The Orange County Historical Museum is letting the community select its next special exhibit. Members of the community can vote on one of five topics to be exhibited at the museum from February 2023 through December 2023.
The “Feelin’ Alright: Medicine, Health, and Wellness in Orange County History” topic explores medicines, foods and remedies used throughout the county to improve health. This exhibition aims to explore how preventatives and cures have changed over time.
The “Treasure Hunters: Orange County Collectors and their Collections” exhibition would highlight collected items by people in the county. The “Workin’ for a Livin’: A History of Trades in Orange County” aims to explore work of craftsmen in the county and how their tools and trade changed over time.
A travel exhibit titled, “Hit the Road Jack: The History of Travel in Orange County,” would exhibit the roads how and why people travel through the county and the commerce that encouraged their travels.
The final exhibition option is titled “Be the Change! A History of Volunteering in Orange County.” This would highlight organizations founded in the county and the ways they have affected the county.
The museum opened in November of 1957 on the second floor of the 1845 Courthouse and was founded by the Hillsborough Garden Club. Families donated items like military relics, costumes and furniture to start the collections. The museum moved to its current home on North Churton Street in 1983. In 2007, the museum merged with the Hillsborough Historical Society to form the nonprofit Historical Foundation of Hillsborough and Orange County.
The historical museum has a permanent exhibit of the history of the county from when early indigenous people settled in the area through the twentieth century. This collection includes, “the only complete set of colonial weights and measures in America.”
Currently the museum has a special exhibition through the end of the year titled “What’s Your Flavor” which looks at heritage cooking in the county. Additionally, the Chapel Hill Historical Society is exhibiting “A History of Hope” which is described as “an inclusive look at the history of Chapel Hill.”
The museum is located at 201 North Churton Street in Hillsborough and is open Friday through Sunday between 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Voting is open through August 31. To vote for an exhibit and learn more about potential artifacts displayed in each, click here.
Featured Photo via Visit North Carolina.
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