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Named event or history

Research Triangle Park and the county’s transformation

The park of 1959 and the commuting, housing, and growth pressure that remade rural Orange County into a university region.

The Research Triangle Foundation, formed in 1959, ran the research park planned between Durham and Raleigh around UNC, N.C. State and Duke. That November Orange County commissioners said the park would bring the county mainly new residents and school costs rather than taxable industry, and began discussing county-wide zoning.

315 indexed works are connected with this event. 10 held at OCPL →

Lake Betz, Research Triangle Park
Lake Betz, Research Triangle Park

Indexed works

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

Narrow these works. Each link opens the search already limited to this event. Counts are indexed works, not copies on a shelf; a work can carry more than one period or place.

Orange County N. C. Ejectments

2015 · Stewart E. Dunaway; Lulu

Ejectment suits were the legal route for disputing who held title to a tract of land, and the case files often include plats and drawings of the property. Stewart E. Dunaway gathered Orange County's ejectment cases from the state archives and reproduced them in facsimile, with maps, in a self-published volume issued through Lulu in 2015 (issue 2).

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Land use -- North Carolina -- Orange County -- History.

Comprehensive transportation plan Orange County

Lee, Sarah (Sarah E.) · 2013 · Transportation Planning Branch, N.C. Department of Transportation

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.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: City planning -- North Carolina -- Orange County.

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

Orange County, North Carolina

2012

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.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the Duke record: Regional planning -- North Carolina -- Orange County.

Hillsborough District Court Civil Action Concerning Land (1778-1806)

Dunaway, Stewart E. · 2011

Stewart E. Dunaway's abstracts of civil suits over land heard in the Hillsborough District Superior Court between 1778 and 1806. The district covered Orange, Wake, Granville, Caswell, Person, Chatham and Randolph counties, and the papers concern boundaries, ownership and disputed tracts. Published through Lulu in 2011, 337 pages with illustrations, maps and facsimiles.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Land use -- North Carolina -- Orange County -- History.

Ejectments of Orange County, N.C

Dunaway, Stewart E. · 2010 · Stewart E. Dunaway

Stewart E. Dunaway's four-volume set of ejectment cases from Orange County, reproducing the original documents and maps from the North Carolina State Archives with partial transcriptions. The volumes cover 1778 to 1814, 1817 to 1832, 1833 to 1849 and 1850 to 1902. Ejectment suits contested title and possession of land, and the cases include surveys and plats. Self-published in 2010.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Land use -- North Carolina -- Orange County -- History.

North Carolina Land Grant Entry Book ... Orange County

Dunaway, Stewart E. · 2010

Stewart E. Dunaway's two-volume edition of the Orange County land entry book, the register in which settlers first claimed vacant land from the state before a grant was surveyed and issued. Volume one covers the first thousand entries, all made in 1778; volume two runs from 1779 to 1795. Each entry is reproduced from the original in the State Archives with an abstract of its contents. Self-published through Lulu in a second version dated 2010, two volumes at 28 cm with facsimiles and maps.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the Durham record: Land Use -- North Carolina -- Orange County.

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Transportation impact analysis for the Carolina North development

2009 · Vanasse Hangen Brustlin

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.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: City planning -- North Carolina -- Chapel Hill.

UNC

2030 Long Range Transportation Plan

2005

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.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the Durham record: Orange County (N.C.) -- Population -- Statistics.

Where We Live

2005 · The Herald-Sun

Advertising supplement to the Durham Herald-Sun, issued as a periodical from 2005 and covering Durham, Orange, Person, Chatham, Granville and Vance counties, according to the 2008/2009 cover. It provides visitor information for the counties and the Research Triangle. Illustrated, partly in color, in a large format of 28 to 31 cm.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Research Triangle (N.C.) -- Description and travel -- Periodicals.

Draft 2030 Long Range Transportation Plan

2004

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.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the Durham record: Orange County (N.C.) -- Population -- Statistics.

Draft 2030 Long Range Transportation Plan, Socioeconomic Data

2003

A companion volume of socioeconomic data prepared in 2003 for the draft 2030 Long Range Transportation Plan, giving the population, employment and economic figures for Orange, Durham and Chatham counties on which the highway and transportation planning for Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough and Durham rested. Its genre is statistics. Like the plan itself.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the Durham record: Orange County (N.C.) -- Population -- Statistics.

The talking phone book: phone book

2002 · Talking Phone Book

Telephone directory issued in 2002 by the Talking Phone Book, covering Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough alongside Durham, Butner, Creedmoor, Mebane, Pittsboro, Saxapahaw, Research Triangle Park and the Raleigh-Durham airport. 472 pages with illustrations.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Research Triangle Park (N.C.) -- Telephone directories.

Search all 315 indexed works →

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this event. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled. Books marked Wider context cover the broader subject rather than this event itself.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 607.2 LAR Many Missions: Research Triangle Institute's First 31 Years Larrabee, Charles X. · 1991

    Charles X. Larrabee's history of the Research Triangle Institute over its first thirty one years, published in 1991. Topics include research institutes and research parks in North Carolina and the history of Research Triangle Park, the research district that lies between Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh.

