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Public buildings and services

Orange County jail, Hillsborough

Hillsborough's first log prison was built by Joseph Maddock in 1757 on the town lot set aside for the courthouse, prison and stocks, and John Berry finished a stone jail in 1837. In August 1869 disguised men took Washington Morrow from the Hillsborough jail and shot him; the Neoclassical county jail on Court Street dates from 1926.

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 Orange County jail, Hillsborough. Each has been reviewed for relevance; materials held at OCPL appear first.

About the site

Account for Guarding One Prisoner in the Goal

North Carolina. Office of Archives and History. Division of Archives and Records Management · 1768

Account from 1768 for the cost of guarding one prisoner in the jail, a document from the Regulator troubles in Orange County, when backcountry settlers rose against royal officials they accused of extortionate fees and false records. Two 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.

Session of November-December 1796: House Bills: December 13

North Carolina. General Assembly · 1796

House bills of 13 December 1796, among them a rejected bill for a district jail in the town of Hillsborough and a bill for separate elections and general musters in Orange County. Others concern inspectors, clearing the Yadkin River, and sheriffs. Thirty images.

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

NC Digital Collections

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

Session of November-December, 1771: Bills; December 7, Bill for erecting in the town of Hillsborough a public jail and jailer's house or the District of Hillsborough in this province

1771

A bill of December 7, 1771 proposing a public jail and a jailer's house at Hillsborough for the Hillsborough District, four images among the bills of the colonial assembly session of November and December 1771 in the State Archives of North Carolina.

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

NC Digital Collections

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

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Orange County jail, Hillsborough 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 Orange County jail, Hillsborough, 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.

    • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.656 NAS Hillsboro, Colonial and Revolutionary Nash, Frank · 1953

      Francis Nash's history of Hillsborough in colonial and Revolutionary times, first published in 1903 and reprinted in 1953 by Edwards & Broughton with an index and a sketch of the author. Topics include the Regulator Insurrection of 1766 to 1771, the Revolution and local genealogy.

    Show 2 more
    • 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.

    • Foundational · NC 307.1 HIL Hillsborough, North Carolina General Development Plan 1968-1988 1968

      Hillsborough's general development plan for the twenty years from 1968 to 1988, prepared for the town's planning commission with a federal urban planning grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Issued in Hillsborough in 1968, 110 pages with maps, some in color.

