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North Carolina Railroad

The North Carolina Railroad, chartered in 1849 and built by the state from Goldsboro to Charlotte with $100,000 pledged by Orange County people, reached Hillsborough on April 4, 1855. Mebaneville grew up around its 1854 depot on the county line, and the last passenger trains ran through Hillsborough on March 16, 1964.

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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 North Carolina Railroad. Each has been reviewed for relevance; materials held at OCPL appear first.

About the site

The North Carolina Railroad Map, Book 3

1860

Book three of an 1860 map series tracing the North Carolina Railroad through Alamance, Orange and Wake counties. The sheets show the right of way and the property it crossed, providing material for railroad and land tenure history.

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

Durham

Proposed private crossing closures with the North Carolina Railroad (NCRR)/Norfolk Southern (NS) Railway at Gordon Thomas Drive (TIP no. P-44051), Greenbriar Drive (TIP no. P-4405J), and Byrdsville Road (TIP no. P-4405K), Orange County : environmental assessment

2015

Environmental assessment from May 2015 on closing three private railroad crossings on the North Carolina Railroad and Norfolk Southern line in Orange County, at Gordon Thomas Drive, Greenbriar Drive and Byrdsville Road. Prepared by the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration under the National Environmental Policy Act, with maps and plans.

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

NC Cardinal NC Digital Collections DPLA

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

Proposed private crossing closures with the North Carolina Railroad (NCRR)/Norfolk Southern (NS) Railway at Gordon Thomas Drive (TIP no. P-44051), Greenbriar Drive (TIP no. P-4405J), and Byrdsville Road (TIP no. P-4405K), Orange County : administrative action, finding of no significant impact

2015 · North Carolina Department of Transportation

Finding of no significant impact, October 2015, for closing three private railroad crossings on the North Carolina Railroad and Norfolk Southern line in Orange County: Gordon Thomas Drive, Greenbriar Drive and Byrdsville Road. The North Carolina Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration prepared it under the National Environmental Policy Act. 91 images.

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

NC Digital Collections DPLA

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

The North Carolina Railroad, industrial slavery, and the economic development of North Carolina

Keri T. Petersen · 2017

Keri Petersen's dissertation on the hired enslaved workers who built the North Carolina Railroad through the Piedmont, Hillsborough included, from 1851 to 1856, and the hundreds more who kept it running through the Civil War.

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

OpenAlex

N.C. Geological Survey. Sketch of N.C.R.R. from a tracing of Mr. Cooks.

Cain, William · 1880

Sketch of the North Carolina Railroad for the North Carolina Geological Survey, about 1880, reduced by William Cain (1847 to 1930), who taught engineering and mathematics at the University of North Carolina, from a tracing by a Mr. Cook. The line crosses Orange County between Wayne County in the east and Mecklenburg in the west.

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

State Archives of NC

[Map showing the route of the North Carolina Railroad]

Unknown · 1856

Map of the North Carolina Railroad route from Goldsboro to Charlotte, about 1856, by an unidentified maker. Counties are outlined and named, with some towns, post offices, rivers and creeks. Orange County lies along the route, and the Raleigh and Gaston and the Wilmington and Weldon lines also appear.

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

State Archives of NC
Show 1 more works

Property maps of the North Carolina Railroad. No. 3.

Gwynn, Walter, 1802-1882; Gwynn, Upton Bruce; Barney, Charles R; North Carolina Railroad Company · 1851 · North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources

Bound volume of hand-colored manuscript maps, 1851, the third of five showing North Carolina Railroad property surveys. Charles R. Barney and Upton Bruce Gwynn drew the plats for chief engineer Walter Gwynn, after surveying began in August 1850. This volume covers land in Orange, Alamance and Wake counties.

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

DPLA

Published by or for this institution

Proceedings of the stockholders of the North Carolina Rail Road Company [1884

North Carolina Railroad Company · 1884 · North Carolina Rail Road Company

The 1884 stockholders' proceedings of the North Carolina Rail Road Company, the line through Hillsborough and Orange County, printed by the company. Banking is among the topics. 28 images.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

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

Proceedings of the stockholders of the North Carolina Rail Road Company [1878

North Carolina Railroad Company · 1878 · North Carolina Rail Road Company

Stockholders' proceedings of the North Carolina Rail Road Company for 1878, with topics that include soldiers, banking and colleges, from the railroad that crossed Orange County at Hillsborough. 46 images.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

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

Proceedings of the ... annual meeting of the stockholders of the North Carolina Rail Road Company [1870

North Carolina Railroad Company · 1870 · North Carolina Rail Road Company

Proceedings of the 1870 annual stockholders' meeting of the North Carolina Rail Road Company, the line serving Hillsborough and Orange County, printed during Reconstruction. Topics include cotton, banking and African American history. 62 images.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

