Skip to content
Orange County Public Library (opens the library’s website in a new tab)

Houses, farms, parks and cemeteries

Ruffin-Roulhac House (Little Hawfields)

The Ruffin-Roulhac House at 101 East Orange Street in Hillsborough is a small Federal house built about 1821 for Martin Hanks and enlarged about 1830 by Frances Blount. Thomas Ruffin bought it in 1865, called it Little Hawfields and died there in 1870, and the town bought it in 1972 for its town hall.

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 Ruffin-Roulhac House. Each has been reviewed for relevance; materials held at OCPL appear first.

About the site

Hillsborough's town hall : Ruffin-Rouhlac house, 1803 : 101 E. Orange Street, Hillsborough, NC 27278 : National Register of Historic Places.

1992

The Ruffin-Rouhlac house of 1803 at 101 East Orange Street is the town hall of Hillsborough, and this 1992 leaflet describes the building and its listing on the National Register of Historic Places. A folded sheet of four unnumbered pages, 28 cm.

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

UNC

Ruffin House, Churton & Orange Streets, Hillsborough, Orange County, NC

Historic American Buildings Survey · 1933

The Ruffin House, a wooden dwelling at Churton and Orange Streets in Hillsborough, shown in a deteriorated state in three Historic American Buildings Survey photographs with a caption page, compiled after 1933. F. Rowlett and Archie A. Biggs are named with the documentation.

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

Library of Congress Digital Collections

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Ruffin-Roulhac House 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 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 Ruffin-Roulhac House, but they cover where it stands, its kind of building and the land, family and burial records behind it, and they are where a search for a place like this usually goes next. All are at OCPL, most in the Wall Collection.

    Histories of the town and county

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Buildings and surveys

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

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

    • Foundational · NC 720.975 HILLSBOR Hillsborough Historic District Inventory 2006

