HomeMy WebLinkAboutS Proclamation Proclamation Celebrating 250th Anniversary of Orange County s
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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
TO PROCLAIM A YEARLONG CELEBRATION
BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 9, 2002 TO
COMMEMORATE THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF
THE FOUNDING OF ORANGE COUNTY
WHEREAS, on September 9, 1752, a new county was born of the North
Carolina colonial back country — a county that spanned the area from
present-day Greensboro to present-day Cary, from the Virginia line to the
Uwharrie mountains, and
WHEREAS, on that day Orange County became a reality as the first
colonial Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions was held at Grayfields along
the Eno River, and
WHEREAS, the new County - originally inhabited by the
Occaneechi/Saponi nation and other native American tribes — included 4,000
persons and a land area of 3,500 square miles, including all of present day
Alamance, Caswell, Person, Durham and Chatham counties as well as parts
of Wake, Lee, Randolph, Guilford and Rockingham counties, and
WHEREAS, as citizens of one of the oldest Piedmont counties, Orange
County's 120,000 residents have much to celebrate, including
➢ A commitment to education, from the founding of the University
of North Carolina, the nation's first state university when it opened
in 1795, through the development of six freedmen's schools
formed in Orange County by 1868, to local school systems rated
among the best in the southeastern United States.
➢ A will to preserve cultural and natural resources such as the
County's tapestry of distinctive buildings, neighborhoods,
farmlands and natural treasures like Occoneechee Mountain, the
N.C. Botanical Garden, and the Eno River Corridor.
➢ A growing diversity, beginning with the Indian nations, recast by
the arrival of people from Europe and Africa, and shaped recently
by the addition of many persons from Asia, Latin America and
other places around the globe.
➢ An ongoing love of independence, whether reflected in the actions
of the Regulators or the patriots of the American Revolution, by
women fighting for their equality, by African-Americans
struggling to secure their civil rights, by sharecroppers and mill
workers striving for dignity, or by free-speech advocates in the
mid-20th century.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County
Board of Commissioners acknowledges the contributions and history
of the past 250 years, and officially proclaims the year beginning
September 9, 2002 as a year of celebration of the County's 250th
anniversary.
This, the 3rd day of eptember, 2002
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Donna Baker, Clerk to the Board