About Orange County, North Carolina

Founded in 1752, Orange County has played important roles in state and national history. In pre-Revolutionary War days, Hillsborough was one home to the Regulators, a band of men and women who fought against British oppression, helping to usher in the country’s fight for independence. The Orange County county seat of Hillsborough was founded in 1754 on land where the Great Indian Trading Path crossed the Eno River and was first owned, surveyed, and mapped by William Churton (a surveyor for Earl Granville). And for centuries before this, Orange County was a site for at least three successive Native American villages. It is home to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an institution of the University of North Carolina System and the oldest state-supported university in the United States.

Orange County is located in the north-central Piedmont section of North Carolina, approximately midway between Washington, DC, and Atlanta, GA., and  centrally located in North Carolina where a drive to the coast is just about 3½ hours and a drive to the mountains is about the same. Residents enjoy proximity to Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh, locally known as the Triangle, and the Research Triangle and can avail themselves of any number of cultural, employment, entertainment, and shopping and sporting opportunities throughout the region. As they say: Location! Location! Location!

RTP or Research Triangle Park is the largest research park in the country established in 1959 and home to 200 companies with expertise in fields such as micro-electronics, telecommunications, biotechnology, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and environmental science. It lies in the vicinity of the Research Triangle which derived its name from the proximity of three major research universities; University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, Duke University in Durham, and North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

The University of Chapel Hill is approximately 12 miles west of The Research Triangle Park. Orange County is one county over from Durham County where the majority of the park lies. In normal traffic via I-40, you can arrive in Chapel Hill in about 15-20 minutes which makes it an ideal location to stay when doing business at the park. Check out our hotel listings here.

Orange County is serviced by the Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) which is just about 20 miles from Chapel Hill. Airport Shuttles, taxi’s, rental cars, and public transit services all operate from RDU. Major thoroughfares, I-85 and I-40 connect Orange County to other major cities and states.

Bon Appetit called Chaple Hill “America’s Foodiest Small Town.”  It is a hot spot for local farm to table cuisine and James Beard award winning chefs. The towns of Carrboro and Hillsborough are not without their share of attributes too for their restaurants, chefs and farmer’s markets. 

Summers range from the mid 60s to the high 80s; fall sees high 40s to the low 70s; winter ranges from high 20s to the low 50s; and spring has mid 40s to low 70s. The annual average temperature (°F) is 71 (high) and 47 (low). The annual average snowfall (inches) is 5.3. The average annual rainfall (inches) is 46.2.