Orange County, a 398-square-mile rectangle between Durham and Alamance counties, was named after Prince William IV of Orange. It's county seat is Hillsborough (county courthouse shown at right), located in the northern part of the county.
The county's largest town, however, is Chapel Hill, home of the University of North Carolina system's flagship university. The university, it's athletic teams and the village feel of this quintessential college town are why it's known as "the southern part of Heaven."
Orange County residents can, it seems, have it both ways. The cosmopolitan university community, with its cultural amenities and sophisticated night life, is but a few miles from the largely rural northern part of the county. Hillsborough, with its Colonial feel, couldn't be more different from Chapel Hill and its bustle of thousands of undergraduates. And Carrboro, an old mill village transformed into a trendy and hip community, offers yet another community feel. The combination of these makes Orange County an alluring residential destination.
Helpful Orange County links
