Ayr Mount is in Hillsborough, NC. The property is on the National Register of Historic Places. The…read moreproperty grounds are open daily and house tours are available on certain days and times, just follow the signs to the parking area and either to the Poet's Walk (one mile trail) or the House. Ayr Mount was built in 1815 and made of brick (you can see fingerprints in some of the bricks from the workers). He named it for his birthplace in Ayr, Scotland. William Kirkland was a merchant and built his house along the Native American Trading Path. Kirkland had fourteen children and the property stayed in the family for four generations. If I remember correctly he had 57 grandchildren. Richard Jenrette bought the house in 1985 then donated it to the Classical American Home Preservation Trust and we can view the property. The house features tall ceilings; and intricate details; a lot of the furniture are family pieces. I highly recommend touring this house if in the Hillsborough Area.

Very pleasant 1 mile walk in nature with benches near the river and a pond. The historic house was…read moreclosed but the grounds were beautiful and well maintained. I didn't notice a public restroom. Parking lot available and free.

Hidden historical gem with fascinating history. Girls' school that taught science, math etc during…read morecivil war time. Quite progressive! Also place that Mary Todd Lincoln's close friend and dress maker lived. A great find in our visit to Chapel Hill NC!

This historic site is very unique, because it's history is so well documented. The student's…read moreletters are full of details that make you understand their time there. My wife and I will definitely go back when there is a presentation. The staff was very knowledgeable and made the tour interesting.

This historic home in the downtown part of Hillsborough is a wealth of information and local…read moreknowledge. We were walking around and stumbled across the house and decided to take a peek. You can sign in on the registry with your email and then the rooms have historic pieces , pamphlets and helpful employees that are ready to share their Hillsborough tips and history knowledge. I found a handful of pamphlets with great information about the local area and then even beyond that to Orange County and the entire state of North Carolina. There was a room in the back that also had a tv and chairs as if if were for a show or informational session. Local art was on the walls and the windows and doors opened up to the exits around the house. The garden was also very cute and I highly recommend stopping in if you are new to the area and are just looking for some local guidance.

From the owner: The Hillsborough Visitors Center operates from the historic Alexander Dickson House, a late-18th…read morecentury Quaker-plan farmhouse. Conveniently located downtown, it serves as the information hub for Hillsborough's historic sites, local shops and restaurants, parks and recreational areas, and events. The site also includes a detached farm office used by Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston in April 1865 as he negotiated with Union General William T. Sherman, as well as an 18th and 19th century medicinal and herbal garden.

Part of a proud constellation of historical markers, this one support Hillsborough's claim in…read moreshaping the early American story. The name at the top struck me instantly and before I even read the inscription, I could tell it belonged to someone of great significance. The marker reads, "One of North Carolina's three signers of the Declaration of Independence. His home is 150 yards west. Was buried a few yards west." It is marker number G-4 and it was erected in 1975 by the North Carolina Division of Archives and History. Hooper was one of 56 delegates who signed the Declaration of Independence, I've seen his name on the Charters of Freedom installations around the country. He was born in Boston in 1742 and educated at Harvard, becoming a prominent lawyer and political figure in North Carolina after relocating to Wilmington in 1764. A staunch advocate for colonial rights, he played a key role in opposing the Regulator movement, helped form North Carolina's first Committee of Correspondence, and was elected as one of the colony's initial delegates to the Continental Congress. He later contributed to designing North Carolina's state seal. After resigning from Congress in 1777, Hooper served in the state legislature and endured personal and political setbacks during and after the Revolutionary War, including the British occupation of Wilmington and a failed bid for office in Hillsborough. Plagued by declining health and disappointment over being excluded from the 1788 Constitutional Convention, he died in Hillsborough in 1790 at age 48. His legacy is honored with a statue at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, where his remains were reinterred in 1894. [Review 1418 of 2025 - 4491 in North Carolina - 24969 overall]

This marker is located on US-70 (Business) which is known as Churton Street here. It is south of…read morethe center of Hillsborough towards I-85 and there is a bit of room to pull over to read the marker. Like more North Carolina historical markers, there is little text here but it is the same on both sides. It reads, "Thomas Ruffin, 1787-1870. Jurist and agriculturist. Chief Justice of North Carolina Supreme Court, 1833-1852 and 1858-1859. Grave 3/10 mile east." There is more information online. Ruffin was born in Virginia in 1787, studied at Princeton, and began his legal career in Hillsborough, where he also served in the state legislature and as a Superior Court judge. Ruffin played a key role in stabilizing the State Bank of North Carolina and authored over 1,400 judicial opinions, including landmark cases like Hoke v. Henderson and State v. Mann. Though he supported secession, he viewed it as a revolutionary act rather than a constitutional right, and he opposed the Ku Klux Klan for its violations of constitutional law. Beyond his judicial legacy, Ruffin was a leader in agricultural reform and a devoted Episcopalian, donating land for St. Matthew's Church, where he was buried in 1870. This is marker number G-11 and it was erected in 2011 by the North Carolina Office of Archives and History. [Review 1378 of 2025 - 4487 in North Carolina - 24930 overall]

