Orangeburg

Orangeburg is a community in the eastern part of Mason Co. on Stone Lick Creek, a tributary of the Licking River. In 1775 Col. Robert Patterson explored the area, one of the first parts of the county explored. When John Williams and Henry Parker drew up the town in 1796, they named it Williamsburg. Williams’s grandfather Francis McDermid owned the original 1,400 acres where the town was established. The town grew quickly, and in 1836 the Kentucky legislature renamed it for Providence Orange Pickering, a leading citizen and a tailor.

Schools were established in Orangeburg in the mid-19th century, and in 1890 a school for blacks was opened. The schools in the local area (Bernard, Dickson, Mount Gilead, Stonelick, and eventually Plumville and Rectorville) were consolidated into the Orangeburg School in 1912, in 1922, and later. Orangeburg High School opened in 1922 and closed in 1960. The lower grades were consolidated into other schools in the 1970s.

At the turn of the 20th century, Orangeburg was the home of the Orangeburg Rolling Mills, the Red Man’s Lodge, dry goods stores, and several churches. The community continues to have places of worship, houses, and some businesses, including a large furniture store and a bakery.

Calvert, Jean, and John Klee. The Towns of Mason County. Their Past in Pictures. Maysville, Ky.

Maysville and Mason Co. Library Historical and Scientific Association, 1986.

Rennick, Robert M. Kentucky Place Names. Lexington: Univ. Press of Kentucky, 1984.

John Klee

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