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21 <br /> 1-21-93 Final Version <br /> SECTION I . INTRODUCTION <br /> Background <br /> "Rural" is defined in The American Heritage Dictionary as "of or <br /> pertaining to the country as opposed to the city" . The same source <br /> defines "character" as "the combination of qualities or features <br /> that distinguishes one thing from another" . In its simplest terms, <br /> "rural character" could thus be defined as "those qualities or <br /> features that distinguish the country from the city" . It is the <br /> identification of the distinguishing features of the "country" and <br /> how to preserve them that the Rural Character Study Committee has <br /> concerned itself with since 1988 . <br /> A Case Study - the Rural Community of Cedar Grove <br /> The character of "Rural Orange" - areas deemed to remain rural over <br /> the foreseeable future - can be found throughout the County. The <br /> historical context of rural communities and their flavor and <br /> importance in the rural way of life, cannot be overstated as a <br /> factor in describing rural character. <br /> One such example is the community of Cedar Grove. Cedar Grove <br /> Township lies in northwestern Orange County. In the center of the <br /> Township, at the intersection of Efland-Cedar Grove Road and Carr <br /> Store Road, is the community of Cedar Grove. As an unincorporated <br /> place, Cedar Grove has no legal boundaries. Depending on how one <br /> defines the Cedar Grove community, the crossroads contains between <br /> 100 and 500 persons. The Township itself has 3700 residents <br /> scattered across 80 square miles. The principal land activity in <br /> Cedar Grove Township is as it has been for centuries - farming. <br /> Dairy and tobacco are the main products . <br /> Like many areas in Orange County, Cedar Grove has a long and <br /> storied past. Native American tribes such as the Occoneechee <br /> resided in the vicinity for many years before European settlement. <br /> Scots-Irish Presbyterians were the first European settlers of Cedar <br /> Grove, arriving in the 1740 's. By the time of the Revolutionary <br /> War, Germans and Quakers had also settled there. Starting in the <br /> late 18th century, Africans became a significant part of the <br /> community - initially as slaves, later as free landowners . <br /> The concept of community grew strong in Cedar Grove as well. <br /> Agricultural harvesting became a yearly celebration, yielding <br /> "Harvest Festivals" and "Community Pots" for area residents. <br /> Much of Cedar Grove 's heritage can still be seen in the landscape - <br /> the old houses, barns, and structures, the tobacco fields , the <br /> dairy farms and the many churches which still survive today. <br /> . 1 <br />