ORANGE COUNTY
Updated 12/31/99
The North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office statewide inventory contains information on over 550 prehistoric and historic archaeological sites in Orange County, including 151 sites identified in a 1994 archaeological survey of selected areas of the county.
In 1980 Carrboro undertook a comprehensive survey of its historic resources according to the Historic Preservation Office guidelines. A comprehensive survey of the county was completed in 1993. A Chapel Hill survey was funded in 1991, and a grant was awarded in 1994 for a survey of Hillsborough.
Federal grants have been awarded totaling $174,100 and state grants totaling $395,750. Major projects have included the Orange County architectural survey and survey publication, Hillsborough Historic District design guidelines, restoration of the Burwell School, the Alexander Dickson House, the Old Orange County Courthouse, and the Orange County preservation plan.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Thirty-eight Orange County listings in the National Register include the Alexander Hogan Plantation Site (archaeology), the Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District, and seven districts in Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro. The Nash-Hooper House in Hillsborough and Old East and Playmaker's Theatre at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill also are National Historic Landmarks.
LOCAL PRESERVATION COMMISSIONS
The Historic Preservation Office provides technical assistance to the Orange County Historic Preservation Commission, the Hillsborough Historic District Commission, the Chapel Hill Historic District Commission, and the Carrboro Neighborhood Preservation District Commission. The Historic Preservation Office has reviewed and offered advisory comment on the designation of four local historic districts in Chapel Hill and Hillsborough and four landmarks elsewhere in the county. Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, and Orange County are Certified Local Governments. In 1994, the county received a federal subgrant from the Historic Preservation Office to develop a preservation plan. A matching subgrant awarded in 1995 enabled the county to prepare a case study for a guidebook to assist developers in designing rural subdivisions so that cultural and natural resources may be protected. In 1999 the Hillsborough Historic District Commission received a federal matching grant to prepare design guidelines.
Twelve income-producing tax credit projects have been completed in Orange County at a total construction investment of $3,586,700, including the Carr Mill in Carrboro; two additional projects are currently under renovation. Five residential renovations are underway to utilize the new state tax credit for non-income-producing historic structures. The Historic Preservation Office reviews and provides restoration technical services for all preservation tax credit projects.
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND PUBLICATIONS
The Historic Preservation Office assisted the Town of Carrboro in publishing Carrboro, North Carolina: An Architectural and Historic Inventory in 1983. The Historic Preservation Office participated in a cemetery preservation workshop in Chapel Hill during 1994. Beginning in 1994, the Historic Preservation Office has provided grant and staff assistance for publication of the results of the comprehensive architectural survey of the county. Staff presented a workshop on tax credits for historic preservation projects co-sponsored by the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough in 1998.
Numerous Orange County preservation projects have received technical assistance from the Historic Preservation Office. Assistance to projects receiving state or federal grants has been given to the Orange County Courthouse, Burwell School, the Alexander Dixon House, Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, and the YMCA Building at Chapel, among others. Advisory services have been provided to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for historic structures including Old East and Playmaker's Theater, as well as to privately owned properties in the county, including the Nash-Hooper House, a National Historic Landmark in Hillsborough.