    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

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

    1. The Assembly moves the county seat to the Eno crossing of the Western path Judging the Piney Ford site too far west, the Assembly directed that the courthouse, prison and stocks stand where the Western path crossed the Eno, on land where James Watson lived. The site, just east of the present courthouse, was the start of Hillsborough. People: James Watson Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 169
    2. Alexander Mebane, Josiah Dixon and William Churton lay out Hillsborough's first prison Lot No. 1 in the town was set aside for the market house, courthouse, prison, pillory and stocks. People: William Churton Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 23
    3. Joseph Maddock builds Hillsborough's first prison Maddock had the log prison pinned to the ground to make it more secure. Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 23
    4. A second jail with a stockade goes up at Hillsborough A ten-foot stockade was built around the jail and stocks for twenty-four pounds, with Thomas Hart and Francis Nash overseeing the work. People: Thomas Hart, Francis Nash Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 23
    5. The county town becomes a courthouse village of stores, ordinaries and public buildings William Few recalled that in 1764 the town was the metropolis of the county, where the courts were held and all public business done, a village of thirty or forty inhabitants with two or three small stores and two or three ordinary taverns, and that Scottish merchants then opened stores of European goods and a church, courthouse and jail were built. Claude Joseph Sauthier's 1768 plan of the town marks Canby's Ordinary, Nunn's Ordinary, McNair's Store, the market house, the first courthouse and the second jail. People: William Few Orange County Historical Museum (Churton Street): 1768
    6. Deputy attorney general John Williams signs the order jailing Herman Husband and William Butler Appointed deputy attorney general for the Hillsborough district in 1768, Williams signed the order that sent the Regulator leaders Husband and Butler to jail after the April disturbance in Hillsborough. NCpedia suggests this is why the rioters beat him in 1770. People: Herman Husband, William Butler (Regulator) NCpedia: Williams, John (Marion M. Edmonds, 1996)
    7. Dennis Bradley is acquitted at Hillsborough of burning the Granville jail At the September 1768 superior court at Hillsborough, which also tried the Regulator cases, Dennis Bradley was tried for burning the Granville County jail and acquitted. Internet Archive: Bassett, The Regulators of North Carolina (1765-1771) (1896), p. 180
    8. Herman Husband is jailed in Hillsborough's new stockaded prison during the superior court By Husband's account, soldiers in town for the court harried him with bayonets and once stood him on a tavern table to jeer at him until Colonel John Ashe pulled them off. When the court sat on the Monday, Fanning charged him with new crimes touching his life and he was committed to a newly built, higher prison fortified all round, crowded with nine or ten prisoners, most of them Regulators, under a gallows-like beam. He and William Butler were bailed that night. People: Herman Husband, William Butler (Regulator), Edmund Fanning, John Ashe Internet Archive: Hermon Husband, An Impartial Relation (1770), ed. William K. Boyd, North Carolina Historical Review 3 (1926), p. 261
    9. Samuel Devinney and John Philip Hartzo are convicted over the horse rescue Each was fined 25 pounds and given three months in jail, but Tryon soon freed the prisoners and put off collecting their fines for three months. People: William Tryon, Samuel Devinney Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 35
    10. A district jail is built at Hillsborough It replaced the second county jail, which had burned. Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 23
    11. The county court jails Charles Richardson for refusing the oath of allegiance Called before the court as a suspicious person, Richardson would not swear allegiance to the state. The court sent him to jail until he took the oath and paid the fees. Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 173
    12. The county court orders the Hillsborough District jail to hold Continental deserters At its May 1777 term the court told the jailer of Hillsborough District to take in any Continental Army soldiers arrested as deserters by a justice of the peace anywhere in the district. Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 174
    Show all 71 dated events
    1. Hillsborough collects meat for Greene's army and holds prisoners of war Alexander Mebane, commissioner of specific supplies for Orange, gathered more than 2,000 pounds of salt and fresh meat at Hillsborough for Greene's army in South Carolina. The town jail held British and Loyalist prisoners while exchanges were negotiated. People: Alexander Mebane Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 63
