstand, under the ten-year lease just signed with the track's owners. Dirt from the north end and the track was moved to level the gridiron for planting grass, with the field to be ready the next year. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 2, 1958, p. 1
    41. Hillsboro High School reorganizes its band under director Robert B. Haas About 100 parents and children met in the school auditorium to organize the Hillsboro High School band under its new director, Robert B. Haas. Principal G. A. Brown described a daily band program during school hours, with a beginners' band and an A band, run from headquarters in the old gymnasium. People: Grady A. Brown The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 27, 1958, p. 1
    42. Hillsboro High School dedicates its new gymnasium Hillsboro High dedicated its new gymnasium between games of its basketball opener against Aycock, which the Wildcats won 72 to 21. Coaches Fred Claytor and Glenn Auman, former school board member Clarence D. Jones and Superintendent Paul Carr spoke, and the Rev. Lauton Pettit gave the dedicatory prayer. People: G. Paul Carr The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 11, 1958, p. 8
    43. About 200 parents air charges about student conduct at Hillsboro High before the district committee At a Monday night hearing called at the urging of the county's assistant clerk of court, a Cheshire who was a vice president of the Defenders, which the paper called the state's pro-segregation organization, speakers aired rumors and charges about student behavior, and Cheshire said he had information that two of the school's girls had been seeing Black youths and asked that they be removed. Principal G. A. Brown defended the school, said nothing had happened on school property and refused to expel anyone; the district committee took no action. People: Grady A. Brown The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 23, 1959, p. 1
    44. Concrete stands go up at Orange Speedway for Hillsboro High football Concrete stands were being poured in place of wooden benches at Orange Speedway, which owners Bill France and Enoch Staley had leased to the high school for ten years, and the infield, graded and sown that spring, had a stand of grass for the Hillsboro High football field. Plans were going ahead to light the field before the season opened in September. People: Enoch Staley The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 30, 1959, p. 1
    45. Hillsboro High School leaves the federal school lunch program for a choose-and-pay cafeteria To get more students eating in the lunchroom, where only 42.5 percent had eaten the year before, supervising principal G. A. Brown took Hillsboro High out of the federal school lunch and milk programs, giving up about $6,400 a year in federal payments and surplus food, and let students choose and pay for separate items in place of the set 30-cent plate lunch. People: Grady A. Brown The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 27, 1959, p. 1
    46. Hillsboro High's new football stadium at Orange Speedway opens After the lighting bid ran about $2,000 over budget and a hurricane delayed the Sanford contractor, the school's concrete stands and lighted field at the leased Orange Speedway were set to open October 23 against Oxford High; by November 6 a home game drew crowds whose traffic backed up from the stadium into town. Until then the Wildcats had moved home games to their opponents' fields. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 15, 1959, p. 8
    47. Orange Junior High School opens in the old Hillsborough High School building When the county consolidated its white high schools into Orange High in 1963, it organized Orange Junior High School for grades six through nine in the old Hillsborough High School building, with Ted Shoaf as principal. DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 85
    48. Aycock and Hillsborough High schools are consolidated into Orange High School On February 4, 1963 the county board of education resolved to consolidate the high schools at Hillsborough and Aycock into the new Orange High School. The News of Orange reported the board's vote on the consolidation, over the protests of Aycock and Caldwell parents, late on Tuesday, March 12, 1963. The new school north of Hillsboro opened to pupils on Monday, September 9, 1963, a week after the date first set, with Charles Yelverton as its first principal, and had 460 pupils that month. The new Orange Junior High School was housed in the old Hillsborough High School building, and Aycock continued as an elementary school. DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 85 · Also: Orange County Historical Museum: Integration in Orange County; NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination; Open Orange: 6116 Efland Cedar Grove Rd. / Aycock High School; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 14, 1963, p. 2; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 29, 1963, p. 8; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 12, 1963, p. 1; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 19, 1963, p. 1
    49. The 1922 Hillsborough Township School building closes as a school After Orange High School took the upper grades, the old school on West Tryon Street ran as an elementary school until 1980. It later housed the public library and then the Richard E. Whitted Human Services Center. National Register: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation (2014), p. 181
    50. Orange County Public Library moves to larger quarters in Hillsborough Volunteers were sought to move the Orange County Public Library's 30,000 books from the 1934 library building on Churton Street to new quarters in the Human Services Complex in Hillsborough, the former Hillsborough High School on West Tryon Street, with the move planned for the end of December 1981. The old building became the Orange County Historical Museum. DigitalNC: North Carolina Anvil, December 25, 1981, page 7

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