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

Proceedings of the ... annual meeting of the stockholders of the North Carolina Rail Road Company [1866

North Carolina Railroad Company · 1866 · North Carolina Rail Road Company

The North Carolina Rail Road Company's stockholders met in 1866, a year after the Civil War ended, and these printed proceedings set out their business. Topics include banking, cotton and African American history, and the line's Orange County town was Hillsborough. 86 images.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

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

Proceedings of the ... annual meeting of the stockholders of the North Carolina Rail Road Company [1862

North Carolina Railroad Company · 1862 · North Carolina Rail Road Company

Annual stockholders' meeting proceedings of the North Carolina Rail Road Company for 1862, printed in the middle of the Civil War, with matters touching soldiers and banking. The road ran through Hillsborough in Orange County. 60 images.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

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

Proceedings of the ... annual meeting of the stockholders of the North Carolina Rail Road Company [1854

North Carolina Railroad Company · 1854 · North Carolina Rail Road Company

Printed proceedings of the North Carolina Rail Road Company's annual stockholders' meeting for 1854, while the line through Hillsborough and Orange County was still being built. Banking and railroad finance are among the topics. 36 images.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

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

Show 2 more of its own publications

Proceedings of the ... annual meeting of the stockholders of the North Carolina Rail Road Company.

North Carolina Railroad Company · 1871

The published proceedings of the yearly stockholders' meetings of the North Carolina Rail Road Company, a serial whose title and place of printing changed from year to year; the 1854 meeting was printed at Hillsborough, other years at Greensboro, Raleigh, Salisbury and Company Shops. The issues for 1870 and 1871 also carry the company by-laws.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

UNC

North Carolina Railroad Company Record Group: General Records (State Archives series)

North Carolina Railroad Company · 1850

Twenty 1850 papers of the North Carolina Railroad Company concerning Orange County, dealing with right of way, landowners, stations, roads and waterways. Brick Church is named, with Charles R. Barney, Upton Bruce Gwynn and W. N. Pratt.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

State Archives of NC

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.

  • Foundational · NC 385.065 TRE The North Carolina Railroad, 1849-1871, and the Modernization of North Carolina Trelease, Allen W. · 1991

    In 1849 the legislature chartered the North Carolina Railroad, finished in 1856 from Goldsboro through Raleigh, Greensboro and Salisbury to Charlotte. Allen W. Trelease follows the company to 1871, when it leased its line to the Richmond and Danville, and weighs what the railroad meant for the state's development; the line spurred the growth of Durham, Company Shops (later Burlington) and High Point. UNC Press, 1991; 486 pages with illustrations and maps.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.658 STO Company Shops, the Town Built by A Railroad Stokes, Durward T. · 1981

    Burlington began as Company Shops, the town the North Carolina Railroad built around its maintenance shops in the 1850s, incorporated in 1866 and renamed in 1887, and Durward T. Stokes tells its history. The town lies in Alamance County, formed from Orange in 1849. John F. Blair published the 169 pages, with illustrations, a bibliography and an index, in 1981.

In the chronology

Storylines about this site, each with a page of its own:

