Forestry Department

About forestry service, 27429, Greensboro, NC, US, North Carolina

The town of Hillsborough is the county seat of Orange County, North Carolina, United States, and is located along the Eno River. The population was 6,087 in 2010, but it grew rapidly to 9,660 by 2020. Its name was unofficially shortened to "Hillsboro" during the 19th century. In the late 1960s, residents voted to change the name back to its original, historic spelling. == History == === Native American history === Local Native American groups had lived in the Hillsborough area for thousands of years by the time Spanish explorers entered the region. The Great Indian Trading Path, used by generations of Native Americans, crossed the Eno River in this area. Historic Siouan-language tribes such as the Occaneechi and the Eno were living in the Hillsborough area at the time of European contact. The English explorer John Lawson recorded visiting "Occaneechi Town" here when he traveled through North Carolina in 1701. The tribes suffered high losses due to new infectious diseases brought by Europeans and conflicts with northern Native American groups; most of the survivors were eventually pushed out of their territory by British and other European settlers. English settlers developed Hillsborough near the site of the former Occaneechi village and its river fords.