Agenda - 02-16-2023 Work Session; 1 - Boards and Commissions – Annual Work Plan Summaries

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28 project to document the history of the Old Courthouse and to learn about the many alterations made to the building over time, in preparation for a future CIP project. The goal is to develop historical exhibits about the courthouse and to illuminate the many events and activities that took place there. (Funding for research phase approved in prior budget year). • Dendrochronology Project: The HPC and the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough obtained a private foundation grant to help fund the use of this scientific process that involves the analysis of tree ring data to determine the age of the original timbers found in historic buildings. This ongoing work supports the historic resources book project by providing accurate construction dates for significant historic properties. (No fiscal impact) What are the concerns or emerging issues your board has identified for the upcoming year that it plans to address, or wishes to bring to the Commissioners' attention? • Abandoned Black burial grounds: There are numerous abandoned informal Black burial grounds scattered across the county, many of which contain the burials of those who were enslaved. These are often unmarked or poorly marked and known only to neighboring landowners, genealogists or elderly descendants of those buried in these sacred places. They need to be properly identified, researched, mapped and protected through fencing, surveying and marking boundaries, and permanent interpretive markers. • County historic marker program: The HPC sees a need for a county-wide historic and cultural marker program, modeled on other successful marker and map-driven programs that are linked to web sites and/or phone apps. The goal is to provide historical content in an accessible/interactive format about historic and cultural resources, places, and people, and their communities that are underrepresented by the existing state marker program. African American communities are especially endangered and need to be recognized. This should be developed in collaboration with other local governments. (No fiscal impact at this time) • Need for a small grant program to help preserve endangered rural historic resources: Numerous endangered historic structures and abandoned Black burial grounds in rural areas merit preservation or protection or they will soon be lost, effectively erasing much of the county's diverse history. There is a need for a small-scale grant program to assist owners with essential preservation work. The HPC plans to seek grant funding to help start this program, with modest levels of County funding, to address the following resources: • Abandoned Black burial grounds: In the case of cemeteries, the goal is to better identify them, survey them to halt encroachments, and recognize them with interpretive signage. • Historic Black schools: The few remaining historic two-room Black schools that closed in the 1950s are seriously threatened. Most stand on farms and are being used as storage buildings or just deteriorating, and thus, owners cannot justify paying for costly repairs. • Historic log houses and farm buildings: Many deteriorated historic log cabins and farm buildings will be lost in the next decade due to ongoing rot and termite damage; these humble buildings tell important stories about the county's history. Most of these are on farms, and are no longer used; it's hard for owners to justify making costly repairs. • Historic dairy farm buildings: Orange County now has one remaining small dairy operation, a drastic decline in number since the 1960s, when there were over 100 active dairies. As a result, the iconic barns and other structures that supported dairy operations are disappearing from the rural landscape. - 4 -