    2. The court repays John Walker for repairs to the district courthouse and jail The court allowed John Walker 40 pounds, 18 shillings and 6 pence he had advanced for repairing the courthouse and jail of the Hillsborough District, to be paid by the commissioners for the courthouse repairs under an act of the Assembly passed at Tarborough. Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: August Term 1788
    3. The court pays Sheriff John Sloss for a stockade around the jail The court allowed Sheriff John Sloss his expenses for building a stockade around the jail at Hillsborough. Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: August Term 1791
    4. The court orders Laban Taban, a free boy of color held in jail, hired out for his jail fees The court ordered that Laban Taban, a free boy of color in the jailer's custody, be hired out to the highest bidder until Christmas to pay his prison charges, subject to being called back by the court. Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: February Term 1794
    5. Sheriff Joseph Hodge tells the court the jail cannot hold its prisoners Sheriff Joseph Hodge informed the court that the public jail of the county and of the Hillsborough District was not in good repair and not strong enough to secure the prisoners held or to be held there. Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: May Term 1794
    6. The court sends Laban Taborn, a free apprentice of color held in jail, back to the Granville court The court found that Laban Taborn, held in the Orange jail as a runaway, was a free person of color bound by the Granville County court to David Bradford, who had since moved to Rowan County, and that Bradford was alleged to have used him ill. It ordered him delivered to anyone who gave security before Absalom Tatom or John Hogg for his appearance at the next Granville county court, once his prison fees were paid. People: Absalom Tatom, John Hogg Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
    7. The court orders a boy named Laban Taban, held in jail, hired out until the next court The court ordered the sheriff to hire out a boy named Laban Taban, then in jail, to the highest bidder until the next court. Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: November Term 1794
    8. The court puts off repairs to the jail for want of a majority of justices The treasurer and superintendent of public buildings reported that the jail was unfit to hold prisoners but could be made sound for a small sum. The court ruled it could not act on the report, because the Assembly's act required a majority of the county's justices to be present when commissioners were named to contract with him. Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: August Term 1796
    9. The court levies a tax to build a county jail in Hillsborough The court levied a tax of 2 shillings on every poll, 2 shillings on every 100 pounds of town property and 8 pence on every 100 acres of land to build a county jail in Hillsborough, and named Samuel Benton, Absalom Tatom and Sterling Harris to plan and oversee the building with the treasurer of public buildings. People: Absalom Tatom Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: February Term 1797
    10. The legislature authorizes another district jail at Hillsborough The act provided for a new jail to serve the Hillsborough district. Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 23
    11. The court allows the treasurer of public buildings for repairs to the jail and court house The court allowed James Baldridge, treasurer of public buildings, £16.16 out of the money in his hands for repairs done on the court house and prison, as shown in the account he filed. Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: February Term 1798
    12. The court levies a county tax that includes money for building the district jail The county court set the county tax at four shillings on each poll and on each three hundred acres of land: two shillings sixpence for county expenses, one shilling to pay jurors, threepence for building a district jail and threepence for arrears of the tax for that building. Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: May Term 1799
    13. Short Vaughan, jailed on a bastardy charge, is freed on the insolvent debtor's oath Short Vaughan, held in the county jail on a bastardy charge after Nancy Baxter named him on 20 November as the father of her child, was brought into court and, the county's attorney admitting notice, took the oath of an insolvent debtor and was discharged. Mark Chilton, Natural Child: Legitimacy, Sexuality and Shame in the Court Records of Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
    14. A jury finds Edward Harris of unsound mind, and the court keeps him in the county jail Told that Edward Harris, then confined in the county jail, was a lunatic or otherwise not of sound mind, the court had a jury of twelve men summoned to inquire into his state of mind. The jury found him a lunatic who had been so continuously since July 20, 1815, and the court ordered him held in the jail without bail until further orders. Mark Chilton, transcription of the Orange County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions minutes: August Term 1815
