Hillsborough Recorder

The Hillsborough Recorder was established by Dennis Heartt in Hillsborough, North Carolina, in February of 1820, with the first known edition of the newspaper being issued on March 1, 1820. At the time, there was no newspaper being published west of Raleigh, North Carolina’s capital.

The newspaper was published weekly, and from 1820 until at least 1827, the paper cost three dollars for a year's subscription.

Politically, it was a Whig-leaning paper, alongside the Raleigh Register, the Fayetteville Observer, the Carolina Watchman (printed in Salisbury), and the Greensborough Patriot.

The Hillsborough Recorder was widely read by the citizens of not only Orange County, but adjacent counties as well. The newspaper was a source of news for and about the politicians of North Carolina, provided practical suggestions for everyone from farmers to housewives, included writings by local authors and contributions copied from various other journals, contained news of local, national, and international interest, the proceedings of courts, and advertisements. The advertisements included such things as the sale of property (to include slaves), the wares stocked at local stores, and rewards for stolen or lost property.

Heartt published the newspaper for nearly fifty years, selling it in 1869 shortly before his death in May of 1870. The paper was published in Hillsborough until March of 1879, when it moved to Durham, North Carolina, and its title changed to the Durham Recorder.

After the newspaper moved to Durham and was renamed, a competing weekly, the Hillsboro Recorder, was published in Hillsborough by Parish & Strudwick from August of 1887, to August of 1888.