North Carolina authorizes land for Pittsborough (1787)

In 1787 the North Carolina General Assembly authorized commissioners to purchase land for a county seat for Chatham County, named Pittsborough (later Pittsboro), after William Pitt the Younger. The legislature barred a town on Mial Scurlock's land, where the courthouse stood, and that year Pittsboro was officially named the county seat.

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Background and detail

Background. Pittsboro is a town in and the county seat of Chatham County, North Carolina, established in the late 18th century, shortly after the American Revolution, as the seat for the newly formed county. The Chatham County Court House was built on land belonging to Mial Scurlock, but in 1787 the legislature declared that a town could not be established on Scurlock's land.

Naming for William Pitt the Younger. Although Chatham County is named for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, Pittsboro is named for his son, William Pitt the Younger, the British statesman who served as prime minister of Great Britain from 1783. The town was originally spelled Pittsborough and later shortened to Pittsboro.

County Seat Designation. That same year, 1787, Pittsboro was officially named the county seat of Chatham County. The legislature's action followed its declaration that a town could not be established on the Scurlock land where the courthouse had been built, prompting the purchase of land for the new seat.

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