About Open Orange

Open Orange is based on the Contributing Structure platform, a Drupal-based website created by Sevy Kueber and several Drupal developers. Its first iteration was Open Durham, a crowdsourced (think Wikipedia) inventory of buildings, people, and places in Durham, NC, which Sevy donated to Preservation Durham in May 2016.

Open Orange aims to be a county-wide inventory for Orange County, North Carolina. It's easy to create a login and begin adding information and stories to the site - see the support page. The best information and most compelling stories about our history and our built environment comes from people like you.

The site is not a non-profit, because of the headache of maintaining a non-profit - but it is not-for-profit. Its purpose is to create easier access to historical and architectural information for busy 21st century folks - with a focus on a very local and granular history of the places people might encounter on a daily basis.

 

Site Credits:

Conception / Keeping things running:  Sevy Kueber

Authorship: Sevy Kueber and Steve Rankin

Initial Design: QuickBrownFox Design

Developers: Christina Dulude, Alisa Herr, Chris Russo, Cuberis, Carlos Valdivia, Barb Baranski

 

RESOURCES:

 

Books/Publications:

   Lloyd, Allen A. and Pauline O. History of the Town of Hillsborough 1754-1966. Self-published.

   Pender, Irene O. A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983. Hillsborough, NC: Shanklin's Press, 1983.

   Hugh Lefler and Paul Wager (eds.). Orange County: 1754-1954. Chapel Hill: The Orange Printshop, 1953.

   Otto, David A. and Richard Ellington. Images of America: Carrboro. Arcadia Publishing, 2011.

   Stolpen, Steve. Chapel Hill: A Pictorial History. Donning Company, 1978.

   Carrboro, N.C.: An Architectural & Historic Buildings Inventory, 1983

   Holaday, Chris. Images of America: Hillsborough. Arcadia Publishing, 2002.

   Oakley, J. Ronald. Images of America: Mebane. Arcadia Publishing, 2012.

   Ryan, Elizabeth S. Orange County Trio - Histories and Tour Guides. Chapel Hill Press, 2004.

   Dula, Lucille N. Pelican Guide to Hillsborough. Pelican Pub Co Inc, 1989.

   Bellinger, Susan M. Photocensus: A Photographic Survey of Buildings in the Hillsborough, N.C. Historic District Built Prior to 1950. 1991.

   Town of Hillsborough, North Carolina General Development Plan 1968-1988.

   The Colonial Inn. Authentic Southern Recipes from the Colonial Inn. 1972.

   A Sketch of the School of Miss Nash and Miss Kollock, by Mrs. W. S. Primbone, 1926

   History of the Churches of Hillsborough

   Peck, Todd, and Jody Carter. Historic Architecture of Orange County. Orange County Historic Properties Commission, Hillsborough, North Carolina. 1993.

   Mattson, Richard L. History and Architecture of Orange County, N.C. Orange County Planning and Development Department, Hillsborough, North    Carolina. 1996.

   Bryant, Bernard Lee. Occupants and structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, North Carolina at 5-year intervals, 1793-1998.

   National Register of Historic Places, Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation: 01/22/2014. Prepared by Heather Slane.

 

Websites/blogs:

   Library of Congress (HABS, FSA)

   UNC - Chapel Hill (Postcard Collection, Maps)

   Orange County, NC Historic Information Cache (by Steve Rankin; no longer updated however)

   Chilton, Mark. Wandering through the NC Piedmont (blog).

   Expanded Collection of All Sales of Enslaved People in Orange County

   Efland N. C. Historical Photos, by Joe Dunn (RIP)

   NCpedia

   From the Rock Wall (Living Histories of Black Chapel Hill/Carrboro)

   NCCU School of Law History and Scholarship Digital Archives

 
Organizations:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   USDA aerial photos (Orange County). 1938, 1955, 1975.
 
 
 
 
Newspapers:
 
 
 
 
 
Yearbooks/school publications:

   Blue Flame (Central High School yearbook)

   Silhouette (Hillsbrough High School yearbook)

   Yackety Yack (UNC yearbook)
 
   The Orange Echo (Lincoln High School newspaper)
 
   HillLife (Chapel Hill High School yearbook)
 
 
Maps:
 
   Plan of the Town of Hillsboro, by S.T. Alderman (October 1863)
   Map of Chapel Hill, as it was in 1875-1885, by H. D. Carter (1934)
   Chapel Hill & Carrboro NC Negro Community, by Charles Freeman (May 1944)
   Carrboro (circa 1935)
   Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (North Carolina). 1867-1970
   Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (Chapel Hill/Carrboro). 1911, 1915, 1925
   Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (Hillsboro). 1888, 1894, 1900, 1905, 1911, 1924, 1943
   Map of Hillsboro, by William L. Spoon (1908)
   Maps of Orange County, via UNC's NC Maps
 
Subscription(s) required:
 
 
 
 

 

People sources:

   Tom Campanella

   Tom Magnuson (and the Trading Path Association)

   Ernie Dollar

   Peter Sandbeck

   Mark Chilton

   Steve Davis

   Rich Shaw

   Brooks Graebner

   Curtis Booker

   Phil Mace

   The Upper Eno Heritage Group

   Chris Holaday

   David Southern (RIP, 1946-2021); much (most?) of the information on this site would not have been made available without him