  • Wider context · NC 975.655 ROHE The Research Triangle: From Tobacco Road to Global Prominence Rohe, William M. · 2011

    William M. Rohe's history of Research Triangle Park and the region around it, published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 2011. Topics include regional planning and the economic and social conditions of the Research Triangle Park region, one corner of which is Chapel Hill and the university. 298 pages with illustrations and maps.

  • Wider context · 641.509 PROSPERO Chefs of the Triangle: Their Lives, Recipes, and Restaurants Prospero, Ann · 2009

    Ann Prospero profiles Research Triangle cooks and restaurants, including recipes from each kitchen. Combining biography and cookbook, it covers a region that includes Chapel Hill. Published by John F. Blair in 2009, 224 pages with illustrations.

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  • Wider context · NC 607.2 COL University Research Park: The First Twenty Years Colvard, Dean W. · 1988

    Dean W. Colvard, Douglas M. Orr Jr. and Mary Dawn Bailey recount the first two decades of University Research Park, the research and corporate park in Charlotte's University City, which is also home to UNC Charlotte. Published by the university's Urban Institute in 1988; 118 pages with color illustrations and maps, references and an index.

  • Foundational · NC 929.375 HILLSBOR Hillsborough District Court Civil Action Concerning Land (1778-1806) 2011

    Stewart E. Dunaway's abstracts of civil suits over land heard in the Hillsborough District Superior Court between 1778 and 1806. The district covered Orange, Wake, Granville, Caswell, Person, Chatham and Randolph counties, and the papers concern boundaries, ownership and disputed tracts. Published through Lulu in 2011, 337 pages with illustrations, maps and facsimiles.

  • Wider context · NC 581.975 LINDHOLM Lindy's Identification Keys for Native Plants Growing in the North Carolina Triangle Lindholm, Roy C. · 2002

    Illustrated keys for identifying the native plants of the Triangle region around Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, compiled by Roy C. Lindholm and published by him in Chapel Hill in 2002, with a short bibliography and indexes.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 929.375 EJECTMEN Orange County N. C. Ejectments 2015

    Ejectment suits were the legal route for disputing who held title to a tract of land, and the case files often include plats and drawings of the property. Stewart E. Dunaway gathered Orange County's ejectment cases from the state archives and reproduced them in facsimile, with maps, in a self-published volume issued through Lulu in 2015 (issue 2).

