Hillsborough in Orange County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
William Churton
Photographed by Michael Buckner, March 5, 2022
1. William Churton Marker
Erected 2017 by North Carolina Office of Archives and History. (Marker Number G-136.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Colonial Era • Exploration. A significant historical year for this entry is 1749.
Location. 36° 4.303′ N, 79° 5.963′ W. Marker is in Hillsborough, North Carolina, in Orange County. It is on South Churton Street 0.1 miles north of Business U.S. 70, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 229 S Churton St, Hillsborough NC 27278, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s Piedmont and in the Research Triangle. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of
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Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Occaneechi (within shouting distance of this marker); James Hogg (about 700 feet away); Billy Strayhorn (approx. 0.2 miles away); North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati (approx. 0.2 miles away); a different marker also named William Churton (approx. 0.2 miles away); Edmund Fanning (approx. 0.2 miles away); Lynching In America / The Lynching of Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Daniel Morrow (approx. 0.2 miles away); Regulators Hanged (approx. Ό mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Hillsborough.
Other markers no longer nearby. Paper Mill (was about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line but has been permanently removed); a different marker also named Edmund Fanning (was approx. 0.2 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).
Also see . . . William Churton.
William Churton, pioneer surveyor and cartographer for the Granville District, colonial official of Childsburgh (Hillsborough) and Orange County, and member for Orange(Submitted on May 15, 2023, by Michael Buckner of Durham, North Carolina.)in the colonial legislature, came from England to America in the 1740s as a surveyor attached to the Granville Land Office in Edenton. His English background is unknown, but it seems probable that he was a Londoner with family roots in Gloucestershire.Photographed by Tom Bosse, September 14, 20242. William Churton MarkerMarker is on the left.
Churton undertook a second arduous survey of mountainous western lands between August 1752 and January 1753, when he accompanied Bishop August Gottlieb Spangenburg and a party of Moravians to the "Blue Mountains" to survey tracts totaling 98,925 acres. The Spangenburg Diary and later Moravian records provide numerous brief personal glimpses of Churton, whom Spangenburg characterized as "certainly a reasonable man" and "excessively scrupulous" in his surveying practices. For the next fifteen years, until his death, the Moravians maintained a warm friendship with their "Good Companion . . . the Surveyor Mr. Churton."
Photographed by Richard Hawkins, August 2, 2025
3. William Churton Marker
Photographed by Richard Hawkins, August 2, 2025
4. William Churton Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on August 5, 2025. It was originally submitted on May 15, 2023, by Michael Buckner of Durham, North Carolina. This page has been viewed 278 times since then and 22 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on May 15, 2023, by Michael Buckner of Durham, North Carolina. 2. submitted on September 22, 2024, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. 3, 4. submitted on August 2, 2025, by Richard Hawkins of Phelan, California. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
