Bicycle and Greenways Map
Steve Spindler Cartography's 2014 map of bicycle routes and greenways in Chapel Hill. It shows the town's bicycle trails, cycling routes and greenway network.
Storyline
The 1915 road law and the county road supervisor, 1915–1917
How the 1915 road law put Orange County’s roads under one county fund and a superintendent of roads: A. W. Clarke’s hiring, the federal engineer’s roads, convict labor, the 1917 road classification, and the bridges and road contracts that followed.
In briefIn 1915 Senator Frank Nash's act directed the Orange County commissioners to spend the road tax on the roads of the county at large rather than township by township, and to elect a county supervisor of roads. A. W. Clarke became superintendent of roads that March. In 1916 the county placed the Chapel Hill to Durham road and the road from Carrboro to the Alamance line under the federal engineer and authorized the superintendent to buy equipment to work convicts on the roads. By 1917 inspectors counted 37 miles of central highways and many more miles of Class A and Class B roads, and the commissioners were ordering straightening, bridge work and a sand-clay road.
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The full story
By January 28, 1915 the General Assembly had ratified Senator Frank Nash's act directing the Orange County commissioners to spend the road tax, after interest and sinking fund on the road bonds, on the roads of the county at large rather than township by township, and to elect a county supervisor of roads. On March 2 A. W. Clarke became superintendent of roads, at $65 a month from March through November. In August the county agreed to pay $340, and furnish no teams, toward the U.S. engineer's work on the Hillsboro and Durham road. In 1916 the board authorized the superintendent to buy equipment to work convicts on the roads. On April 17, 1916 it placed the Chapel Hill to Durham road under the federal engineer, as the central highway through Hillsborough already was, and on May 1 the road from Carrboro to the Alamance line by way of White Cross. On March 6, 1917 township inspectors reported 37 miles of central highways, 62.1 miles of Class A roads and 365.2 miles of Class B roads. In July the commissioners ordered the road from Tolers straightened, ordered another span for the Eno bridge at Hall's Mill, and contracted with Lonnie A. Crawford for a sand-clay road from Dodson's Cross Roads to the macadam road toward Hillsboro.
In the chronology
Events in this storyline, in date order. See these 9 dated events in the chronology →
- The General Assembly puts Orange County's road tax into one county-wide fund under a county road supervisor Senator Frank Nash's act told the county commissioners to spend the road tax, after interest and sinking fund on the road bonds, on the roads of the county at large rather than township by township, and to elect a county supervisor of roads for a two-year term. The News reported the bill enrolled and ratified. People: Frank NashSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), January 28, 1915, p. 1
- A. W. Clarke becomes Orange County's superintendent of roads A 1915 act ended township road administration in Orange and put every county road under a superintendent. Clarke accepted $65 a month from March through November and $3 a day for winter work.Search the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 206
- The county agrees to pay $340 toward the federal engineer's work on the Hillsboro-Durham road Correcting its previous minutes, the board of commissioners recorded that the county would appropriate $340 and furnish no teams for the road work of the U.S. engineer on the Hillsboro and Durham road.Search the index · The News (Chapel Hill), August 12, 1915, p. 4
- The county road superintendent is equipped to work convicts on the roads In 1916 the board authorized the road superintendent to buy the equipment he needed to put convicts to work. Prisoners were used on county road projects until the state took over most sentenced prisoners in 1931.Search the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 206
- The Chapel Hill to Durham road is turned over to the federal engineer The commissioners placed the road under the U.S. government engineer, as the central highway through Hillsborough already was, and set $40 a mile a year for upkeep. On May 1 they did the same for the road from Carrboro to the Alamance line by way of White Cross. People: Joseph Hyde PrattSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 206
- Township road inspectors classify the county's roads The inspectors the board had named in each township reported 37 miles of central highways, 62.1 miles of Class A roads and 365.2 miles of Class B roads. The same year the board began paying for bridges, pipes and road tools from general county funds.Search the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 207
- County commissioners order another span for the Eno bridge at Hall's Mill After inspecting the new bridge over the Eno at Hall's (Smith's) Mill, the county commissioners ordered an additional span built at the same rate per span, and paid the Joliet Bridge and Iron Works $500 on the bridge. People: Alonzo W. KenionSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), August 2, 1917, p. 1
- Lonnie A. Crawford contracts to build a sand-clay road from Dodson's Cross Roads Lonnie A. Crawford, a former Orange man then of Mebane, contracted with the county commissioners to build a sand-clay road from Dodson's Cross Roads to the macadam road toward Hillsboro.Search the index · The News (Chapel Hill), July 19, 1917, p. 7
- County commissioners order a road near the Caldwell road straightened At their July meeting the county commissioners ordered the road from Tolers to the bend near the Caldwell road straightened and put in good shape under the supervision of A. W. Cole.Search the index · The News (Chapel Hill), July 12, 1917, p. 5
Background on Roads, Rail & Transportation
Background reading on Roads, Rail & Transportation. These works cover the broader subject and may not discuss this storyline. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.