In the chronology

Dated events connected with this event, earliest first. See these 19 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Census counts Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro in The 1950 census counted 34,435 people in Orange County, 9,177 in the town of Chapel Hill and 1,795 in Carrboro. Chapel Hill township as a whole had 18,222.U.S. Census Bureau: 1950 Census of Population, Vol. I, North Carolina, Number of Inhabitants
  2. Orange County commissioners give a cool reception to a Research Triangle planning request At a special meeting, Orange County commissioners gave only a lukewarm reception to a request to help fund a land development survey for the Research Triangle area and took no action pending firm figures. The Chapel Hill Weekly reported that the county expected to gain mostly new residents and school costs from the park rather than industry, and commissioners discussed zoning the area northeast of Chapel Hill toward the Durham County line. People: Richard Junius Mendenhall HobbsDigitalNC: The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 19, 1959, page 1
  3. Census counts Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro in The 1960 census counted 42,970 people in Orange County, 12,573 in Chapel Hill and 1,997 in Carrboro. Chapel Hill township had 25,030, up from 18,222 in 1950.U.S. Census Bureau: 1960 Census of Population, Vol. I, Part 35 North Carolina, Number of Inhabitants
  4. Chapel Hill Township's population grows 55 percent in the Census counts in the 1976 plan put Chapel Hill Township at 25,030 people in 1960 and 38,856 in 1970, far faster growth than any other township, and the planners estimated 53,921 by 1975. The county as a whole went from 57,707 in 1970 to an estimated 66,800 in 1974.Search the index · Orange County Planning Department, A Planning/Management Process for Orange County, North Carolina, with Recommendations for Sound Land Development (1976), scan p. 123
  5. Chapel Hill aldermen pay the town's share of the Research Triangle planning commission budget The Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen appropriated $1,545, six percent of the $25,750 budget of the Research Triangle Regional Planning Commission for 1960-61. The commission also asked the Orange County commissioners for four percent, or $1,030.DigitalNC: The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 16, 1960, page 3
  6. Chapel Hill Planning Board reviews the Research Triangle Planning Area land use plan The Chapel Hill Planning Board held a special meeting to review the Research Triangle Planning Commission's land use plan for the planning area, which projected population and density to 1980. The Chapel Hill Weekly described the plan as a major guide for future zoning changes and school locations.DigitalNC: The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 19, 1962, page 1
  7. Chapel Hill Planning Board favors a large village in response to the Triangle commission's development plan Reviewing the Research Triangle Planning Commission staff's General Development Plan for Chapel Hill to 1980, the Planning Board went on record preferring that the town grow as a large village rather than a small city. The plan also addressed subdivision layout, a collector road system and a proposed lake on Bolin Creek north of town. People: Ross ScroggsDigitalNC: The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 20, 1963, page 1
  8. A planning study projects Chapel Hill school growth to John Scott of the Research Triangle Planning Commission told the Chapel Hill School Board that district enrollment could reach 8,000 pupils by 1980, more than double the current number, and cited a 1960 township population of 25,000. The study, made for the Chapel Hill Planning Board and the Chapel Hill City Board of Education jointly, was issued as Schools, 1970-1980 (June 1963), and the School Board examined the finished projection on July 24, 1963.DigitalNC: The News of Orange County, May 16, 1963, page 2
  9. Fiber Industries withdraws its New Hope Creek rezoning request; commissioners chairman Carl Smith blames opponents Fiber Industries withdrew its request to rezone 450 acres near New Hope Creek for a plant after opposition from UNC, Duke and Mayor Howard Lee. County commissioners chairman Carl Smith blamed 'unintelligent intellectuals' and a town political 'machine', and said Lee, the town's Black mayor, was not serving Black residents by opposing the plant. People: Howard N. LeeSearch the index · Daily Tar Heel (DigitalNC): Fiber Industries withdraws request, August 7, 1969, p. 1
  10. Census counts Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro in The 1970 census counted 57,567 people in Orange County, 26,199 in Chapel Hill (26,195 of them in the Orange County part) and 5,058 in Carrboro. Chapel Hill's population had more than doubled since 1960.U.S. Census Bureau: 1990 CPH-2-35, Population and Housing Unit Counts, North Carolina
  11. Eno Township has the fastest growth rate of any Orange County township in the The county's population almost doubled between 1960 and 1980, growing about 3.4 percent a year in each decade, faster than the state as a whole. Chapel Hill Township added the most people, but Eno Township, on the Durham side, grew fastest in the 1970s.Search the index · N.C. Department of Transportation, Statewide Planning Unit, Thoroughfare Plan, Orange County, North Carolina (1990), scan p. 22
  12. Census counts Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro in The 1980 census counted 77,055 people in Orange County, 32,421 in Chapel Hill (32,038 in the Orange County part) and 7,336 in Carrboro.U.S. Census Bureau: 1990 CPH-2-35, Population and Housing Unit Counts, North Carolina
Show all 19 dated events
  1. Orange County Rural Buffer is established Orange County adopted the Orange County-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan and map on August 19, 1986, designating a low-density Rural Buffer. The three governments signed the Joint Planning Agreement on November 2, 1987, and the county dates the buffer to 1988.Search the index · Town of Chapel Hill: Joint Planning Agreement (Orange County, Chapel Hill, Carrboro), November 2, 1987, as amended
  2. Census counts Orange County residents working in Durham County in Of 49,915 employed Orange County residents in the 1990 census, 12,185 (about 24 percent) worked in Durham County, 31,591 worked in Orange County and 2,085 worked in Wake County.U.S. Census Bureau: 1990 County-to-County Worker Flow File, North Carolina, by county of residence
  3. Census counts Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro in The 1990 census counted 93,851 people in Orange County, 38,719 in Chapel Hill (37,604 in Orange County and 1,115 in Durham County) and 11,553 in Carrboro.U.S. Census Bureau: 1990 CPH-2-35, Population and Housing Unit Counts, North Carolina
  4. The News and Observer runs a series on the end of the Hogan family dairy near Carrboro Sally Hicks's four-part series followed the Hogan family as they gave up their 450-acre dairy near Carrboro, long in the family, and turned it into a housing subdivision.Search the index · NC Historic Preservation Office: Richard L. Mattson, History and Architecture of Orange County (1996), p. 65
  5. Census counts Orange County residents working in Durham County in Of 60,860 employed Orange County residents in Census 2000, 16,470 (about 27 percent) worked in Durham County, 35,053 worked in Orange County and 4,212 worked in Wake County.U.S. Census Bureau: Residence County to Workplace County Flows for North Carolina, Census 2000
  6. Census counts Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro in Census 2000 counted 118,227 people in Orange County, 46,798 in the Orange County part of Chapel Hill and 16,782 in Carrboro, according to the county's published table.Orange County, NC: Municipal and Unincorporated Populations, 1980-2007
  7. Orange County's 2030 Comprehensive Plan places county growth within the Triangle economy The Land Use Element of Orange County's 2030 Comprehensive Plan says the county, as an integral part of the Triangle, grew nearly 50 percent from 1980 to an estimated 121,991 in 2005, and names the Research Triangle Park as part of its region, calling jobs and economic conditions a frequent catalyst for changes in population and land use. It also records the 1984 Joint Planning Agreement with Chapel Hill, extended to Carrboro in 1987, and the 1986 rural buffer plan.Orange County, NC: 2030 Comprehensive Plan, Chapter 5 Land Use Element

Places in this history

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first.

All places and the county map →

Research sources

Resources picked for this event, each with a note on what it holds.

Background

Collections and databases 5

Local help

Picture: Lake Betz, Research Triangle Park. CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph by Abhiram Juvvadi; via Wikimedia Commons

More to discover

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