HistoricSiteMarkers
American Revolution

William Hooper, Declaration Signer

Hillsborough, Orange County, North Carolina

Marker Inscription

William Hooper 1742 1790. One of North Carolina's three signers of the Declaration of Independence. His home is 150 yds. W. Was buried a few yds. W.

Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources

The Story

William Hooper made his home in Hillsborough, and from this town helped launch a nation. One of North Carolina's three signers of the Declaration of Independence, he pledged his name to the break with Britain in 1776. His house still stands just to the west, and he was buried only steps away, tying this ground directly to the founding generation.

Why it matters

Hooper links a small North Carolina town to the boldest act of the American founding, reminding us that independence was signed by real people rooted in local communities.

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Related people

  • ยท William Hooper

Related events

  • ยท Declaration of Independence

Themes & tags

American RevolutionMemorial

Nearby & related markers

General Francis Nash

Hillsborough, NC

Francis Nash of Hillsborough rose to become a patriot general in the American Revolution, leading North Carolina Continentals in the fight for independence. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Germantown in 1777 and died of his wounds days later. His home stood just west of here, grounding a Revolutionary hero in the streets of this small town.

Governor Thomas Burke

Hillsborough, NC

In the turbulent final years of the Revolution, North Carolina's Governor Thomas Burke was seized in Hillsborough by the Loyalist raider David Fanning and his Tories on September 12, 1781. Carried off as a prisoner to Charleston, Burke's capture showed how fiercely the backcountry civil war between Whigs and Tories still raged even as the wider Revolution neared its end.