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

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

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

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

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

    Land, family and burial records

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Show 2 more

    In the chronology

    1. A small Federal house is built on East Orange Street for Martin Hanks The three west bays of the house later called Little Hawfields and the Ruffin-Roulhac House were built about 1821 for Martin Hanks. In the 1830s Francis L. Hawks and Frances C. P. Blount Hill bought it and added the east rooms. People: Francis L. Hawks Hillsborough Historic District National Register Additional Documentation (2014), pdf p. 130
    2. Martin Hanks sells his lot and house at Churton and Orange streets to William H. Phillips Martin Hanks sold town lot 181 to William H. Phillips for $650, a price that shows a house already stood there. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Ruffin-Roulhac House, National Register nomination (OR0017), p. 4
    3. Francis L. Hawks buys the house at Churton and Orange streets William H. Phillips sold the house to Francis Lister Hawks, then reporter to the state supreme court. While living there Hawks left the law to study theology under William Mercer Green of St. Matthew's and was ordained deacon in 1827; he later became a noted Episcopal clergyman and historian. People: William Mercer Green, Francis L. Hawks NC State Historic Preservation Office: Ruffin-Roulhac House, National Register nomination (OR0017), p. 4
    4. Frances Blount buys the Hawks house and the lot beside it Walker Anderson, acting for Francis L. Hawks, sold the house to Frances Blount, who is thought to have been renting it. She also bought the neighboring lot 180 that year. People: Walker Anderson, Francis L. Hawks NC State Historic Preservation Office: Ruffin-Roulhac House, National Register nomination (OR0017), p. 4
    5. Frances Blount enlarges the house to a center-passage plan Soon after buying it, Frances Blount added two rooms to the east side of the one-and-a-half-story house, turning its side-hall plan into the center-passage form it keeps today. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Ruffin-Roulhac House, National Register nomination (OR0017), p. 4
    6. Thomas Ruffin buys the Hillsborough house he called Little Hawfields The house on East Orange Street, built about 1821 and enlarged in the 1830s, was sold to Thomas Ruffin in 1865. He named it Little Hawfields. The Town of Hillsborough acquired the property in 1972 and made it the Town Hall. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 101 E. Orange Street (Ruffin-Roulhac House) · Also: NC State Historic Preservation Office: Ruffin-Roulhac House, National Register nomination; Open Orange: Ruffin-Roulhac House
    7. Thomas and Anne Ruffin move from the Haw River plantation to Hillsborough Thomas Ruffin and his wife Anne left their Haw River plantation early in 1866 and moved to Hillsborough, where he had bought the house he called Little Hawfields the year before. People: Thomas Ruffin UNC Libraries: Thomas Ruffin Papers, 1753-1898, 1.7. 1866-1878
    8. Thomas Ruffin buys six lots next to his Hillsborough house from Pride Jones Thomas Ruffin bought lots 177, 178, 179, 204, 205 and 206, which adjoined the house he had acquired the year before, from Pride Jones. People: Pride Jones NC State Historic Preservation Office: Ruffin-Roulhac House, National Register nomination (OR0017), p. 4
    9. Anne Ruffin buys the last two lots and the Ruffin place fills a whole town block Completing a purchase begun before her husband's death, Anne M. Ruffin bought lots 202 and 203. The Ruffin property then took in an entire block of about ten acres, which was still intact in 1971. People: Anne Kirkland Ruffin NC State Historic Preservation Office: Ruffin-Roulhac House, National Register nomination (OR0017), p. 5
    10. Thomas Ruffin dies at his Hillsborough home Ruffin died in the northeast room of the house on January 15, 1870, and his widow Anne inherited the estate. He was buried at St. Matthew's Church in Hillsborough, on ground he had given for the church, where he had served on the vestry. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 101 E. Orange Street (Ruffin-Roulhac House) · Also: ncpedia.org; Open Orange: Ruffin-Roulhac House
    11. Anne Ruffin dies and Little Hawfields passes to her heirs Anne Kirkland Ruffin, who had inherited the Hillsborough house on Thomas Ruffin's death in 1870, died in 1875. The estate passed to her children and a grandchild. People: Thomas Ruffin NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 101 E. Orange Street (Ruffin-Roulhac House) · Also: NC State Historic Preservation Office: Ruffin-Roulhac House, National Register nomination; Open Orange: Ruffin-Roulhac House
    12. The superior court orders the old Ruffin place sold to Nannie Russell Roulhac Under a superior court judgment, Allen J. Ruffin was named commissioner to convey the ten-acre Ruffin place to Mrs. Nannie Russell Roulhac of Rockingham County for $100 in cash and a mortgage note of $1,455. People: Allen Jones Ruffin NC State Historic Preservation Office: Ruffin-Roulhac House, National Register nomination (OR0017), p. 5
    Show all 19 dated events
    1. Nannie Roulhac remodels the Ruffin house Mrs. Nannie Russell Roulhac remodeled the house after buying it, though the main block kept its 1830 form. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Ruffin-Roulhac House, National Register nomination (OR0017), p. 2
    2. Nannie Roulhac dies and her son William Sterling Roulhac inherits the Ruffin house At the death of Nannie Russell Roulhac the house and block passed to her son, William Sterling Roulhac. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Ruffin-Roulhac House, National Register nomination (OR0017), p. 5
    3. School board moves to condemn the Ruffin-Roulhac land for a Hillsboro school The county Board of Education decided on March 5 to start condemnation proceedings, if needed, to get the Roulhac property at the north end of Churton Street, long known as the Ruffin property after Judge Thomas Ruffin, for a new elementary school. A committee had picked it the fall before, and owner W. S. Roulhac of Mount Vernon, N.Y., had ignored every letter about a sale. People: Archie Royal Davis The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 8, 1951, p. 1
    4. William Sterling Roulhac dies and leaves the Ruffin house to his wife Charlotte William Sterling Roulhac died and left the property to his wife, Charlotte Trant Roulhac, who owned it when the town of Hillsborough began negotiating to buy it for government offices. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Ruffin-Roulhac House, National Register nomination (OR0017), p. 5
    5. The Ruffin-Roulhac House is listed in the National Register On August 5, 1971 the National Park Service listed the Ruffin-Roulhac House in Hillsborough in the National Register of Historic Places. NC State Historic Preservation Office: North Carolina Listings in the National Register of Historic Places, Orange County · Also: NC State Historic Preservation Office: Ruffin-Roulhac House, National Register nomination (OR0017)
    6. The Town of Hillsborough buys the Ruffin-Roulhac House for its town hall The Ruffin-Roulhac House and its outbuildings, empty since the 1920s, were sold to the Town of Hillsborough in 1972. The town rehabilitated them as its town hall complex by 1975. Hillsborough Historic District National Register Additional Documentation (2014), pdf p. 10
    7. The Ruffin-Roulhac House and its outbuildings are fitted up as Hillsborough's town hall After the Town of Hillsborough buys the Ruffin-Roulhac House at 101 East Orange Street in 1972, it rehabilitates the house and its outbuildings, empty since the 1920s, as a town hall complex by 1975. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 101 East Orange Street, Ruffin-Roulhac House

    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.

    National Register files

    Historic sites, markers, and maps

    Records of the time 6

    Collections and databases

    Local help 5

    Nearby

    Something wrong or missing on this page, a location, a date or a name? Suggest a correction or a source →

    Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library
    Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026