  1. The North Carolina Railroad is chartered and built The General Assembly chartered the North Carolina Railroad in 1849, after Senate speaker Calvin Graves cast the deciding vote. The state built the 223-mile line from Goldsboro to Charlotte between 1851 and 1856, running it through Hillsborough, and the first train ran its full length in January 1856. Documenting the American South: Railroads in North Carolina
  2. The House of Commons passes the North Carolina Railroad bill brought in by Orange's member Mebane The final draft of the bill for a state-aided railroad by way of Raleigh, Hillsborough, Greensboro and Salisbury to Charlotte, drawn by Senator William S. Ashe of New Hanover, was introduced in the House of Commons by Mr. Mebane of Orange. After Rufus Barringer's last plea for a Danville connection and Mr. Stanly's pledge of eastern votes, the Danville bill was tabled, and on January 18 the House adopted the Ashe bill with amendments for the Raleigh and Gaston. The History names him only as "Mr. Mebane of Orange"; he was probably Giles Mebane, a member for Orange that session. People: William Sheppard Ashe Internet Archive: R. D. W. Connor, William K. Boyd and J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, History of North Carolina (1919), vol. 2, p. 233
  3. North Carolina Railroad stock books open at Hillsborough The commissioners opened the North Carolina Railroad subscription books at the Hillsborough court house, where John M. Morehead, David L. Swain and William A. Graham addressed the people; the editor called the first day's subscriptions respectable, and the books stayed open thirty days. People: Cadwallader Jones, Edmund Strudwick, John Motley Morehead, David L. Swain, William A. Graham Hillsborough Recorder, August 1, 1849, p. 3
  4. Orange County residents put up $100,000 for the North Carolina Railroad Orange County people pledged $100,000 in 1850 toward building the North Carolina Railroad, planned to cross the state from Goldsboro through Hillsborough to Charlotte. Its first rails went down at Greensboro in 1851. NC Digital Collections: Historic Resources of Orange County, National Register multiple property documentation form (1993), p. 19
  5. Orange railroad meeting names a committee to raise subscriptions A meeting of Orange County citizens at the court house in Hillsborough appointed a committee, among them Dr. W. A. Norwood, D. C. Parrish, John Berry, J. U. Kirkland, W. N. Pratt, C. W. Johnston and Josiah Turner Jr., to solicit subscriptions to the North Carolina Railroad and report at the February county court. People: Walter A. Norwood, John Berry, John U. Kirkland, Josiah Turner Jr. Hillsborough Recorder, February 13, 1850, p. 3
  6. Railroad convention at Hillsborough pledges the remaining North Carolina Railroad stock A railroad convention at Hillsborough, called to complete the list of one hundred men pledged to take the unsubscribed stock, agreed that the whole amount still needed under the charter would be taken. When the general commissioners met at Greensborough on March 30 they found $76,000 to $78,000 still lacking, mainly because the Petersburg Railroad found it could not take its $40,000, and reopened the books, at Hillsborough until May 1. Hillsborough Recorder, April 3, 1850, p. 3 · Also: North Carolina Democrat (Hillsborough), March 7, 1850, p. 2
  7. Railroad commissioners at Chapel Hill declare the North Carolina Railroad Company formed Meeting at Chapel Hill, the general commissioners of the North Carolina Railroad found that the $1,000,000 in private stock required by the charter had been subscribed and the first five per cent, $50,000, paid in. They declared the company formed as of June 6, 1850, and called the stockholders to meet at Salisbury on July 11 to organize. People: John Motley Morehead, William A. Graham Hillsborough Recorder, June 26, 1850, p. 3
  8. Railroad engineers survey the North Carolina Railroad routes near Hillsborough Corps of engineers for the North Carolina Railroad were surveying alternative routes in the Hillsborough neighborhood in late October, after chief engineer Walter Gwynn passed through town in September with word that $3 million would build the road. At about the same time the directors, meeting at Greensborough, chose William A. Norwood of Hillsborough to replace William A. Graham on the board. People: William A. Graham Hillsborough Recorder, October 30, 1850, p. 3
  9. Hillsborough citizens meet to bring the railroad through town on the north side of the river A meeting at the court house, chaired by Magistrate of Police O. F. Long with E. A. Heartt as secretary, heard John U. Kirkland and others argue that the North Carolina Railroad should pass through the town on the north side of the river, and named a committee including Dr. Edmund Strudwick, Dr. W. A. Norwood, Dr. Pride Jones, George Laws and W. H. Brown to report how to secure that location. People: John U. Kirkland, Edmund Strudwick, Pride Jones, George Laws, William H. Brown Hillsborough Recorder, March 26, 1851, p. 3
  10. Railroad directors adopt the line through Hillsborough and order the road put under contract Meeting in Raleigh, the North Carolina Railroad directors received the engineers' reports, fixed the 223-mile line by Raleigh, Hillsborough, Graham, Greensborough, Jamestown, Lexington, Salisbury and Concord to Charlotte, and ordered the whole road put under contract that summer, with contractors paid half in cash and half in stock and the work to be finished three years from January 1, 1852. Hillsborough Recorder, May 21, 1851, p. 3
