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Houses, farms, parks and cemeteries

Occoneechee Farm

Occoneechee Farm was the Durham industrialist Julian S. Carr's estate on the south bank of the Eno near Hillsborough, created in 1891 when he bought Poplar Hill, the house James Hogg built about 1794. The farm was sold at auction in small farms in 1923, and its horse track became Occoneechee Speedway in 1948.

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.

Sites linked through the same people

Indexed works

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

Published by or for this site

Berkshires or Tamworths on every farm : how to get a registered pig by sending us one dollar.

Occoneechee Farm (N.C.) · 1914 · Occoneechee Farm

A 1914 sales pamphlet from Occoneechee Farm at Hillsboro, offering registered Berkshire and Tamworth pigs to farmers for a dollar. Eighteen pages at 17 cm, the pamphlet shows how purebred breeding stock was sold by mail to small farmers in the county.

Included because: Published by or for this site.

UNC

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Occoneechee Farm 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

[Plan of the town of Hillsborough in Orange County, North Carolina]

Sauthier, Claude Joseph · 1768

Claude Joseph Sauthier's 1768 plan of the town of Hillsborough in Orange County, reproduced as a colored facsimile of the pen and ink manuscript on a sheet 43 by 53 centimeters. Relief is shown by hachures and the sheet is indexed for points of interest. The 1975 reproduction was made from negatives taken of the original in the Map Room of the British Museum.

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

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.

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

DigitalNC DPLA

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 Occoneechee Farm, 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

    Storyline about this site, with a page of its own:

    1. James Hogg moves across the Eno to Poplar Hill Hogg, who owned the land along the south bank of the Eno opposite the town, lived east of Hillsborough on the later Cameron property until 1793 or 1794. He then moved across the river to Poplar Hill, later the site of Julian S. Carr's Occoneechee Farm. People: Julian S. Carr Nash, Hillsboro, Colonial and Revolutionary (1903), p. 38
    2. Peter Brown Ruffin buys the land that became Margaret Lane Cemetery According to the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough, Peter Brown Ruffin, owner of Occoneechee Farm, bought the land now called Margaret Lane Cemetery as a burial ground for people enslaved by him and his neighbor Cadwalader Jones. Plaques placed in 1987 date burials there from before 1852, and it remained a burial ground for Black residents of Hillsborough until 1931. The Alliance for Historic Hillsborough: Margaret Lane Cemetery
    3. Julian S. Carr buys Poplar Hill south of the Eno and renames the estate Occoneechee Farm The Norwood family sold Poplar Hill, the house James Hogg had built about 1794 on the south bank of the Eno, to the Durham industrialist Julian S. Carr, who renamed the property Occoneechee Farm. Carr enlarged and altered the house over the next three decades. People: James Hogg National Register: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation (2014), section 7, p. 20
    4. The state experiment station director certifies an analysis of the Occoneechee mineral spring water H. B. Battle, director of the state agricultural experiment station, certified an analysis of the water from the spring on Julian S. Carr's Occoneechee Model Stock Farm, better known as the Norwood Mineral Spring. The paper added that Carr had already put a rustic house over the spring and placed seats for visitors. People: Julian S. Carr Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 25, 1891, p. 3
    5. Julian S. Carr rebuilds the Occoneechee mineral spring with a marble basin and a rustic spring house On his new Occoneechee Farm, Carr had the old mineral spring cleaned out and extended, set a marble basin in it, laid a cement floor and covered it with a rustic spring house with seats for visitors. The Orange County Observer described the finished work in September 1891. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), September 12, 1891, p. 3 · Also: Durham Daily Globe, December 12, 1891, p. 4
    6. Julian S. Carr nearly finishes a large stock barn at Occoneechee Farm Carr's new stock barn at his Occoneechee plantation near Hillsboro was a brick and frame building 42 by 155 feet, with stalls for horses, mares and foals, storage for 500 tons of hay and an elevator. DigitalNC: Durham Daily Globe, November 27, 1891, p. 1
    7. A model sheep fold is finished at Julian S. Carr's Occoneechee Farm The sheep house at Occoneechee Farm is described as just completed: a frame building closed on the north, east and west and open to the south, with a hay rick down the middle of the first floor, feeding troughs, separate pens for parts of the flock, and a picket-fenced yard. A trench of packed stone under the fence guards against dogs. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), December 12, 1891, p. 2
    8. Julian S. Carr builds a fieldstone gate wall at the entrance to Occoneechee Farm Carr put up a stone gate wall at the farm entrance, two curving walls of fieldstone gathered on the farm, one on each side of the driveway, set with round pillars capped by stacked round stones. The Durham Daily Globe reprinted the Orange County Observer's description in December 1891. DigitalNC: Durham Daily Globe, December 12, 1891, p. 4
    9. Julian S. Carr's crews build a hay barn and a rustic club house at Occoneechee Farm Julian S. Carr kept thirty to forty carpenters and painters at work on Occoneechee Farm, where they had lately finished a large hay barn and were building two new houses, a two-room log house and a rustic club house. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 16, 1894, p. 3
    10. Julian S. Carr's new club house at Occoneechee Farm is shown to an excursion from Raleigh Julian S. Carr hosted students of the A. and M. College and their friends at Occoneechee Farm with a barbecue. The visitors toured his new rustic club house, with its stone fireplace, pool table, piano and a clock that played "Carolina." DigitalNC: The News and Observer, May 26, 1895, p. 6 · Also: The News and Observer (Raleigh), May 22, 1895, p. 4
    11. The State Dairymen's Association meets at Occoneechee Farm The North Carolina Dairymen's Association held a two-day meeting at Julian S. Carr's Occoneechee Farm near Hillsborough, with the members as Carr's guests on the farm. People: Julian S. Carr Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), February 22, 1896, p. 3
    12. Julian S. Carr's Occoneechee Farm puts Orange first in the state for registered cattle and hogs The state Agricultural Department's register of blooded stock ranked Orange first among North Carolina counties for registered cattle and hogs, nearly all of them on Julian S. Carr's Occoneechee Farm, which had 112 registered cattle. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), September 10, 1896, p. 2
    Show all 26 dated events
    1. Lightning burns the race track barn at Occoneechee Farm During an electrical storm, lightning struck the "Pocahontas" or race track barn on Julian Carr's Occoneechee Farm, destroying it with its feed and farm machinery. No livestock were inside, and the loss was insured. People: Julian S. Carr DigitalNC: Durham Daily Sun, June 10, 1902, p. 1 · Also: The News and Observer (Raleigh), June 10, 1902, p. 5
    2. Several hundred people attend a Farmers' Institute at Occoneechee Farm A Farmers' Institute drew several hundred men, women and children from every section of Orange County to Julian S. Carr's Occoneechee Farm near Hillsboro, where Carr gave the address of welcome. A Women's Institute held with it heard Mrs. L. L. Brooks of Guilford County, Viola Boddie of the State Normal and Industrial College and R. W. Scott. People: Julian S. Carr, Robert W. Scott Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 26, 1906, p. 3
    3. Southern Railway president W. W. Finley speaks at Chapel Hill after a stop at Hillsboro W. W. Finley, president of the Southern Railway, spoke at Chapel Hill on railway transportation and the South. On the way he and other railway officials stopped at Hillsboro, where Mayor Frank Nash and others drove them through town and showed them the court house and town clock before they boarded his private car at Julian S. Carr's Occoneechee Farm. People: Frank Nash Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 3, 1909, p. 4
    4. A winter cyclone wrecks the dairy barn at Occoneechee Farm A storm on a Friday night damaged every building on Julian Carr's Occoneechee Farm and demolished the dairy barn, killing a number of blooded cows. Carr began rebuilding at once. People: Julian S. Carr DigitalNC: Wilmington Morning Star, January 15, 1918, p. 4 · Also: The Charlotte Observer, January 14, 1918, p. 4
    5. 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
    6. Julian Carr's Occoneechee Farm is sold at auction in small farms Occoneechee Farm, divided into small farms along the Durham-Greensboro highway a mile from Hillsboro, was sold at auction with its personal property. Carr had already sold his Holstein herd to Chapel Hill dairyman C. H. Weaver. The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 22, 1923, p. 1 · Also: Durham Morning Herald, November 22, 1923, p. 3; The News (Chapel Hill), November 22, 1923, p. 5
    7. The Farmers Mutual Exchange builds a slaughterhouse on Occoneechee Farm In summer 1943 the Exchange put up an abattoir next to the Hillsborough livestock market on Occoneechee Farm. Farmers could bring cattle and hogs for slaughter at cost and collect the meat the next day. Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 247
    8. E. B. Lyon and his wife buy the barns and race track at Occoneechee Farm Mr. and Mrs. E. B. Lyon bought the barns and the old race track on Occoneechee Farm near Hillsborough. They planned to repair the outbuildings, raise cattle and build a house on the farm. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 18, 1945, p. 4
    9. W. H. Rittenhouse buys Occoneechee Farm Captain W. H. Rittenhouse, a former Army chaplain from Miami, bought Occoneechee Farm near Hillsboro and moved there with his sons, all of them studying theology at UNC. In May he became chaplain of the Hillsboro American Legion post. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 18, 1946, p. 1
    10. Raleigh buyers purchase the Occoneechee Farm tract at auction W. S. Murchison and W. L. Rogers of Raleigh bought the Occoneechee farm tract near Hillsboro at auction for a reported $13,500, including about 200 acres, the large barn and farm equipment. The sale bill described the barn as the Julian S. Carr barn built in 1891. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 1, 1946, p. 1
    11. Hillsboro Speedway, Inc. buys the Occoneechee Farm racetrack tract W. S. Murchison and J. R. Rogers sold two hundred acres of the old Occoneechee Farm, including its horse track, to Hillsboro Speedway, Inc., the company Bill France and four partners had chartered to build a stock car track. France had spotted the track while flying over Orange County. NC State Historic Preservation Office: National Register nomination, Occoneechee Speedway (OR1542, 2002)
    12. Occoneechee Speedway opens Occoneechee Speedway, a one-mile dirt oval that Bill France and four North Carolina partners built on the old Occoneechee Farm horse track outside Hillsborough, opened with a 100-mile NASCAR stock car race won by Fonty Flock. People: Bill France Sr., Fonty Flock The News of Orange County (Hillsborough): Speedway Opening Is Declared Successful, July 1, 1948
    13. O. E. Bivins builds the cabin at Hillsboro's new Girl Scout camp The new camp for Hillsboro's Girl Scout troops, at Occoneechee Farm behind the Harold Culbreth home south of town, had a cabin built for the girls and their leaders by O. E. Bivins. An open house and picnic supper were planned for the following Wednesday. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 18, 1963, p. 8
    14. James J. Freeland moves Poplar Hill across the Eno to South Cameron Street Freeland, who had moved the Gatewood House in 1978, had the Poplar Hill house hauled over the Eno River from Tuscarora Drive to a new lot at 203 South Cameron Street, just south of Burnside, on the north side of the river. People: James J. Freeland NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District, National Register additional documentation (2014), section 7, p. 20 · Also: NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey

    Open these in the chronology →

    Research sources

    Sources cited in this site’s history, National Register documents, and places to get research help. Research guide: Research a house or property.

    Background

    National Register files

    Historic sites, markers, and maps

    Records of the time 26

    Show all 26

    Collections and databases

    Local help 6

    Nearby

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