    15. James Weaver is jailed for want of bail after Frances Weaver names him as her child's father Frances Weaver named James Weaver as the father of her child, and on 12 September 1826 he was sent to jail because he could not give security for bail. Mark Chilton, Natural Child: Legitimacy, Sexuality and Shame in the Court Records of Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
    16. The court frees Rebecca Baldwin, jailed for refusing to name her child's father Rebecca Baldwin, summoned in June 1829 about a child she had borne, had been committed to jail for refusing to swear to the child's father; as she still refused, the court, finding sufficient reason, ordered her released. Mark Chilton, Natural Child: Legitimacy, Sexuality and Shame in the Court Records of Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
    17. Commissioners call for bids to build a stone jail at Hillsborough James S. Smith, Cadwallader Jones and James Webb, acting as commissioners, asked builders for proposals for a two-story stone jail 45 feet long, showing the plan and specifications on request and taking bids until mid-March. People: James Strudwick Smith, Cadwallader Jones, James Webb Hillsborough Recorder, February 26, 1836, p. 3
    18. Henry Harris, held as a suspected runaway, is charged with burning the Orange County jail At the spring term of Superior Court the case against Henry Harris, a man of color charged with setting fire to the county jail, was moved to Caswell County for trial. He had been jailed as a runaway because he could not prove his freedom, and he escaped soon after. Hillsborough Recorder, March 25, 1836, p. 3 · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, April 1, 1836, p. 3
    19. John Berry completes a stone jail at Hillsborough Building commissioners named in 1836 planned a two-story prison forty-five by twenty-four feet at a cost of no more than $4,000, and Berry won the contract. Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 23
    20. Orange petitioners ask the legislature for a state lunatic asylum A petition to the General Assembly for a state lunatic asylum circulated in Orange on the unanimous recommendation of the county justices at the August court, telling of three insane people kept at the poorhouse, two of whom the wardens of the poor had lately moved from the common jail into rooms prepared for them. Hillsborough Recorder, October 11, 1838, p. 3
    21. A free man is jailed in Hillsborough for giving his free papers to an enslaved man The 1850 census taker listed the town jail's inmates with their charges. John McAndless, a free laborer of 22, was held for "giving his free papers to a slave". Burwell School Historic Site Task Force: Antebellum Hillsborough, Slavery, and Enslaved and Free People of Color who Worked at the Burwell School, 1837-1857 (2019), p. 36
    22. Joseph Turrentine and Alston Woods, jailed for fines and costs, are bound to Robert Laws for a year Bonds dated 30 August 1866 record that Joseph Turrentine and Alston Woods, each described as a person of color committed to jail for fine and costs, were apprenticed to Robert Laws for twelve months of service to learn farming. The bonds give no ages. Mark Chilton, Freedom Bound: Apprenticeship, Racism & Liberation in Orange County, North Carolina 1777 to 1868 (Wandering through the NC Piedmont)
    23. Nine prisoners rush the Hillsborough jailer and six escape On Sunday morning, November 11, 1866, nine prisoners in the county jail at Hillsborough rushed the keeper when he opened the cage to give them breakfast, threw a blanket over his head, tried to choke him and ran out the jail door. The keeper and a few men who answered his call took three of them back; six, held on charges ranging from larceny and housebreaking to rape, got away. Hillsborough Recorder, November 14, 1866, p. 2
    24. Klansmen take two Black prisoners from jail and shoot one of them A few nights after three barns burned in late July 1869, two Black men accused of another barn burning were taken from jail. One was let go; the other was shot and died. Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 118
    25. Washington Morrow, Thomas Jefferson Morrow and Daniel Morrow are lynched Early on August 7, 1869, about 100 disguised white men took Washington Morrow and his brother Nelson from the Hillsborough jail, where they were held on barn-burning charges, and shot Washington as they fled; he died of the wound. On October 14 a mob hanged their father, Thomas Jefferson Morrow, and their uncle, Daniel Morrow. People: Washington Morrow, Daniel Morrow, Jefferson Morrow, Thomas Jefferson Morrow James Madison University, Memorializing Racial Terror: The Lynching of Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Daniel Morrow
    26. Tom Young and Bob Gunn are hanged at Hillsborough for the Blalock murder Tom Young and Bob Gunn were hanged at the Hillsborough jail for the murder of barkeeper M. V. Blalock, attended by the Rev. George E. Hunt; Young made a confession. Hillsborough Recorder, April 6, 1870, p. 3