  11. Railroad grading contracts are let for the line through eastern Orange to Pratt's store At the North Carolina Railroad's letting in Raleigh, contractors took the grading of the line from the Neuse River west to Pratt's store in eastern Orange County (now Durham County), completing the contracts from Goldsborough to Pratt's store except for about ten miles in Johnston County; bids for the section from Pratt's store to the Alamance line were taken at Hillsborough two days later. People: John Motley Morehead Hillsborough Recorder, June 25, 1851, p. 3
  12. Contracts for grading the North Carolina Railroad through Orange are let at Hillsborough At a letting in Hillsborough on Wednesday, June 25, 1851, contractors took the grading and other work on the North Carolina Railroad from Pratt's Store to the Alamance line, except for one short section about five miles west of town, which was let within the following days. Contracts for the Alamance part of the line were taken at Graham two days later. Hillsborough Recorder, July 2, 1851, p. 3
Show all 68 dated events
  1. Nancy Hilliard sells the Eagle Hotel, renamed the Union Hotel In the early 1850s Miss Nancy Hilliard, long the students' and travelers' landlady, sold her hotel interest for $10,000 to Hugh B. Guthrie, who renamed the Eagle the Union Hotel. She went on to run the North Carolina Railroad eating house at Company Shops. People: Hugh B. Guthrie, Nancy Hilliard NCpedia: Hilliard, Nancy Ann Segur (John Macfie) · Also: Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I
  2. North Carolina Railroad directors meet in Hillsborough and order iron and locomotives The directors of the North Carolina Railroad met in Hillsborough on January 8 and 9, heard that the whole line was now under contract, and authorized the president to contract for rails for the track and the chief engineer to buy two twenty-ton locomotives and cars. They also shifted the eastern end of the line to run through Waynesborough, a change New Bern stockholders soon protested. Hillsborough Recorder, January 14, 1852, p. 3
  3. A blast injures two enslaved men building the railroad near Hillsborough Two enslaved men held by Turner and Jones, contractors building the North Carolina Railroad near Hillsborough, were hurt when a blasting charge they thought had been drawn went off as they redrilled the hole; one was feared to have lost an eye and the other lost a finger. The account shows enslaved labor at work on the railroad's rock cuts in Orange. Hillsborough Recorder, February 18, 1852, p. 3
  4. The county court names commissioners to value railroad land in Orange Most Orange landowners on the route gave the North Carolina Railroad its right of way without charge, but four or five refused, so the company went to the county court to have their land valued under its charter. The court appointed William Lipscomb, Hezekiah Terry, Stephen S. Forrest, John W. Garrard and John McCown as the commissioners. Hillsborough Recorder, March 10, 1852, p. 3
  5. Hillsborough offers the North Carolina Railroad town land for its principal shops At a public meeting on August 29, 1853, the citizens of Hillsborough authorized the town commissioners to offer the North Carolina Railroad part of the land around the depot site at Hillsborough, free of cost, for the company's principal workshops, two days before the directors met in Raleigh to settle where the shops would go. The Recorder pressed the town's case in September, calling the site very eligible and easily graded. Hillsborough Recorder, August 31, 1853, p. 2
  6. Contractors finish their grading on the railroad's second division toward Hillsborough By mid-November 1853 several contractors on the second division of the North Carolina Railroad, the division running west from near Raleigh, had finished their grading, among them men named Trollinger, Mebane and Faucett; others were nearly done, and the Recorder expected the whole grading to be ready before the company could lay the track. Hillsborough Recorder, November 16, 1853, p. 3
  7. A railroad depot is built at the Orange-Alamance line and Mebanesville grows up around it The North Carolina Railroad put a depot on the county line in 1854, and the settlement of Mebanesville, later Mebane, soon formed there. NC Historic Preservation Office: Richard L. Mattson, History and Architecture of Orange County (1996), p. 21
  8. Hillsborough lays off its common in lots and names Hillsborough Avenue and Calvin Street The Hillsborough commissioners ordered the town common south of King Street laid off in lots, Margaret Lane extended to the western town line and a 99-foot street run from King Street to the railroad. They named the wide street Hillsborough Avenue and the street parallel with the depot Calvin Street, for Calvin Graves, whose casting vote as Speaker of the Senate had carried the North Carolina Railroad bill. People: Calvin Graves, Thomas Webb, William Nelson, George Laws, John J. Freeland Hillsborough Recorder, June 21, 1854, p. 3
  9. Hillsborough offers the North Carolina Railroad a depot site on the town common The Hillsborough commissioners tendered to the North Carolina Railroad Company, for its depot, the part of the town common south of Calvin Street between Occoneechee and Nash streets, and ordered the newly laid-off town lots sold on October 10. Hillsborough Recorder, June 21, 1854, p. 3
  10. North Carolina Railroad stockholders meet at Hillsborough and vote to raise a million dollars The stockholders of the North Carolina Railroad, with more than 8,000 shares represented, met at Hillsborough with Calvin Graves in the chair. They accepted the amendments to the company's charter by a stock vote, elected directors including John M. Morehead and Francis Fries, and authorized the president and directors to raise $1,000,000 to complete and equip the road. People: Calvin Graves, Thomas Webb, John Motley Morehead Hillsborough Recorder, July 19, 1854, p. 2
