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County prepares to celebrate 250 years of cultural diversity <br />On Sept. 9,1752, a new county was <br />orn in the North Carolina back <br />country — a county <br />)RANGE that spanned the area <br />ULTURAL from present -day <br />RTS Greensboro to present- <br />day Durham, from the <br />Virginia line to the <br />Uwharrie mountains. <br />On that day, Orange County became <br />reality as its first colonial court of <br />)mmon pleas and quarter sessions <br />as held at Grayfields along the Eno <br />iver. <br />Originally inhabited by the <br />ccaneechi/Saponi nation and other <br />ative American tribes, the new <br />aunty encompassed a land area of <br />500 square miles (versus 400 today) <br />at included all of present day <br />Alamance, Caswell, Person, Durham <br />and Chatham counties as well as <br />parts of Wake, Lee, Randolph, <br />Guilford and Rockingham counties. <br />Mindful of our heritage, the <br />mission of the Orange County 250 <br />celebration is to bring together <br />citizens to celebrate and educate <br />themselves about the people past and <br />present who have called Orange <br />County home. <br />As citizens in one of the oldest <br />Piedmont counties, Orange County's <br />120,000 residents — up from 4,000 <br />when the county -was formed — have <br />a lot to celebrate: <br />a Our commitment to education, <br />from the founding of the University of <br />North Carolina, the nation's first state <br />university when it opened in 1795, <br />through early advocacy for universal <br />public education, the development of <br />six freedmen's schools by 1868, a <br />district tax enacted in the 1940s to <br />boost local school funding in Chapel <br />Hill and Carrboro, to today's changing <br />UNC- Chapel Hill and local school <br />systems. rated among the best in the <br />Southeastern United States. <br />a Our will to preserve cultural <br />resources such as our tapestry of <br />distinctive buildings and <br />neighborhoods, as well as our <br />farmland and natural treasures like <br />Occoneechee Mountain and the Eno <br />River corridor. <br />a Our growing diversity, beginning <br />with Indian nations, recast by the <br />arrival of people from Europe and <br />Africa, and shaped recently by the <br />addition of persons from Asia, Latm <br />America and other parts of the globe. <br />a Our ongoing love of <br />independence, whether reflected in <br />the actions of the Regulators or the <br />patriots of the American Revolution, <br />by women fighting for equality, <br />African - Americans struggling to <br />secure' their civil rights; " <br />sharecroppers and mill workers :. <br />striving for dignity,' orfre&speech <br />advocates protecting free expression . <br />in the mid- 20th-century In all of these <br />struggles, important battles were <br />fought and won in Orange County. <br />The anniversary of the county's <br />founding provides an opportunity and <br />need to celebrate its 250 rich years. <br />Social and political issues may <br />sometimes divide us, yet there is <br />County county's heritage and diversity, <br />encouraging local residents <br />continued from page C1 <br />and visitors to explore'brange <br />County. <br />from several county <br />a Close the year -long <br />dignitaries and a ringing of <br />celebrations by hosting an <br />church and courthouse bells <br />event saluting the county's <br />across the county. <br />past, present and future in <br />n Post highway signs and. <br />September 2003. <br />banners that advertise. and <br />Help us set the stage for a <br />celebrate our anniversary, <br />year o:,unity and celebration <br />featuring a juried logo <br />-by volunteering to work with <br />commissioned for the <br />Orange County. 250, by making <br />occasion. <br />a contributiori.:by identifying <br />a Encourage the county's <br />existing evenis'that*might r <br />numerous and varied civic and <br />share the anniversary theme, <br />service organizations to <br />or by participating in related <br />incorporate programs with an <br />events throughout the year. <br />Orange County 250 theme <br />For information on how to <br />during the semi- <br />help, call 245 -2325 or send <br />quincentennial year beginning <br />e-mail to <br />Sept. 9. <br />edcmail @coorange.nc.us. <br />Develop driving tours and <br />Provid& event information by <br />other activities related to the <br />July 31. . <br />muc a gues for recogn izing our <br />common ground. Knowing that a <br />diversity of interests, cultures and <br />ideas have been a mainstay of the <br />past 250 years makes it easier for us to <br />welcome the diversity that the future <br />will surely bring. <br />The Orange County 250 committee <br />seeks your help in celebrating our <br />common heritage. There are plans to: <br />*Hold a kick -off event <br />commemorating the county's origin <br />beginning on Sept. 8 with a several - <br />mile walk from Moorefields to <br />Hillsborough bearing artifacts from <br />the 1750s, followed on Sept. 9 by a re- <br />enactment of the first county court in <br />the 1840 courthouse, brief remarks <br />See COUNTY, Page C6 <br />