Orange

Formed January 1, 1752 (20^th county)

Orange County (148,707), Hillsborough (9,650), Chapel Hill (61,965)

The 1952 red brick Modern Georgian Revival courthouse replaced an 1845 version.  The courthouse is on Margaret Street between Churton and Court streets.  United States Highway 70 Business is Churton Street.  Archie Royal Davis is the architect.  The courthouse features a tower.  A County Administration Building was added in 1992.  The county was organized on January 1, 1752 from parts of Granville, Johnston, and Bladen counties as the 20^th county with Hillsborough as the only county seat.  Orange County is named for William V of Orange.  The county seat is named for the Earl of Hillsborough.  Orange County was the birthplace for 1 North Carolina Governor, William W. Holden. 

Orange County government consists of a manager, a register, a sheriff, an attorney, and a clerk (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-one Superior Court Judges serve Orange, Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Cabarrus, Caswell, Chatham, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Iredell, Rockingham, Rowan, Stokes, Surry, Wilkes, and Yadkin counties, Thirteen District Court Judges serve Orange and Chatham counties and a court clerk serves Orange County (judicial.)  The county is in the north central part of the state.  Raleigh, North Carolina is southeast and Greensboro, North Carolina is west of the county.  The county center is 3.9 miles South of Hillsborough.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Person, Durham, Chatham, Alamance, and Caswell counties. 

The area of the county is 401 square miles.  It is 70 out of 100 in the state.  It ranks 19 out of 100 in population in the state.  It has a density of 370.8 persons per square mile making it 14 out of 100 in the state.  Orange County has 62.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 40 enters the county from the southeast, Durham County, and exits to the west, Alamance County.  Interstate Highway 85 comes from Durham County, east, and joins Interstate Highway 40 into Alamance County.  United States Highways 15/501 clip the southeast corner from Durham County, east, to Chatham County, south.  United States Highway 70 parallels Interstate Highway 40 from Durham to Alamance counties.  The county is an overall rectangle.  Hillsborough is located near the center of the county.  Chapel Hill is in the southeast corner of the county and extends into Durham County.  Hillsborough is the county seat and Chapel Hill is the largest city.  Hillsborough is 6.5% of the county population while Chapel Hill is 40.7% of the county population.  This county is in the Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan Statistical Area.