  11. Hillsborough sells town lots beside the railroad station The town of Hillsborough sold at auction the lots its commissioners had laid off near the coming North Carolina Railroad station. Ten lots of less than an acre each by the station brought $3,819 in all, and five one-acre lots in the northwest part of town sold for much less; the buyers were townspeople. Hillsborough Recorder, October 11, 1854, p. 2
  12. North Carolina Railroad finished to Durham's Station On December 20, 1854 the Recorder reported trains running daily from Raleigh to within a mile and a half of Durham's Station, whose warehouse was finished. The railroad was completed to Durham's Station, then a single house on Dr. Bartlett Durham's plantation in Orange County, and the company gave legislators a free ride there. From then until 1882 a two-horse hack line between Chapel Hill and Durham replaced the four-horse stage to Raleigh. People: Samuel (Samuel Field) Phillips, Samuel Field Phillips Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 641 · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, December 20, 1854, p. 2
  13. Orange flour starts going to Wilmington by rail from Durham's Station After the first Wilmington merchant known to visit the section came through, several loads of flour were hauled to Durham's Station (now Durham County) to be sent to Wilmington. Until then produce carried on the North Carolina Railroad had gone to Norfolk and Portsmouth. Hillsborough Recorder, February 28, 1855, p. 2
  14. The North Carolina Railroad reaches Hillsborough The Hillsborough Recorder of Wednesday, April 4, 1855, announced that the North Carolina Railroad was finished to the Chapel Hill Road, a few hundred yards south of town, and that passenger cars would begin running there that day. The editor cheered the end of two-day trips over muddy roads to Raleigh and costly wagoning of farm produce. Hillsborough Recorder, April 4, 1855, p. 2 (DigitalNC): Hurra for the North Carolina Railroad!
  15. The railroad bridge frame over the Eno collapses with nine men on it While hands were raising the North Carolina Railroad bridge near Brown's mills, two miles west of Hillsborough, a support standing on poor footing in midstream gave way and the frame fell about sixty feet into the river. The superintendent, Mr. Wells, and eight hands, five white and three Black, were on it; all survived, but Wells broke a thigh and several others were badly cut and bruised. Hillsborough Recorder, May 2, 1855, p. 2
  16. Hillsborough station opens its freight warehouse under agent Dr. Hooker The North Carolina Railroad's freight warehouse at Hillsborough was ready for use, and Dr. Hooker, newly appointed the company's agent at the Hillsborough station, took up his duties. The road had also dropped a rule that charged more per barrel to farmers shipping fewer than five barrels of flour at a time. Hillsborough Recorder, May 2, 1855, p. 2
  17. The first through trains run on the finished North Carolina Railroad, with mail trains at Hillsborough The North Carolina Railroad was finished on January 29, 1856, when the last rail was laid about four and a half miles west of Greensboro. Two days later the regular mail and passenger trains made their first through run from Charlotte to Goldsboro, with a westbound train due at Hillsborough each morning and an eastbound one before dawn, replacing the coach connection that had carried the Burwells' letters to their daughter Fanny in New York. Hillsborough Recorder, February 6, 1856, p. 2 · Also: Elizabeth Keckly Center research database: Bettie Payne
  18. Fire destroys the railroad bridge over Cates Creek below Hillsborough The North Carolina Railroad's bridge over Cates's Creek, just below Hillsborough, burned on the morning of Wednesday, March 12, soon after the down train had passed. Thomas Webb walked about a mile down the track with a red blanket and stopped the up train before it reached the gap, and a new bridge was ready for the cars by Saturday night, March 15. People: Thomas Webb Hillsborough Recorder, March 19, 1856, p. 2
  19. A fire set on the railroad bridge over the Eno is caught in time Between two and three o'clock on the morning of Sunday, March 16, the passing train found the North Carolina Railroad bridge over the Eno above Hillsborough on fire, and the fire was put out. The editor judged it the work of an incendiary, suspected the same of the Cates Creek fire four days earlier, and reported that a watch would be kept at each bridge on the road. Hillsborough Recorder, March 19, 1856, p. 2
  20. Logs laid across the railroad west of Hillsborough strike the passenger train On Wednesday, April 23, the engineer of the eastbound passenger train found logs laid across the North Carolina Railroad about six miles west of Hillsborough and struck them before he could stop, though little damage was done. Two men named Turner who were seen nearby ran, were caught and were jailed in Raleigh, but on May 2 they were brought to Hillsborough on a writ of habeas corpus and discharged for want of evidence. People: Frederick Nash, John Wall Norwood Hillsborough Recorder, April 30, 1856, p. 2
  21. The Hillsborough depot reports its first year's shipments In its first year of operation, from May 1, 1855, to April 30, 1856, the North Carolina Railroad depot at Hillsborough shipped 3,864 barrels of flour, 137,845 pounds of tobacco, 6,869 pounds of bacon and 17,373 pounds of dried fruit, along with cotton goods, rags and wheat, according to the railroad's agent there. Hillsborough Recorder, May 7, 1856, p. 2