    27. U.S. Senate committee hears Orange County testimony on Klan violence A Senate select committee created on January 19, 1871 took testimony in Washington on Klan violence in North Carolina. Orange County witnesses, including Hillsborough constable W. G. Turrentine, court clerk George Laws and editor Josiah Turner Jr., described the 1869 jail raid, hangings and whippings in the county. The committee reported on March 10, 1871. People: George Laws, Josiah Turner Jr. U.S. Senate: Report on the Alleged Outrages in the Southern States by the Select Committee of the Senate, March 10, 1871 (Internet Archive)
    28. Hillsborough constable describes Orange County Klan killings to a U.S. Senate committee W. G. Turrentine, a Hillsborough constable, told the Senate select committee in Washington that five Black men had been killed in Orange County and many people whipped, some for voting Republican. He described how, in August 1869, 75 to 100 disguised men forced the Hillsborough jail and shot a prisoner held on a barn-burning charge, who died. Internet Archive: Report on the Alleged Outrages in the Southern States, Senate Select Committee, March 10, 1871
    29. New county commissioners order an Eno bridge and call the justices to plan a new jail At its first meeting the new board of commissioners ordered a bridge of oak timber on stone pillars built over the Eno at a mill crossing for no more than $475, ordered a room prepared for lunatics then held in the county jail, and called the justices of the peace to meet with it in January 1879 to consider building a new jail. People: Jones Watson, Nathaniel D. Bain Hillsborough Recorder, December 11, 1878, p. 3
    30. Orange commissioners decide to repair the old jail instead of building a new one The Orange County commissioners decided not to build a new jail but to repair the old one at Hillsborough. The county's magistrates, at their last meeting, also refused to authorize building any more bridges. The Chapel Hill Ledger, March 8, 1879, p. 2
    31. Five prisoners break out of the Hillsborough jail A prisoner named Sykes and four other prisoners broke out of the county jail at Hillsborough at night. The Chapel Hill Ledger, August 23, 1879, p. 3
    32. Officers recapture jailbreaker and liquor seller Graham Sykes near Chapel Hill Officers Barbee and Creel arrested Graham Sykes, long charged with distilling and selling whiskey without a license, who had broken out of the county jail with four others after his arrest that summer. A justice sent him to the Hillsborough jail in default of bail, and three days later his wife was bound over on liquor and assault warrants. The Chapel Hill Ledger, November 15, 1879, p. 2
    33. Eight prisoners break out of the Orange County jail at Hillsborough Prisoners seized the jailer as he climbed to the iron cages on a Wednesday night, threw a blanket over his head, took his keys and freed eight men, all Durham County prisoners held at Hillsborough for safekeeping. Sheriff John K. Hughes offered rewards, two of the men were soon retaken, and Justice O. Hooker bound over Sam Faulkner, a white man accused of slipping the prisoners an iron pin, under a $100 bond. People: John Knox Hughes Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), January 7, 1882, p. 2
    34. Armed citizens stop an attempted break at the Hillsborough jail A man near the county jail heard prisoners breaking the locks and raised the alarm; armed citizens surrounded the jail and fired into it several times before the prisoners stopped. Jailer Chester D. Turner and others then searched the cells and found two locks on one cell door broken. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), July 1, 1882, p. 3
    35. Prisoners in the Freeze case try to break out of the Hillsborough jail About eleven on Sunday night, May 8, Pat Brewer, Jesse Harris and Frank Kirby seized the jailer when he came up to let Brewer's wife visit, but they could not get out because the door had been locked from inside; night watchman Roach heard the struggle and the attempt failed. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 14, 1887, p. 3
    36. The sheriff names David Hayes jailer at Hillsborough The sheriff appointed David Hayes jailer of the county jail at Hillsborough, a week after a prisoner cut his way out. The paper counted five prisoners in the jail. Hillsboro Recorder, January 12, 1888, p. 3
    37. Prisoner David Holmes cuts through the jail wall and escapes David Holmes, serving a jail term at Hillsborough, broke out on Sunday night by cutting a hole through the wall large enough for his body. The paper said he had one day left to serve but would have owed about twenty more days for his costs. Hillsboro Recorder, January 5, 1888, p. 3
    38. Prisoners overpower the jailer and break out of the Hillsborough jail David Holmes and James P. Hopkins overpowered jailer Hayes when he brought breakfast, took his keys, freed James Hogan and fled; the sheriff's party caught Holmes and Hopkins within hours, and Hogan was taken in Chatham County. On the night of March 11 Hopkins and Holmes's son broke out again through a hole in the wall, the jail's third escape since New Year's. People: John Knox Hughes Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), March 10, 1888, p. 3
