Chatham North
Carolina
Looking for a home in
the friendly country of Chatham NC.
 Founded
in 1771 and located at the geographic center of the
state, Chatham County NC encompasses an area of
more than 707 square miles and is known at the "The
Heart of North Carolina." The county is situated between
two of the state’s three largest centers of population
and commerce, the Triangle Region and the Piedmont
Triad.
Premiere Chatham NC
Real Estate Agents
Pittsboro, the county seat located in the middle of the
county, is just 20 minutes away from Research Triangle
Park,
Durham,
Cary and
Chapel Hill. It also is just 30 minutes from
Greensboro and
Raleigh. This gives us easy access to
Raleigh-Durham Airport and major universities, such as
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Duke
University, North Carolina State University, North
Carolina Central University, University of North
Carolina-Greensboro, North Carolina A & T University and
Elon University.
The county has four incorporated towns within the
county: Siler City, Pittsboro (county seat), Goldston
and Cary, which has a small area in the eastern part of
the county. We also have many unincorporated communities
across the county, all of which have a rich history and
unique rural features.
Small specialized farms, including organic vegetables
and unique nurseries, are important in our county along
with tourism, real estate and the arts. Beef cattle and
poultry also are important to our agricultural economy.
We have a wide array of artists sprinkled throughout the
county that produce high-quality pottery, paintings,
sculpture, metalwork, fiber arts, jewelry, yard art and
mixed media. However, manufacturing remains the source
of jobs for Chatham County.
The historic Camelback Truss Bridge spans the Deep River
and connects Chatham County to Lee County.
Chatham County is the home of Jordan Lake, a major
recreational lake and water reservoir, but it also has
several important rivers, including the Rocky River, the
Haw River and the Deep River. The latter two converge to
form the Cape Fear River.
Our diverse population includes a mix of both lifelong
residents and newcomers, with increasing ethnic/racial
diversity. Like most areas, our population is growing
older, but we do have an influx of young people as well.
We have one of the more highly educated working-age
populations in the state
Records show that settlers
from Europe arrived in the area as early as the mid
1700s, including a Quaker settlement formed in 1751.
Early settlers entered from the north through a trading
route of the Catawba Indians and from the south through
the Cape Fear River Valley.
The Colonial Assembly established Chatham County NC
through legislation introduced on December 5, 1770,
which was effective on April 1, 1771. The county was
formed from a portion of what was once Orange County.
The county was named for the Earl of Chatham, William
Pitt, who was a "defender of American rights in the
British Parliament."
The legislation forming Chatham County NC noted
that the new county was needed to provide greater access
to inhabitants living in the southern part of the
county. It was too difficult and expensive for those
residents to travel to the Orange County government seat
(Hillsborough) to conduct business.
In the early years, the county was governed by justices
of the peace, which served the Court of Pleas and
Quarter Sessions. The justices were appointed by the
state’s General Assembly. For a period of time, the
justices also appointed other county officials, which
included the sheriff, coroner, constables, clerk,
register, county attorney, standard-keeper, entry-taker
and surveyor, rangers (which dealt with stray animals),
and overseers of roads.
Reconstruction and the new State Constitution of 1868
established a five-member board of county commissioners,
divided the county into townships, and radically changed
the court system. Justices of the peace were eliminated
from county government in 1894.
In 1977, the county adopted the council-manager form of
government and appointed the first county manager. We
now have five county commissioners elected to four-year
staggered terms. They must reside in specific districts
but are elected by voters at large.
The county was named for the Earl of Chatham in England,
who was William Pitt…now you know how Pittsboro also got
its name.
Jordan Lake is named for Benjamin Everett, a former
United States senator from our state.
Moncure once served as the western-most inland port in
the state, linked all the way to the coast by
steamships.
Those steamships often brought tourists from the coast
escaping the heat and mosquitoes of summer. They often
stayed in Pittsboro, which was a resort destination
during this time.
British General Cornwallis camped in Pittsboro during
the Revolutionary War.
The community of Bonlee was originally called Dunlap
Mills, but changed its name after having a town contest.
The Camelback Truss Bridge is an historic bridge that
remains in place over the Deep River and connects us to
Lee County, but it no longer carries highway traffic. It
has been preserved as a park by a group of committed
citizens initiated by Margaret Jordan-Ellis.
This historic marker on US 15/501 commemorates the
amazing accomplishments of George Moses Horton, a slave
who was an accomplished poet well before he learned to
read and write.
Photo by Duane Hall
Locks on the Deep River once were used to transport coal
to the coast.
Goldston once had a movie theater on the second floor of
what is now Miller Heating and Air.
George Moses Horton, who lived most of his life as a
slave in the county, is Chatham County's official poet.
He composed many poems before he learned to read and
write, but published the first book by a Southern black
author, The Hope of Liberty (1829). A University of
North Carolina faculty member's wife taught him to read
and write in 1828 and arranged the initial publication
of his poems. Horton tried several times to buy his
freedom from slavery, but was only freed at the end of
the Civil War. A book on Horton, The Black Bard of North
Carolina: George Moses Horton and His Poetry, is still
available through local bookstores.
Tod R. Edwards was a prominent early resident of Siler
City. This African-American leader owned a
well-respected jewelry and watch repair store and
photography shop, but he started out as a barber.
Miscellaneous Chatham County Facts:
Siler City still has an operating stockyard auction
house.
The nation’s leading bicycle mail order and retail
company, Performance Bicycles, is located in Chatham
County.
The county has several traditional artists tours,
including the Tour de Moncure (held in partnership with
Moore County) and the Annual Studio Tour.
The county generally ranks between fifteenth and
seventeenth in the state in terms of land size,
depending on the source of information.
The Carnivore Preservation Trust, located just east of
Pittsboro, houses several wild animals, but it
has the largest captive population of Asian bearcats in
the nation.
Chatham County NC has one of only two
Five-Diamond rated hotel and restaurant (ratings by AAA)
in the entire state--The Fearrington House Inn and
Restaurant.
Piedmont Biofuels Cooperative in Pittsboro has been
recognized nationally for its innovative approach to
producing alternative fuels from renewable resources.
Source:
Chatham County NC |
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