Widely held
Comprehensive transportation plan Orange County
Comprehensive transportation plan for Orange County prepared by Sarah Lee for the Transportation Planning Branch of the N.C. Department of Transportation, October 2013. It covers highway planning, roads and their environmental effects, and traffic engineering, with color maps, some folded.
NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
Farewell forever, old road to Durham : lessons from the history of transportation planning in the North Carolina Piedmont
Mark Chilton's short history of transportation planning in the North Carolina Piedmont, drawing lessons from earlier projects. Subjects include the Cape Fear Navigation Company and river navigation, and the railroads of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, including the State University Railroad Company whose spur brought trains to the two towns. Chilton was mayor of Carrboro when the book appeared. Published by Hand Made Books, Carrboro, 2012, 92 pages with illustrations, maps and portraits.
Mebane
J. Ronald Oakley's pictorial history of Mebane, the railroad town on the Orange and Alamance county line, from Arcadia Publishing in 2012, 127 pages of photographs. Chapters cover the railroad, industries, businesses, the Depression and war years, profiles past and present, churches and civic clubs, recreation and sports, school days, and preserving the past. Topics include Mebane's history, economy, buildings and railroads.
Orange County, North Carolina
A group of materials combining a county planning document with a highway map of Orange County, dated 2012. The planning piece, issued in Raleigh by a state commission, lays out a planning and management process for the county with recommendations on land development. The map, based on the statewide highway planning survey, shows roads, bridges, utilities, public property, businesses and industries across Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough; one copy carries red-pencil notes naming the county's voting precincts.
Transportation impact analysis for the Carolina North development
Traffic study for Carolina North, the University of North Carolina's planned development in Chapel Hill, prepared by the consulting firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin of Watertown, Massachusetts, and dated June 3, 2009. One spiral-bound volume in various pagings with illustrations and folded maps, plus a 12-page addendum on parking and mode share. The study includes traffic estimates and the environmental effects of transportation.
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Orange County, N.C. Road Records
Three volumes of historic Orange County road records compiled by Stewart E. Dunaway and self-published through Lulu.com in 2008, with maps. The documents, reproduced as facsimiles and sometimes transcribed, include petitions for new roads, requests for road upkeep, bridge records and papers explaining why roads were rerouted. Road petitions name the householders along a route. The third volume also gathers records connected with Cyrus Guy's lynching in Orange County in 1869.
[Replace Durham County bridge no. 158 on SR 1402 (Rivermont Rd) over unamed [sic] tributary to Eno River, TIP project no. B-3169, state project no. 8.2353701, W
An environmental document prepared in 2006 by the Project Development and Environmental Analysis Branch of the North Carolina Department of Transportation for replacing Durham County bridge number 158, which carries Rivermont Road, State Road 1402, over an unnamed tributary of the Eno River, TIP project B-3169. Its subjects are environmental impact statements and the Eno River's environmental conditions; one volume of various foliations with maps, some folded.
2030 Long Range Transportation Plan
A long range transportation plan adopted in 2005 with a planning horizon of 2030. It concerns highway and transportation planning in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough and Orange County, together with Durham and Chatham counties, and includes population, employment and economic statistics for the three counties.
A taste of heaven : a collection of recipes
Community cookbook from Cross Roads Baptist Church in Hillsborough, printed by Morris Press Cookbooks in 2005 in a three-ring binder. Recipes are credited to their contributors. The book includes Southern cooking, church history and material on the Family House of Chapel Hill. 124 pages of recipes plus front and back matter, with color illustrations.
Draft 2030 Long Range Transportation Plan
The draft of the 2030 Long Range Transportation Plan for the Durham and Orange County area, dated 2004, covering highway and transportation planning in Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, Durham and Orange County and population, employment and economic statistics in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties. A planning document for those tracing how the county's roads were projected to grow.
Fish Dam Road Maps
Joe Liles's 2004 maps of Fish Dam Road, tracing its course across Durham, Orange, Granville and Wake counties.
Research sources
Sources and research tools for this storyline. Research guide: Follow an event across several accounts.
Records of the time
- Public-Local Laws of North Carolina, 1915: Chapter 19, An act to provide for the maintenance of the public roads of Orange CountyInternet Archive Digitized books, newspapers, and records, readable online
Collections and databases
- NC LIVE: prepared search for The 1915 road law and the county road supervisor, 1915–1917 Library card Search NC LIVE for this subject and Orange County. You can change the search terms. Sign in through your North Carolina library to access the materials.
Local help
- Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection, Orange County Public Library The county library’s local-history room at the Main Library in Hillsborough: books, journals, maps, and microfilm of county records from 1752
- Local History Help Hours and request formOCPL Local History Liaison Meet with the Local History Liaison at the Main Library, usually Mondays from noon to 3 p.m., or send a question using the online request form
More to discover
Keep Reading Local
The Friends connect people with new library materials, local writers and publishers, and resources documenting Orange County.