    39. Two prisoners slip out of the Hillsborough jail a week after the first break On Sunday night James P. Hopkins and the son of David Holmes, both held for misdemeanors, got out of the Hillsborough jail through a cell door found unlocked the next morning; David Holmes, in another cell, stayed. Hopkins later wrote the sheriff that he had bent the bucket bail into a key, and a deputy found the wire key where he said. People: John Knox Hughes Hillsboro Recorder, March 15, 1888, p. 3
    40. A captured still is stolen back out of the Hillsboro jail Officers seized a copper still and destroyed about 2,500 gallons of beer in Little River Township and hauled the still to Hillsboro, where it was locked in the jail. That night someone carried the still away from the jail. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 30, 1910, p. 5
    41. A prisoner cuts through the south wall of the county jail and escapes Wesley Day, a young Black man held for trial at the October court, cut a hole through the south wall of the Orange County jail on Sunday night and escaped. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), September 7, 1911, p. 5
    42. Six prisoners walk out of the Hillsboro jail All but one of the prisoners in the Hillsboro jail escaped one night through cell doors found unlocked, reportedly with a key made from a spoon handle; the one who stayed said the others threatened him. One escapee was brought back by his father; the Weekly heard nothing of the other five. The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 26, 1923, p. 1
    43. The grand jury urges a new county home near Hillsborough and a secure jail Reporting at the August term of Orange Superior Court, the grand jury found the convict road camp and the county home in good order and noted a new barn at the home. Because the home was far from the county seat, it urged the commissioners to sell the home and farm and build a modern home on the highway nearer Hillsboro, and it asked that the jail be made secure or replaced with a new one. The News (Chapel Hill), September 4, 1924, p. 1
    44. Work begins on a new Orange County jail across the street from the Hillsborough courthouse Work began on a new county jail just east of the courthouse and across the street, a brick building of Colonial design with a columned porch, jailer's quarters in front and cells behind, with white and Black, men and women, and juveniles kept apart. The cost with land and equipment was put at about $65,000, to be met by bonds, and the old jail and the small town hall were to be torn down. People: Alexander H. "Sandy" Graham, John Lee Foister The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 11, 1925, p. 1
    45. Orange County sells $65,000 of bonds for its new jail The county commissioners sold $65,000 of 5 percent jail bonds to Seasongood and Mayer of Cincinnati, best of 25 bidders, for $66,236.76, so the county borrowed at a little under 5 percent. The Weekly took the price as proof of the county's good credit with investment bankers. People: John F. McAdams The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 6, 1925, p. 1
    46. Orange County builds a new jail The county replaced its run-down jail with a $65,000 building, also used as a base for convicts on road work. Five years later the state took over most sentenced prisoners and the jail was often nearly empty. Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 220 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, September 11, 1925, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, February 12, 1926, p. 1
    47. Grand jury reports on the county home, road camp and jail The March term grand jury found the county home clean but its burying ground in bad repair, and reported that the jail held prisoners said to have syphilis with others and had too few cells. Judge N. A. Sinclair inspected the jail the next day, found six cells and good conditions, and ordered that every prisoner be examined by a doctor within 48 hours of commitment. The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 29, 1929, p. 2
    48. Five prisoners escape the Orange County jail Five men broke out of the county jail at Hillsborough late in the afternoon; one was shot by an officer and recaptured that night at University station, and four were still at large a week later. The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 26, 1929, p. 4
    49. Orange County drops its contract jailer and puts a deputy sheriff in charge of the jail The county commissioners ended the system of paying the jailer a monthly sum plus a daily fee for boarding each prisoner, which they thought encouraged poor feeding, and gave a salaried deputy sheriff charge of the jail, with the county accountant buying the food. Jail spending for 1933-34 came to $1,675 of the $3,750 budgeted. People: Gilbert W. Ray, W. P. Berry, John Hodge Hanner, Carl T. Durham The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 13, 1934, p. 1