Hillsborough is quite the historic city with a number of pre-colonial events and Civil War…read moreencounters. This marker commemorates one of the heroes of the former. It reads, "Patriot general in American Revolution, was mortally wounded at Germantown, 1777. His home is 150 yds. W." Francis Nash, born in Virginia in 1742, became a prominent figure in colonial North Carolina after settling in Hillsborough around 1763. He worked as a lawyer and merchant, served as clerk of court, and was elected to the colonial assembly. During the War of the Regulation in 1771, Nash was falsely accused of accepting illegal fees, which led him to support Royal Governor William Tryon and fight against the Regulators at the Battle of Alamance. That experience gave him valuable military training that would serve him well in later conflicts. Nash's home, built in 1772, still stands in Hillsborough and later became the residence of William Hooper, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Governor William A. Graham in the mid-nineteenth century. Nash's family remained in Hillsborough after his death, with his wife Sarah and their two children living in the Nash house until 1782. That same year, William Hooper purchased the property and lived there until his death in 1790. The Nash-Hooper House remains a historic landmark, reflecting the legacy of its early residents. Francis Nash is honored through the naming of Nash County, North Carolina, as well as the towns of Nashville in both North Carolina and Tennessee. It is marker number G-10 and it was erected in 1951 by the Archives, Conservation and Highway Departments. [Review 1416 of 2025 - 4489 in North Carolina - 24967 overall]

This marker is along the main street. It is in front of the Orange County Historical Museum and…read moreHillsborough Presbyterian Church with the Olde Town Cemetery. The marker has the same text on both sides. It reads, "William A. Graham. Governor, 1845-1849; Secretary of the Navy; United States Senator; Whig nominee for Vice-President in 1852. His home stands 150 yards west." It is marker number G-40 and it was erected by the North Carolina Division of Archives and History. Graham was born in Lincoln County in 1804 to Revolutionary War veteran Gen. Joseph Graham, pursued a distinguished career in law and public service. Educated at Hillsborough Academy and the University of North Carolina, he studied law under Thomas Ruffin and established a practice in Hillsborough. A supporter of Henry Clay's "American System," Graham served in the North Carolina State House, where he championed public education and internal improvements, including railroad expansion and a school for the deaf and mute. He opposed secession, advocating compromise during the turbulent pre-Civil War years, and later served in the Confederate Congress. Though elected to the US Senate in 1865, he was denied his seat during Reconstruction. In retirement, he worked to challenge Republican dominance in North Carolina and served as an arbitrator on the Virginia-Maryland Boundary Commission. He died in 1875 while attending a meeting in Saratoga Springs, New York, and was buried in Hillsborough. [Review 1417 of 2025 - 4490 in North Carolina - 24968 overall]

A lovely town. The people are friendly, the parks are beautiful and the restaurants are delicious…read more Be sure to visit the river walk and have some coffee at cup of joe .

Traveling through Hillsborough, it was nice to spot a marker that denoted something other than…read moreColonial or Civil War history. This one is much more modern. The marker reads, "Bill Strayhorn. 1915-1967. Jazz composer & pianist. Wrote "Take the A Train" and other songs for Duke Ellington Orchestra. Boyhood home site 1/4 mi. W." Online is more information. "William Thomas ("Billy" professionally) Strayhorn, Duke Ellington's longtime collaborator, was among the most influential figures in American jazz. A versatile composer, arranger, and pianist, Strayhorn joined Ellington's orchestra at age 22 in 1939 and worked with the bandleader the rest of his life. Ellington publicly acknowledged the central role Strayhorn played in his success, writing the band's theme "Take the A Train" and penning popular and widely recorded songs such as "Lush Life" and "Satin Doll." Strayhorn was a formative influence on an entire generation of musicians. Living in New York City most of his adult life, he was actively involved in the civil rights movement and was a personal friend of Martin Luther King Jr.. "Although Strayhorn was born in Dayton, Ohio, his roots ran deep in Orange County and, importantly, his frequent stays in Hillsborough as a boy were essential to his musical development. His father and grandfather both worked at the Eno Mill. His grandparents, who owned a piano, lived in a house (now gone) at the corner of Margaret Lane and Hillsborough Avenue. Returning with his mother and siblings to North Carolina from Ohio regularly from age five, Strayhorn attended his first year of school while in Hillsborough; a classmate remembered him as "small and bright." He spent breaks and summers in North Carolina through his early teenage years (by then the family had moved to Pittsburgh) and often took the train to visit an uncle in Durham. "Biographer David Hajdu contends that North Carolina became the young man's spiritual home, the place he was introduced to music. Initially gospel tunes drew him to the piano. He often wandered through the slave cemetery across from his boyhood home and walked along the Eno River. At Strayhorn's death at age 52 in 1967, Ellington said his friend "had no aspirations to enter into any kind of competition, yet the legacy he leaves, his oeuvre, will never be less than the ultimate on the highest plateau of culture." In 2007 Strayhorn was the subject of a PBS documentary." This is marker number G-125. It was erected in 2008 by the North Carolina Office of Archives and History. [Review 102 of 2025 - 4072 in North Carolina - 23669 overall]