  22. A permanent depot at University Station brings a plan for a town there By May 10 the North Carolina Railroad had made University Station, on Stone's Creek, a permanent depot through which the trade of Chapel Hill and that part of Orange would pass. The court of equity ordered twenty half-acre lots there sold on June 7 for Calvin G. Strayhorn and others, and the sale notice said a town would be laid off. Hillsborough Recorder, May 14, 1856, p. 3
  23. North Carolina Railroad stockholders hold their ninth annual meeting in the Masonic Hall at Hillsborough The stockholders of the North Carolina Railroad Company met in the Masonic Hall at Hillsborough on July 8, 1858, with Thomas Webb of Hillsborough among the secretaries and Thomas Ruffin voting the state's stock as proxy. Before adjourning the next day they re-elected Charles F. Fisher president, chose the private directors and passed resolutions on the company's finances. People: Thomas Webb, Thomas Ruffin, William A. Graham Hillsborough Recorder, July 14, 1858, p. 2
  24. Raleigh stonecutters McCowan and Grier take freestone from a quarry at Durham's Station By late September 1858 the Raleigh stone and marble cutters McCowan and Grier were taking building freestone from their quarry at Durham's Station on the North Carolina Railroad (now Durham County). State geologist Ebenezer Emmons examined the samples and judged the fine-grained stone good enough for carving and for the outside of buildings. Hillsborough Recorder, September 29, 1858, p. 3
  25. Charles Tew buys land west of Hillsborough for a military academy On December 18, 1858, Charles C. Tew of South Carolina bought from Cad Jones a 61 1/4-acre tract lying between the Greensborough road and the North Carolina Railroad, on what is now the west end of Hillsborough, for a military academy modeled on the Citadel. His advertisements, dated September 15, 1858, had already announced that the school would open at Hillsborough in January 1859. People: John Berry, Moses Ashley Curtis NC State Historic Preservation Office: The Commandant's House, National Register nomination (OR0006), p. 4 · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, November 10, 1858, p. 1; NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey; Open Orange: Hillsborough Military Academy
  26. Durham's Station ships 1,733 barrels of flour in two months Durham's Station sent out 1,733 barrels of flour and 1,013 bushels of corn in March and April, along with wheat and cotton. Nearly all the flour went to Rowland and Brothers in Norfolk, the corn west along the North Carolina Railroad, and the wheat and cotton to Petersburg. Hillsborough Recorder, May 4, 1859, p. 2
  27. The North Carolina Railroad stops carrying the mails and Hillsborough goes without In a pay dispute with the Post Office Department, the North Carolina, Raleigh and Gaston, and Charlotte and South Carolina railroads stopped carrying the mails on May 1, and Hillsborough received no eastern mail. The roads resumed service within the week at the request of Congressman L. O'B. Branch, and the Recorder said the town was without mails from Monday to Saturday. People: Lawrence O'B. Branch Hillsborough Recorder, May 2, 1860, p. 3
  28. The legislature charters a University Railroad Company from Chapel Hill to the North Carolina Railroad The 1860-61 General Assembly passed an act to incorporate the University Railroad Company, to run a line from Chapel Hill to the North Carolina Railroad. Hillsborough Recorder, March 6, 1861, p. 2
  29. North Carolina Railroad stockholders hold their annual meeting at Hillsborough The North Carolina Railroad's stockholders met at Hillsborough, heard the president's report of the year's earnings, a large share of them from Confederate government traffic, and elected directors including Thomas Webb and Giles Mebane. The directors added an installment to the sinking fund for the company's bonds, declared an eight percent dividend, and the next week reappointed Webb president. People: Thomas Webb, Giles Mebane Hillsborough Recorder, July 16, 1862, p. 3
  30. Bingham School moves from the Oaks to Mebaneville William Bingham and Robert Bingham, sons of William James Bingham, moved the school, late in 1864 or in 1865, to a site east of Mebane's Station on the North Carolina Railroad, after the legislature incorporated it in 1864 as a military and classical academy. The highway marker's 1865 may be when classes began at the new site. People: Robert Bingham, William Bingham (1835-1873), William James Bingham NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources: Bingham School (G-39)
  31. Maj. James M. Palmer, railroad wood agent, dies at Hillsborough Maj. James M. Palmer died at his home in Hillsborough. He had been for several years wood agent of the North Carolina Railroad. Hillsborough Recorder, March 22, 1865, p. 3
  32. Thomas Webb of Hillsborough becomes president of the North Carolina Railroad The North Carolina Railroad's stockholders held their seventeenth annual meeting at Hillsborough on Thursday, July 12, 1866, and the directors elected Thomas Webb president in place of Nathaniel Boyden, with P. B. Ruffin as treasurer, F. A. Stagg as secretary and Edward Wilkes as superintendent. The state's directors for the year included John Berry and Josiah Turner Jr. of Orange. People: John Berry, Josiah Turner Jr. Hillsborough Recorder, July 18, 1866, p. 2
