A great spot for this marker, it's at the intersection and you have something to read and ponder as…read moreyou wait for the traffic light to turn on to US-501. The marker reads, "Trading Path. Colonial trading route, dating from 17th century, from Petersburg, Virginia, to Catawba and Waxhaw Indians in Carolina passed nearby." Online, there is more information. "In North Carolina, the early history of the colony is replete with stories of the reliance by colonists upon Indian trade and trading routes, and the consequent establishment of villages where they engaged in bartering. Such routes were well known, well marked, and well trodden. The Occaneechi Path, stretching from Petersburg, Virginia, to the Waxhaws region, was one of a hundred such trails running throughout the state and the southeast. But the Trading Path was the central highway, the most fabled route, the interstate of its day. (Its course approximates that of Interstate 85.) "The course of the Trading Path entered North Carolina near present-day Norlina, then passed through Bullock, northern Durham County, Hillsborough, Mebane, Alamance, Julian, central Randolph County, Denton, western Davidson County, Salisbury, and Concord. In Mecklenburg County the path forked, with a spur to Indian Trail and Waxhaw, and another to Charlotte and Pineville." This is marker number G-32 and it was erected in 1941 by the Division of Archives and History. [Review 2163 of 2024 - 3820 in North Carolina - 23182 overall]

Many of the markers in Hillsborough point to Colonial Era or Civil War people with a very few…read moreexceptions. This is one of them. A positive. The marker reads, "Moses A. Curtis. Botanist, authority on North American flora, author, and Episcopal minister. Home was two blocks east." Online, there is more information. "For Moses Ashley Curtis, an Episcopal priest and botanist, there was no conflict between religion and science. Moses Curtis was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, on May 11, 1808. The son of the Reverend Jared Curtis and Thankful Ashley attended Stockbridge Academy and graduated from William College in 1827. While at Williams, Professor Chester Dewey and Professor Amos Eaton significantly influenced Moses's interest in the natural sciences. After graduation, he left New England for Wilmington, where he served as a tutor for the family of Governor Edward B. Dudley and began studying the local plants. Curtis returned to Massachusetts in 1833 to study for the ministry under the Church of the Advent. On December 3, 1834, he married Mary De Rosset of Wilmington. The following year, he received his ordination. "The Reverend Curtis began his ministry immediately as a missionary in western North Carolina, serving congregations in Lincolnton, Salisbury, Morganton, and Charlotte. From 1837 to 1839, he taught at the Episcopal School in Raleigh, the predecessor to St. Mary's. He was called back into the mission field in 1840 to Washington, North Carolina. After serving there for a year, he accepted a call to St. Matthew's Church in Hillsborough where he remained for the rest of his life, except from 1847 to 1856, when he lived in Society Hill, South Carolina. Curtis was a talented musician, playing the piano, organ, flute, violin, and composing anthems and hymns such as "How Beautiful upon the Mountain." "Although a dedicated priest, Curtis is best known by people outside of North Carolina for his accomplishments in the field of botany. He was considered an expert in the field of mycology, the study of fungi. Prior to his contributions, the study of lichen had been very limited. Among his published works was the 1860 Geological and Natural History Survey of North America, Part III, Botany. Curtis reported having collected and eaten forty different species of mushrooms within two miles of his house and believed that if people had a better knowledge of edible fungi, the food shortage for southern armies during the Civil War would not have been as severe. Moses Ashley Curtis died on April 10, 1872, and was buried at St. Matthew's Church in Hillsborough." This is marker number G-64. It was erected in 1955 by the Archives Conservation and Highway Departments. There is parking nearby. [Review 105 of 2025 - 4074 in North Carolina - 23672 overall]

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]

This marker is located just south of downtown Hillsborough and points out some of the earliest…read moresettlement of the area. The road doesn't widen and there really isn't room to pull over here. The marker reads, "William Churton. Cartographer. Surveyed Granville District. In 1749 extended N.C.-Va. boundary line 90 miles west. Lived nearby." There is more information online. "William Churton was a colonial cartographer and surveyor employed by the offices of the Granville District. Arriving in North Carolina about 1748, he initially was assigned to the Granville Land Office in Edenton. Churton and lawyer Daniel Weldon were appointed commissioners to extend the colonial Virginia-North Carolina boundary line in 1749 in cooperation with Virginia commissioners Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson (father of Thomas). Together these men established an extension of the colonial boundary ninety miles to the west. The resulting map, created by Fry and Jefferson, was presented to the British government by North Carolina governor Gabriel Johnston. "In 1753 Churton and another Granville agent were appointed trustees for 635 acres of land for the establishment of the town of Salisbury. The following year, Churton was appointed trustee for 663 acres for the establishment of the community that today is known as Hillsborough. Planned under the name of Orange and first established as Corbin Town, the community soon was renamed Childsburgh. By that time, Churton had become public register for Orange County and a town commissioner for Childsburgh. He also represented Orange County in the colonial General Assembly 1755 to 1760 and 1761 to 1762. He was appointed as both a county surveyor and justice of the peace in 1757." [Review 76 of 2025 - 4051 in North Carolina - 23644 overall]

