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48 <br /> S onPy Creek Today <br /> The Stoney Creek area maintained a largely rural character into <br /> the second half of the twentieth century. The only significant <br /> commercial development occurred in the northern reaches of the <br /> basin as a result of automobile travel along US Highway 70, built <br /> in 1924 . The original route is now known as US Highway 70A. <br /> Other modern roadways came relatively late to the Stoney Creek <br /> basin. Old NC 10, once the major east-west route through the <br /> area, was essentially replaced by Highway 70 and not paved until <br /> 1947. The present-day US 70 Bypass was completed in 1948 to route <br /> traffic north of Hillsborough. Many other roads within the Stoney <br /> Creek area remained unpaved until the 1950'x. New Hope Church <br /> Road was paved in 1952. The Interstate Highway era came to the <br /> region during 1960-61, when I-85 opened. An interchange to I-40 <br /> at New Hope Church Road, just outside the Stoney Creek basin, <br /> opened in 1988, creating rapid access to Durham, Research Triangle <br /> Park, Burlington, and Greensboro. <br /> Today, - single-family residential neighborhoods have replaced the <br /> small to medium-sized farmsteads. The Strayhorn Farm, located in <br /> the New Hope community since the early 18th century, is the only <br /> substantial agricultural operation remaining in the basin, <br /> producing primarily beef cattle. <br /> The largest, undisturbed natural area remaining within Stoney <br /> Creek is - the 519-acre Eno Division tract of Duke Forest. The <br /> nucleus of this forest was created in 1927 by acquisition of lands <br /> from the Benjamin N. Duke Farm. Additional tracts were acquired <br /> over 30 years, with the last acquisition made in 1957. Today, 484 <br /> acres are classified by Duke University as Research Project Lands, <br /> the second highest category for protection and retention. A 35- <br /> acre tract, located north, of the railroad track, is classified as <br /> Residual Endowment Land, which could be subject to sale and <br /> development. <br /> The first, large residential neighborhoods that came to the Stoney <br /> Creek area consisted of primarily mobile homes on small lots. <br /> Colonial Hills, Colonial Park and Joppa Oaks, opened in the early <br /> 1970s, contained quarter-acre and half-acre parcels. Construction <br /> of Strayhorn Hills, the area' s first single-family residential <br /> neighborhood, was started in 1976, with lot sizes averaging <br /> 4 <br />