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Named event or history

Creation of Orange County and Hillsborough, 1752–1766

The county formed in 1752, its seat surveyed by William Churton in 1754 where the Great Trading Path crossed the Eno, and the town’s names in turn: Orange, Corbinton, Childsburgh, and from 1766 Hillsborough.

22 indexed records are connected with this event.

In the index

Related works found in catalogs and archives across North Carolina. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it.

The Fullkersons in the Battle of King's Mountain : a revolutionary war story

Dunaway, Stewart E. · 2014 · Stewart E. Dunaway?

UNC

The History Of Few's Ford (Eno V. 8, No. 1)

Anderson, Jean Bradley · 1989

Jesse Benton letters (1780-1790) : Hartford, Hillsborough, NC.

Benton, Jesse · 2009 · S.E. Dunaway

UNC
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Farmers in court : Orange County, North Carolina, 1750-1776

Bushman, Richard L. · 2001

UNC

The Orange County and Mecklenburg County instructions : the development of political individualism in backcountry North Carolina, 1740-1776

Blower, Daniel Frederick · 1984

UNC

A map of Orange County, N.C.

Noble, M. C. S. (Marcus Cicero Stephens), 1855-1942 · 1915

UNC

Towns of the Revolution - Hillsborough, N.C.

Colton, Henry E. · 1856

UNC

Government Journal documenting insurgent activates and advances

1768

James R. D. Byrn will, 1797.

Byrn, James R. D. · 1797

UNC

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In the chronology

Dated events connected with this event, earliest first. See the whole chronology →

  1. Creation of Orange County and Hillsborough The General Assembly created Orange County in 1752 from parts of Granville, Johnston and Bladen counties. William Churton laid out its county seat in 1754 wher…Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, vol. 23: Acts of the North Carolina General Assembly, 1752 (ch. VI, Orange County)
  2. Orange County is created The colonial assembly formed Orange County from portions of Bladen, Granville, and Johnston counties. Its original boundaries were far larger than those of pre…NCpedia
  3. St. Matthew’s Parish is established The act of the spring 1752 General Assembly session that created Orange County also made it the Anglican Parish of St. Matthew, with its own vestry. The parish…Search the index · Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, vol. 23: Acts of the General Assembly, March 31–April 15, 1752, ch. VI
  4. Hillsborough is laid out William Churton laid out a town and common on a 400-acre tract on the north side of the Eno that was granted to him in 1754, where the trading path crossed the… People: William ChurtonColonial and State Records of North Carolina, vol. 25: Acts of the General Assembly, 1759–1760, ch. XIII (town of Childsburg)
  5. Childsburgh is renamed Hillsborough Childsburgh was renamed Hillsborough in honor of Wills Hill, Earl of Hillsborough. People: Wills Hill, Earl of HillsboroughNCpedia
  6. Fire destroys the greater part of Hillsborough A letter written at Hillsborough early in March 1790 reported that the greatest part of the town had been destroyed by fire a few days earlier, news that reach…North Carolina Newspapers (DigitalNC): The State gazette of North-Carolina, March 27, 1790, Page 3

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Context

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Background reading at OCPL

Held in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection. Selected because their titles or catalog subjects provide wider historical context for this event; they may not discuss the Orange County event directly.

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Keep Reading Local

The Friends connects people with new library materials, local writers and publishers, and resources documenting Orange County.

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