This small marker just north of I-40 on MLK Jr Blvd recalls this great woman who fought for the…read morevery road you're probably driving on today. The marker reads, "Harriet M. Berry, 1877-1940. Champion of good roads. Her intensive lobbying led to 1921 law creating modern state highway system. Born 8 mi. N." As is customary with North Carolina's markers, there is more information online that I summarize. Ms. Berry attended the Nash-Kollock School in Hillsborough and the State Normal and Industrial School (presently UNC-Greensboro). Following graduation in 1897, she taught for two years at the Oxford Orphanage. In 1901 Miss Berry began work in Chapel Hill with the North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey, led by Joseph Hyde Pratt. She rose from stenographer to secretary for the Survey to its acting head in 1917 when Pratt entered military service. During those years Miss Berry became active with the Good Roads Association and in 1919 led that organization in lobbying for legislation to create a state highway commission. In 1921 the General Assembly created a strong highway commission, thus setting the foundation for the modern highway system. The News and Observer called her "the best woman politician in the state." Aside from her interest in good roads, she was also an active campaigner for equal suffrage laws. Thank you, Ms. Berry. I appreciate it. [Review 12959 overall, 275 of 2020.]

A historical marker about a historian seems a little meta but here we go with your history lesson…read more This marker is located on the main street that joins downtown Hillsborough towards the interstate exit and is near the Orange County Historical Society. The marker reads, "J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, 1878-1961. Historian, professor, and founder of the Southern Historical Collection at UNC. Born 1/2 block west." Online, there is a lot more information. "Born in Hillsborough, N.C. on August 6, 1878, Joseph Gregoire de Roulhac Hamilton came from a family with deep South roots. His great-grandfather was Nullification governor of South Carolina. His father came to North Carolina to teach at Hillsborough Military Academy and remained to fight in the 13th N.C. Regiment. Hamilton studied first at home and then did college work at the Sewanee: University of the South graduating with the M.A. degree in 1900. He taught at the Horner Military School at Oxford before continuing his education at Columbia University (1902-4) with historian William Archibald Dunning, and was awarded the Ph.D. degree in American history in 1906. Hamilton, as did many Dunning students, wrote his dissertation about reconstruction in his home state (NC) which was then published as a history book, Reconstruction in North Carolina in 1914. "Hamilton returned to teaching, first at the Wilmington (NC) High School (1904-1906) and then, in 1906, he was appointed an associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina. He served UNC until his retirement in 1951. He was among the important historians of his era, however, like many in his time, his writings were slanted to the Lost Cause mythos of Civil War and Reconstruction history, favoring a narrative crafted to support white racial ideology over actual events. His monograph on North Carolina Reconstruction was not refuted for half a century. "While Hamilton's work as an historian supported white supremacist narratives, it was his work as a nascent archivist for special collections at the University of North Carolina that built a collection to memorialize that narrative. In 1927 he announced plans for what he initially called the "National Southern Collection." In 1930, Sarah Graham Kenan gave a gift to establish the Southern Historical Collection. Hamilton was named as the first director. His manuscript-collecting travels across the South, placing almost a million miles on a series of Ford coupes, are legendary. Some states attempted to block his efforts and he came to be known as "Ransack" Hamilton for his gathering practices. While he gathered and built an amazing collection of southern history materials, it was singular in focus on the history of white southerners. Recent writings in 2020 argue his tenure was dedicated to shaping the university (and collections) to the benefit of white supremacy. "Nonetheless, some credit the renaissance in southern history in the mid-twentieth century to Hamilton's foresight (in the collecting of what materials he did gather). In partial recognition of that fact, and his contributions to the field of history, the 1972 new building occupied by the UNC History Department was named for him. After a reevaluation of his career and contributions, the History Department building was recommended in 2020 for a name change. "Hamilton passed away on 10 November 1961. He is buried in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery on the campus of the university." There is parking at the police department. This is marker number G-103. It was erected in 1989 by the Division of Archives and History. [Review 106 of 2025 - 4075 in North Carolina - 23673 overall]

We came across this guy statue while we were at the university of duke. We are walking all around…read morethe university of duke finally came across this guy. I'm not really sure who he is. He's got a statue so I must be somebody.

This marker stands in front of the beautifully maintained 20th century schoolhouse. There is…read moreparking adjacent. The marker reads, "Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the Historic Russell School is the last remaining Rosenwald School in Durham County. The school served as a refuge for Black children to have a formalized education from 1926 to 1945. It is owned by Cain's Chapel Missionary Baptist Church." While the building is secured, you can still walk the grounds. It is not a State of North Carolina marker. [Review 2165 of 2024 - 3822 in North Carolina - 23184 overall]