Agenda - 04-01-1997 - 9a - Laserfiche WebLink

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DRAFT1 White stated that five years ago there was an inventory of the unincorporated parts of Chapel Hill Township. The Commission started there because that area was so threatened with development and whole-scale housing. This would be a good place to start to at least identify those properties that were there so that if they were lost, it would be known what it was that was being lost. In 1992 the remainder of Orange County, the other townships, were surveyed. The inventory for the unincorporated part of Chapel.Hill Township yielded 160 significant structures. For the remainder of Orange County, there were 507 that were identified. In that same year Cedar Grove was put on the docket to be noted as a potential rural historic district. In 1993 there was an archeological survey done of Orange County based on a model, not an actual survey. This was a predictive model of where these sites might be located. This model identified 456 potential archeological sites. That same year, Cedar Grove Crossroads was put on the National Register Study List. So Cedar Grove has been coming along with the Commission ')ecause it was recognized early on to be such an important area. In 1994 and 1995 the Commission developed the Preservation Element. That same year Shannon Sexton interviewed residents of the community and prepared a draft nomination for Cedar Grove Crossroads for National Register nomination. This year, 1996, the Commission is in the process of working on a manuscript to detail the historical architecture of Orange County. Also on the Commission's agenda for 1996 is to meet with the residents of Cedar Grove for discussion of the National Register status. This gives a brief overview of what this Commission's order of business is and what it has done to get • this far. White then turned the meeting over to Don Belk. b. Cedar Grove-A Special Place in Orange County Belk thanked the guests for coming tonight showing them the map of historic sites of significance that were identified during the various inventories and the map representing the Preservation Plan showing historic crossroads where there is a concentration of significant historic architectural resources and sites that are on the National Register Study List. Belk stated that Historic Preservation is important to Orange County because it maintains our cultural heritage and gives us a sense of who we are and from whence we came. The founding families of Orange County are represented by many of the important historic sites that remain. In Cedar Grove, the names of the buildings reflect the heritage of many of its founding families, names such as Ellis,Hall,Hughes, Oliver,Pender,Patton,Finley, Tolar and Lindsay. Belk stated tiE the history of Orange County is tied to its present landscape, and the beauty of that rural landscape evokes strong feelings within all of us who are residents of Orange County. It is a meaningful component of our modem-day lives. Belk then gave a slide presentation of the Cedar Grove Crossroads district. 3 Attachment t'5