About New Hill, NC

New Hill is a small community located in Wake County, North Carolina. The town is situated at a major intersection of the once heavily traveled old US Highway 1, New Hill-Olive Chapel Road and New Hill-Holleman Road. The community is also located on the original path of the New Hope Valley Railway. Despite its proximity to major roadways and railways New Hill has officially remained an unincorporated community.

History

Though never developed into an official town, New Hill has always been a major part of the storied railroad history of Wake County and the State of North Carolina. In 1905, the Durham & South Carolina Railroad was built to extract timber from the New Hope Creek valley. Between 1911 and 1920, the rail was extended south from Bonsal to Duncan, North Carolina and was leased by the Norfolk Southern Railroad. The intention of the extension was to provide greater access to the City of Durham. In 1925, the rail line was even further developed to serve the American Tobacco Company plant in Durham. The line changed ownership and served many different purposes between the 1920s and the 1970s, until it finally came under the ownership of the North Carolina Railway Museum in 2008.

Today

What was once the Durham and South Carolina Railroad is today the New Hope Valley Railway. The New Hope Valley Railway is a heritage railroad, operated by the North Carolina Railway Museum. The Museum is a non-profit run by all volunteers for education and historical preservation purposes. The New Home Valley line runs from Bonsal to New Hill. On the second Sunday of every month between May and November the museum operates a passenger excursion train on the rail line. Additional special excursions are scheduled for Halloween on several evenings in October, Holiday rides
in December, as well as many additional themed rides throughout the year. The railway also features opportunities to learn to operate a locomotive with the “Operate-a-Loco” program, where adults are guided along a four mile track under the oversight of trained engineers.

The northern section of the original Durham and South Carolina Railroad line between the communities of New Hill and Durham has been converted into the American Tobacco Trail. A major Rails-to Trails project, the American Tobacco Trail is a 22.6-mile (36.4 km) running along the abandoned railroad tracks originally built for the American Tobacco Company plant. The trails run throughout the area that has been named the Research Triangle, among the greater Durham Raleigh area. The route runs through several counties in the area including: Durham County, Chatham County, and Wake County. The American Tobacco Trail project was developed to make a trail system that is open to pedestrians and cyclists, as well as equestrian riders in some non-residential parts. At New Hill is the southern end of the trail, which consists of a 6.5 mile gravel section. The gravel leads to a paved section once it connects to Chatham County. The very north end of the trail ends at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.