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Stone 's Creek: <br /> A History of the Stoney Creek Area <br /> by <br /> Donald R. Belk, AICP <br /> Orange County Planning Department <br /> Edward Stone received land grants from agents of Earl Granville in <br /> 1755 and 1761. The Earl, John Carteret, was heir to one of the <br /> eight Lords Proprietors, who received the original 1663 grant of <br /> the Carolinas from King Charles II of England. Since it was <br /> common during early colonial times for streams to be named after <br /> the owner of the lands they crossed, the creek traversing Mr. <br /> Stone' s property was henceforth known as Stone' s Creek. First <br /> seen on the Collet map of 1770, the name held until at least 1882, <br /> when it was shown on the Kerr-Cain map. <br /> Prehistory <br /> Archaeological evidence has shown an active Native American <br /> presence in the Eno River area around present-day Hillsborough. <br /> The Indians of the Woodland Period (500 BC up to the first <br /> European contact, about AD 1500) practiced .agriculture to <br /> supplement the hunting and gathering of food. During this period, <br /> the introduction of pottery and bow-hunting represented the most <br /> significant changes to Indian culture. With the fertile <br /> floodplains supplying their source of food, the villages became <br /> stable communities. The extensive network of trails, and the <br /> system of creeks and rivers provided opportunities for a mingling <br /> of tribes from throughout the region. <br /> The topography along Stoney Creek suggests a high probability for <br /> the occurrence of significant archeological sites. The Congaree <br /> soils that are prevalent within the Stoney Creek floodplain north <br /> of SR 1710 probably contain sites from the Woodland period. In <br /> the North Carolina Piedmont, many notable prehistoric settlement <br /> sites have been found on Congaree soils, including the Hogue, <br /> Fredericks, and Jenrette sites near Hillsborough. <br /> Early American history relies upon the accounts of the German <br /> physician John Lederer in 1670, and John Lawson, who observed <br /> Indian settlements in the present-day Hillsborough area during his <br /> famous 1701 exploration of the Carolinas. It is likely that the <br />