Month: May 2016

The mysteries of William Churton and his map of North Carolina

William Churton (1710 – c1767/8) was one of the pre-eminent surveyors in North Carolina during the 18th century. Unfortunately, very little is known about him.  He was born in London on April 5, 1710. He was in North Carolina by 1749, but when he arrived is unknown. His professional career in North Carolina predominantly pertained to surveying tracts of land in the Granville District. At the time of his death (late 1767 or early 1768), William Churton had nearly completed a map of North Carolina. Circumstances of Churton’s death and the fate of his manuscript map remain mysteries to us. Continue reading “The mysteries of William Churton and his map of North Carolina”

Mapping Orange County – 3pm Sunday, May 22

Sunday, May 22, 2016, at 3 pm – Chapel Hill, NC
Mapping Orange County: Land Grants, Early Travel Routes, and the Native Trading Path. A Talk by Mark Chilton

Mark Chilton’s work on mapping the original land grants of Orange County will show where important early figures in county history lived, how people traveled by road, ferry, ford, and bridge, and where the great Native Trading Path was. Starting with the work of Allen Markham of some fifty years ago, Chilton has broadened Markham’s perspective on the Orange County historical record.

Sunday, May 22, at 3 PM

Chapel Hill Historical Society

100 Library Drive, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514 (on Google Maps)