    50. Civil Works crews tear down the old stone jail on Hillsborough's courthouse square As part of a Civil Works Administration project around the courthouse, relief workers demolished the old jail, and flagstones from its walls were used for sidewalks around the square. The work was nearly done in late December and complete by late January. People: George H. Lawrence, H. D. Carter The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 22, 1933, p. 1 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, January 26, 1934, p. 5
    51. Grand jury calls a new county jail an urgent need Reporting to Judge Henry A. McKinnon at the February criminal term of Superior Court, the Orange County grand jury said its committee had found the county jail in less than satisfactory condition on February 23, badly in need of paint, short of hot water and showing general neglect, and concluded that a new jail was an urgent need. It found the Chapel Hill jail in excellent condition and the state prison camp in good order. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 26, 1959, p. 1
    52. County commissioners inspect the jail and reject the call for a new one Taking up the grand jury's charge, the Board of County Commissioners inspected the county jail in a body and, while finding a need for repairs, repainting and cleaning, decided the building was structurally adequate and that no new jail was needed. People: Richard Junius Mendenhall Hobbs The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 5, 1959, p. 1
    53. A gasoline truck fire and explosion damage the Orange County jail A fuel truck caught fire and exploded while at the county jail on Court Street, causing heavy damage to the building. Orange Rural Fire Department, department history (after Mike Legeros, updated 2018)
    54. Investigators for the county's Council on the Status of Women fault conditions for women in the Orange County jail Cricket Ussery of the UNC Association for Women Students and Jean Wagoner of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, investigating for the new county Council on the Status of Women, visited the Orange County jail and faulted it for having no matron, a single two-cot cell for women that also held juveniles, and no books, games or outdoor exercise. Sheriff C. D. "Buck" Knight blamed a lack of money for a new jail, which the commissioners had been asked several times to fund, and said a matron was not needed. The Daily Tar Heel, March 3, 1976, p. 1
    55. A judge orders an inquiry into conditions at the Orange County jail Acting on an Orange County grand jury report, Superior Court Judge Henry A. McKinnon Jr. ordered a probe of the county jail in Hillsborough and required the county commissioners to file plans for improving it. Sheriff Buck Knight told the commissioners that the 24-cell jail held prisoners in filthy cells with broken fixtures and that he had asked for a new jail for six years; chairman Richard Whitted said the nearly $2 million voted for a new jail had gone instead to new county offices, which had to come first. The Daily Tar Heel, March 1, 1979, p. 3
    56. Sheriff Buck Knight reports safety deficiencies in the 1925 county jail Orange County Sheriff C.D. "Buck" Knight told the county commissioners in the week of September 28, 1981, that a state inspection had found the Hillsborough jail, built in 1925, short of several standards, including working emergency exit locks, smoke detectors and a posted fire evacuation plan. A jail annex begun in March 1981 was due by mid-1982, after which the old jail was to be renovated. The Daily Tar Heel, October 6, 1981, p. 3
    57. Two inmates escape the Orange County jail in Hillsborough and are caught in Alabama After breakfast two inmates pried open a panel beside a shower stall in the 1925 part of the jail, climbed the pipes to the roof and dropped to the ground; they took a county school car from the school bus garage and were caught two days later near Birmingham, Ala. Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass told the paper it was the first escape from the jail and that bars left unwelded during 1982 construction had been fixed. The Daily Tar Heel, January 24, 1994, p. 1
    58. The 1920s Orange County Jail on Court Street is greatly enlarged The Neoclassical Orange County Jail at 125-131 Court Street, built in 1926 facing the courthouse with the deputy's apartment upstairs, is enlarged in 1996 with a series of flat-roofed wings reaching back to East Margaret Lane. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 125-131 Court Street, Orange County Jail and Jailer's Residence
    59. Sheriff Pendergrass defends Orange County's enrollment in Secure Communities At a county commissioners' meeting, Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass explained his decision to enroll the Orange County jail in the federal Secure Communities pilot, which checks the fingerprints of people booked into jail against federal databases including immigration records. Commissioners, who had resolved in 2007 not to join the 287(g) program, raised concerns but took no action. OrangePolitics: Orange County and the Secure Communities Program

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