Save our Historic Treasures - Adopt an Artifact

The Orange County Historical Museum has more than 1,500 artifacts in its collection, but over the years, some of the items have started to deteriorate. Many of these artifacts are in need of immediate conservation in order to save these treasures for future generations.

In this section of our website, we would like to show you a few artifacts that are in dire need of repair. They are a part of our Adopt An Artifact program that allows individuals or groups select and sponsor an artifact for conservation. Through adopting one of these endangered artifacts, your tax-deductible contribution ensures that these pieces of history will continue to teach us about the past.

Only through the support of the community can we continue to preserve and display artifacts that link us with the past.

Turner Portraits ...... Strudwick Saddlebags ............R. Wall Quilt .....Waddell Guitar .........Orange Guard Flag

Adopt an Artifact Now
To adopt one of these artifacts, or to make a donation to support any foundation program, please send a check to:

Historical Foundation of Hillsborough and Orange County
201 North Churton Street
Hillsborough, NC 27278

Please make checks payable to "Historical Foundation of Hillsborough and Orange County" and denote which artifact you wish to adopt.

In addition to the knowledge that your are saving a piece of Orange County's history, the Adopt an Artifact program has other benefits. Donors of $500 or more will have their name next to the artifact they have adopted when that artifact is on display and will receive a copper leaf on the museum's Donor Tree. Donors of $100 or more will also have their name next to the artifact and will receive a brass leaf on the Donor Tree. Donors of $25 or more will have their name recognized on the museum's Honor Roll.

Contact Us about Adopt an Artifact

Artifacts Already Adopted
Former museum Executive Director Ernest Dollar (l) and D.A.R. Representative Peggy Troxell hold a land grant originally given to John Bohannon in 1760. It was conserved by Etherington Conservation in 2002. The Davie Poplar Chapter of the D.A.R. adopted this artifact.	Museum Executive Director Jennifer Koach holds an 1858 canteen owned by Dennis M. Cates during the Civil War. This artifact was conserved by Todd Jorgensen Restoration in 2007. Gordon Cole adopted this artifact in memory of Dot and Wilson Cole and in honor of the Lee Gordon and Mark Gordon families of Hillsborough