  33. Court strikes down the act for a state-built railroad to Chapel Hill An 1869 plan had the state build a line from the North Carolina Railroad to Chapel Hill through commissioners, paid for with $300,000 in state bonds. When the commissioners chose Henry C. Thompson as president over Governor Holden's choice, Holden refused to sign the bonds, and in the University Railroad Company's suit against him the court held the act unconstitutional over Judge Reade's dissent. People: William W. Holden Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 33
  34. North Carolina Railroad stockholders hold their annual meeting in the Hillsborough courthouse and elect four directors The company's twenty-first annual meeting convened in the court house at Hillsborough with Maj. John W. Graham in the chair and heard President William A. Smith's report. By stock vote it elected Thomas M. Holt, John I. Shaver, R. B. Haywood and D. A. Davis as directors and set the president's salary at $5,000 a year. People: John W. Graham North Carolina Rail Road Company, Proceedings and By-Laws of the Stockholders of the North Carolina Rail Road Company at Their Twenty-First Annual Meeting, Held at Hillsboro', July 14th, 1870 (1870), scan p. 7
  35. Railroad stockholders meeting at Hillsborough vote to ask the legislature for banking powers Thomas Webb moved that the company's officers ask the General Assembly to amend the charter so the North Carolina Railroad could do banking business, with the private stockholders electing the bank's officers. Motions to table it (from Paul C. Cameron) and to send it to a committee both failed, and it carried by 5,006 shares to 2,271 with the state's proxy declining to vote. People: Thomas Webb, Paul C. Cameron North Carolina Rail Road Company, Proceedings and By-Laws of the Stockholders of the North Carolina Rail Road Company at Their Twenty-First Annual Meeting, Held at Hillsboro', July 14th, 1870 (1870), scan p. 8
  36. Robert F. Hoke obtains a charter for the Chapel Hill Iron Mountain Railroad While the university was closed, Robert F. Hoke, owner of an iron mine north of Chapel Hill, obtained a state charter for a railroad to carry ore from Iron Mountain to the North Carolina Railroad. People: Robert F. Hoke UNC Press, UNC A to Z: University Railroad
  37. North Carolina Railroad stockholders meet at Hillsborough and accept the charter amendment At their annual meeting at Hillsborough the North Carolina Railroad stockholders tabled W. R. Myers's motion to make Raleigh the permanent meeting place, then on the State's vote accepted the 1874 act amending the company charter so that it could issue bonds secured by a mortgage. Private stockholders including P. C. Cameron, Thomas Webb and William A. Graham opposed and entered a protest, and the new board elected W. A. Smith president. People: Paul C. Cameron, Thomas Webb, William A. Graham Hillsborough Recorder, July 15, 1874, p. 3
  38. Orange Superior Court refuses to send the suit against the North Carolina Railroad lease to federal court At the fall term of Orange Superior Court, Judge Kerr heard arguments in Caldwell's suit against the Richmond and Danville and North Carolina railroad companies over the lease of the North Carolina Railroad and the change of gauge. He refused the Richmond and Danville's motion to move the case to federal court and continued it to the next term. People: William A. Graham, William N. H. (William Nathan Harrell) Smith, Samuel A. Ashe Hillsborough Recorder, November 11, 1874, p. 3
  39. The railroad's lessees change the North Carolina Railroad's gauge through Orange County Gangs of laborers working at night relaid the North Carolina Railroad to the new gauge east of Greensboro, through Hillsborough and Durham, and by mid-June the change ran all the way to Goldsboro. The Recorder protested that the Virginia lessees had acted in defiance of a state law and a judge's order. Hillsborough Recorder, June 16, 1875, p. 3
  40. Hillsborough's town commissioners take up moving the railroad into town At their meeting on Wednesday, June 27, the Hillsborough town commissioners took up a proposal to change the North Carolina Railroad's route so that it would run into and through the town instead of passing it a mile off. By mid-August a committee they had appointed called a meeting of citizens to consider the plan. Hillsborough Recorder, July 4, 1877, p. 3
  41. A boy foils an attempt to wreck a train near Durham Someone laid a bar of iron on the North Carolina Railroad track near Durham on a Monday morning; a boy named Crabtree found it and signalled the train, which stopped in time. The Chapel Hill Ledger, November 22, 1879, p. 3
  42. Mebaneville, the railroad village on the Orange-Alamance line, is incorporated The settlement that grew along the North Carolina Railroad from 1854 was incorporated in 1881 and shortened its name to Mebane in 1883. Part of the town lies in Orange County. Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 279
  43. Joseph G. Cooley succeeds Sterling Ruffin as railroad agent at Hillsborough Sterling Ruffin resigned as the North Carolina Railroad's agent at Hillsborough effective October 1, 1883, and Joseph G. Cooley, a former Hillsborough man, took his place. Cooley signed the depot's train schedule for the rest of the year. People: Joseph G. Cooley Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), October 6, 1883, p. 3
  44. Someone tries to wreck a North Carolina Railroad train near University Station Rails, iron and other obstructions were placed in a cattle guard on the North Carolina Railroad about a mile from University Station, and a material train was nearly wrecked at night. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), December 6, 1884, p. 2
