by Charly Mann

Chapel Hill was first an idea, then a place, and for more than two centuries a community of incredible people. The idea of Chapel Hill originated in North Carolina’s 1776 constitution which called for the establishment of a state university. If it had not been for the distraction of the Revolutionary War a university would have been founded much earlier. On December 11, 1789, soon after North Carolina agreed to join The United States of America, a charter was granted by the state to found the university.

On August 1, 1792 a commission convened in Hillsborough to select a location for the university. They proceeded to draw a circle on map in the central part of the state that was thirty miles in diameter, and agreed that the new school would be located within that area. Almost in the center of that circle was a point called Cyprett's Bridge on the road from Hillsborough to Pittsboro. A group of landowners near that spot promoted an area a few miles south as the site for the new university, agreeing to give the state 1,386 acres of land for its use if it were selected. The commission accepted and on a summit 512 feet above sea level, then known only by a surveyor's designation on a map as Point Prospect, the cornerstone for the University of North Carolina was laid on October 12, 1793. The same day, 30 four acre lots were auctioned off around the University site for prospective inhabitants of a village that would support the new school. All but eight of those the lots were sold that day.

William R. Davie laying the cornerstone of Old East, the first state university building in the United States, on October 12, 1793. When Chapel Hill and the University were deserted from 1871 to 1874 the cornerstone was vandalized and its commemorative plate was stolen. In 1916 it was found in a scrapheap in Tennessee.

The town took its name from an abandoned Anglican chapel located at the highest point of the hill where the university was to be located. This is now the location of the Carolina Inn. Even twenty-five years after the University opened, what would become Chapel Hill had only 13 houses and a couple of stores. Chapel Hill did not officially become an incorporated town until 1850.

Hinton James walked 170 miles from Wilmington to Chapel Hill arriving on February 12, 1795 to become the University’s first student. Along the way he faced many obstacles including a brutally cold winter, many impassible roads, and several rivers and creeks that were very difficult to get across. His feet were so sore after his arrival that he stayed in bed for several days to recover. Fortunately there was not much to do at UNC yet, and it would be two more weeks before any more students showed up for classes.

Before the Civil War the only buildings on the campus were South Building, Gerrard Hall, Smith Hall (now the Playmaker's Theater), Pearson Hall, and the dormitories Old East, Old West, New East, and New West. Even though most students left to fight in the Confederate Army during the war, the University stayed open until the implementation of Reconstruction in 1868. The University closed in 1870 and South Building became a stable for cows and horses. Throughout the campus windows were shattered and plaster fallen from decaying walls covered the floors. Most of the magnificent oak trees on campus died, and cows and pigs roamed unattended through the campus and the abandoned town of Chapel Hill.

The University of North Carolina stays open, but most students march off  in 1861 past South Building to fight for Confederate Army during the Civil War

It was not a man, but a woman, Cornelia Phillips Spencer, who was responsible for the University's reopening. She single handily harangued the state government through articles in the then leading newspaper in the state, The Raleigh Sentinel, to appropriate the funds to re-open the university. When the University resumed operations in 1876 Chapel Hill had four general stores, three blacksmith shops, three woodworking shops, two drugstores and several shoemakers. Three years later in 1879 the town elected its first mayor. In 1897 the first woman student was admitted to UNC. In 1900 Carolina enrollment stood at 512, with 35 faculty members.

Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina become a ghost town when University of North Carolina is closed from 1871 to 1875

The 1920s were boom years for Chapel Hill. Many new restaurants and stores opened along Franklin Street, several large buildings were added to the University campus, and Kenan Stadium was built. The University also announced plans to construct the Bell Tower and Graham Memorial.

The Depression stuck a severe blow to Chapel Hill. Many merchants and restaurants closed, and even the Pickwick movie theater shut down. The town was full of beggars, and churches and community organizations offering meals and clothing always had long lines. Many students had trouble paying their tuition and tried to find any work they could to avoid having to give up college. The Carolina Coffee Shop even gave free meals to students who had no money, and The University let students who could not afford to pay for dorm rooms live in Swain Dining Hall for $25 a semester.

Re-opening of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, September 1875

World War II lifted Chapel Hill out of the Depression and the town began to prosper as never before when the vets returned to the University on the GI Bill. In 1949 the Schools of Dentistry and Nursing began operation. Also that year the most magnificent building yet constructed on campus, The Morehead Planetarium, was opened. Finally, in 1952 North Carolina Memorial Hospital opened.

Since its founding Chapel Hill has grown from a small village to a small city. As late as 1880 Chapel Hill had less than 1,000 residents, including students. By 1950 the town's population had increased to 9,177 (again including students). Since 1990 it has grown from 37,596 to 56,000 today (2009).

The people have changed a lot too. While Chapel Hill's population has always been socially and politically progressive, as a community they did not unify for social change until May 6, 1969, when Howard Lee was elected the first black mayor of a predominantly white southern town. During the 1950s and 1960s when intergration and opposition to the war in Vietnam were major issues, very few prominent Chapel Hill citizens spoke out. Today Chapel Hill along with Madison, Wisconsin and Berkeley, California is one of the most liberal communities in the United States.

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