Orange County NC Website
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15 <br />16 <br />17 <br />18 <br />19 <br />20 <br />21 <br />22 <br />23 <br />24 <br />25 <br />26 <br />27 <br />28 <br />29 <br />Orange County is located in the eastern edge of the <br />Piedmont region of North Carolina. It was formally <br />created from parts of Granville, Johnston and Bladen <br />counties in 1752, and by 1767 it was the most populous <br />county in the state. Its immense original boundaries <br />encompassed present -day Orange, Person, Caswell, <br />Alamance, Chatham and Durham counties, and portions <br />of Guilford, Randolph, Rockingham and Wake — <br />approximately 3,500 square miles. Its prominence <br />during the early settlement period of the state is well <br />documented. The county seat of Hillsborough served <br />as the site of the third Provincial Congress (1775) and as a temporary state capital. <br />Today Orange County is bounded by Alamance, Caswell, Chatham and Durham counties, and <br />contains approximately 398 square miles (254,720 acres). Hillsborough remains the county <br />seat but has been surpassed in terms of population by the southern part of the county, <br />particularly the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Part of the fast growing Triangle area <br />(population of more than 1.2 million), Orange County has experience dramatic growth within <br />the past few decades, more than doubling its population from 57,707 in 1970 to roughly <br />1,221,991 in 2005.2 <br />Location of Orange County in North Carolina. <br />Agriculture has a long and proud tradition in Orange County, dating back to centuries before <br />European settlement. It remains an important part of the local economy today. In addition to <br />direct contributions to the local economy in the form of product sale receipts, expenditures on <br />farm services and inputs, and employment on farms and farm support businesses, farmers <br />serve as the stewards of large areas of undeveloped land. This stewardship often represents <br />decades, and even centuries, of commitment to the land. The farm community protects soil <br />2 The Triangle includes the state capital, Raleigh, the Research Triangle Park, three major universities - <br />UNC Chapel Hill, Duke University and NC State University —and more than twenty municipalities. <br />Draft 1012812009 Introduction 1 <br />16 <br />