  45. Governor Scales names A. W. Graham a state director of the North Carolina Railroad When a Mr. Craig resigned as one of the State's directors of the North Carolina Railroad, Governor A. M. Scales appointed Hillsborough lawyer A. W. Graham to the vacancy. People: Augustus Washington Graham Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), August 13, 1887, p. 3
  46. The Keystone Bridge Company replaces the wooden railroad bridge over the Eno at Hillsboro with an iron one Crews of the Keystone Bridge Company of Pittsburgh began replacing the wooden railroad bridge over the Eno near the Hillsboro depot with an iron bridge, expecting to finish by August 10. Trains kept running across it at three miles an hour. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), August 3, 1889, p. 3 · Also: Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), August 17, 1889, p. 3
  47. A coal car axle breaks and wrecks seven freight cars west of Hillsborough On Saturday an axle on a coal car broke as a freight train ran down a sharp grade on the North Carolina Railroad a few miles west of town. Seven cars were wrecked, the track was torn up, and the passenger train passed on a temporary track about six hours late. Hal Bullock, a Black brakeman, was slightly hurt. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 23, 1891, p. 3
  48. A new station house is finished at University Station A new station house was finished at University Station on the North Carolina Railroad, ending the use of a box car for travelers to Chapel Hill. The Durham Sun, quoted by the Observer, called it small but as neat as any on the line. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), September 12, 1891, p. 3
  49. The grand jury refuses to indict William Merritt on a charge of trying to wreck a train The Orange grand jury returned no true bill against William Merritt, a white man accused of trying to wreck a North Carolina Railroad train between Hillsborough and Efland on December 13, 1893. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), March 24, 1894, p. 2
  50. Thomas Webb, former president of the North Carolina Railroad, dies at Hillsborough Thomas Webb, a Hillsborough lawyer who had been president of the North Carolina Railroad Company and had been helpless from paralysis for years, died at his home in his 67th year. Eagle Lodge buried him with Masonic honors after a service at the Presbyterian church, and the town's stores closed during the funeral. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 2, 1894, p. 3
  51. The Farmers' State Alliance meets at Hillsborough and denounces the North Carolina Railroad lease The North Carolina Farmers' State Alliance held its state session at its Hillsborough headquarters, re-elected its officers and passed a resolution denouncing the lease of the North Carolina Railroad to the Southern Railway Company. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), August 20, 1896, p. 3
  52. A Southern Railway freight train wrecks at the Eno railroad bridge in Hillsboro Eastbound freight No. 72 left the track just west of the Eno bridge; one car went over the side into the river and eleven more piled up, twisting the bridge's iron supports. No one was hurt, and mail trains crossed again the next morning. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), November 23, 1905, p. 2 · Also: DigitalNC newspaper, November 22, 1905, p. 2
  53. A new iron bridge is set over the Eno just east of the Hillsboro station On June 4 the Iron Bridge Company of Virginia, with Joseph Zilk as foreman, put in place a new iron bridge over the Eno just east of the Hillsboro station. J. M. Hall of Clarion, Virginia, bridge inspector for the Southern Railway, passed the work as first class. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 7, 1906, p. 3
  54. The Corporation Commission orders three railroad underpasses for the Durham-Greensboro highway in Orange County Ruling on a petition from the Orange County Good Roads Commission against the Southern Railway, the Corporation Commission ordered the county to lower the Durham-Greensboro highway at three railroad crossings and the two sides to build 26-foot underpasses there. The county was to pay half to two thirds of each, and the railroad the rest, including the widening of an existing underpass. DigitalNC: News and Observer (Raleigh), December 13, 1913, p. 5
  55. A freight wreck at the Occoneechee Farm siding sets a gasoline tank car burning Three cars of a Southern freight train, one a gasoline tank car, left the track at the Occoneechee Farm siding east of Hillsboro. The tank car caught fire and burned through the night, a flour car and a lumber car burned, and passengers were transferred around the torn-up track until repairs the next afternoon. DigitalNC: Greensboro Daily News, September 18, 1921, p. 7 · Also: DigitalNC newspaper, September 20, 1921, p. 1
  56. The last Southern Railway passenger trains run through Hillsborough Trains 13 and 16, the daily Greensboro-Goldsboro round trip, made their final runs, ending more than a century of passenger service in Orange County. Hillsborough had been a flag stop without ticket sales for two years. Southern had first dropped the trains in September 1962, when a News of Orange columnist described Train 16's departure from the Hillsboro depot as the last scheduled passenger stop in the county, but the trains ran again under a court order from October 24, 1962. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 19, 1964, p. 12 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 25, 1962, p. 2; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 4, 1962, p. 17

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