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History of Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Nicknamed the "Southern Part of Heaven," Chapel Hill was named after New Hope Chapel, which stood upon a hill at the crossing of two primary roads (where The Carolina Inn currently stands). Town lots were auctioned in 1793 when work began on the first university building, although it was 1795 before any residents occupied permanent homes.

The town's first charter had no mention of a mayor, but by 1871, H.B. Guthrie, magistrate of police, was being called by that title. Though not a mayor by today's definition, Guthrie was hired by the commissioners to "keep the peace" and preside at meetings of the board. Although an 1879 charter amendment formally established a mayoral position and invested it with police power, it was not until 1895 that the modern mayor/council structure began to evolve. A charter amendment increased the size of the governing board to include a mayor elected by the citizens; the first mayor so elected was John H. Watson on May 5, 1895.

By 1899, the commissioners were calling themselves the Board of Aldermen, but the mayor/board form of government continued until the summer of 1922 when the first town manager, Eddie Knox, was hired. In July 1979, the town's governing board came to be called the Town Council.

The history of the Chapel Hill is inextricably linked to the university. The town was, in fact, created to serve the university. When the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees chose the area around New Hope Chapel as the site for the first state university in 1793, they also named a committee to lay out a town adjacent to the site.

The original map of the town, drawn in 1798, shows 24 two-acre lots and six four-acre lots wrapping around the northern, western and eastern fringes of the campus. These 30 parcels, sold at public auction to the highest bidder, were squared off along six streets, including a proposed 290-foot-wide "Grand Avenue" running out of the campus through what is now Henderson Street and the Cobb Terrace area.

By 1859, the town covered 820 acres, forming a rectangle bounded roughly by Sunset Drive, Penick Lane, Tenney Circle and Gimghoul Road. The town retained these boundaries for almost a century with the first modern annexation taking place in 1950, bringing in the Northside School (currently known as the Orange County Multi-Purpose Center on Caldwell Street) and 275 acres known locally as the Strowd Hill area. Annexation since then has proceeded at a steady pace, and the town now encompasses about 21 square miles.

Chapel Hill’s schools became fully integrated in 1967, and just one year later the town became the first predominantly white municipality in the United States to elect an African American mayor, Howard Lee. Lee served from 1969 to 1975, and among his many achievements, he is credited with helping to establish Chapel Hill Transit, the town’s bus system. In 2002, almost 30 years later, legislation was passed to make the local buses free of fares to both residents and visitors. It is financed through Chapel Hill and Carrboro city taxes, as well as UNC student fees.

Present day reminders of Chapel Hill's history are cherished by its citizens and admired by its visitors - quiet winding streets, wooded homesites, stone walls, and small shops surrounding the university. Much of the character of Chapel Hill is due to its great natural beauty, including steep wooded slopes, small streams and tree-covered vistas. The integration of these protected natural environments with the cosmopolitan and institutional setting of the university reflects the spirit of diversity and community which is Chapel Hill.