Chronology

Recent decades, every dated entry: 599 dated entries from the full dataset. Back to the highlights →

1. Recent decades · 1976–2026
2. 1976 Cane Creek is chosen as the site of a new reservoir and area landowners organize against itLand use dispute · Cane Creek, Orange County

   A consultant's feasibility study concluded that Cane Creek, west of Carrboro, was the best site for a reservoir to supplement University Lake, and OWASA began assembling land there. Cane Creek residents and farmers formed a conservation group and fought the project in court for years, arguing that it would destroy farms and hasten the decline of agriculture and that expanding University Lake had not been properly considered.

3. 1976–1980 Richard Knight Jr. becomes Carrboro's first Black town managerInstitutional milestone · Carrboro

   Carrboro hired Richard Knight Jr. as its first Black town manager, and he served from 1976 to 1980. He left to become deputy city manager of Gainesville, Florida, and later became the first Black city manager of Dallas.

4. 1976 The Alberta Mill complex is listed on the National RegisterInstitutional milestone · Carrboro

   The mill, the railroad depot and the brick grist mill were listed together on the National Register of Historic Places, a year after the 1975 nomination made during the fight over demolishing the mill.

5. 1976 The idle Carrboro depot is converted into The StationBuilding opening · Carrboro

   Lee Epting and Mike Macomson finished renovating the disused depot in 1976 after two years of negotiations, reopening it as The Station restaurant, later a music venue.

6. April 3, 1976 WUNC-FM returns to the air as an NPR affiliateBroadcast milestone · Chapel Hill

   UNC's radio station WUNC, which had begun FM broadcasting in 1952 and had been silenced by equipment problems in the early 1970s, returned to the air from Chapel Hill on April 3, 1976, as a National Public Radio affiliate.

7. 1976–1977 Severe drought creates a local water crisisEnvironmental event · Chapel Hill

   A drought from August 1976 to January 1977 forced Chapel Hill and UNC to buy more water from Durham, ban unnecessary water use and cut campus services. By August 1977 University Lake was lower still, and the new Orange Water and Sewer Authority kept conservation rules and used federal drought aid to buy Durham water.

8. August 9, 1976 The state approves conveying the university's water and wastewater systems to OWASALaw or policy · Chapel Hill

   The Governor and Council of State approved the conveyance of the University of North Carolina's water and wastewater utilities to OWASA under Agreements of Sale and Purchase among the university, the two towns and the authority. The university's Board of Trustees had approved the conveyance on June 11, 1976.

9. Late October 1976 Orange Grove residents form the Cane Creek Conservation AuthorityFounding or opening · Orange Grove, Orange County

   Farm families around Cane Creek organized the Cane Creek Conservation Authority to stop the dam and elected 23-year-old dairy farmer Bobby Kirk president; the group had about 100 active members and said 12 dairy farms would be affected. It argued that the reservoir would end farming in the area, that owners had not been consulted, and that Jordan Lake and other sources were alternatives.

10. October 8, 1976 UNC trustees approve a Cane Creek pipeline on OWASA's recommendationInstitutional milestone · Cane Creek, Orange County

    With University Lake 64 inches below capacity, the UNC Board of Trustees approved an $824,450 pipeline and small temporary dam to draw water from Cane Creek, described as a step toward the planned reservoir. OWASA, due to take over the University water system in January 1977, recommended the Cane Creek project over alternatives that included pumping raw water from the Haw River to a treatment plant.

11. November 1976 Mama Dip's Kitchen opensBusiness opening · Chapel Hill

    Mildred "Mama Dip" Council opened Mama Dip's Kitchen in November 1976 in a small, failing 18-seat restaurant on Rosemary Street in Chapel Hill, starting with $40 for food and $24 for change. The restaurant moved to a new building in 1999 and closed in July 2025 after 49 years.

12. 1977–1988 Anson Dorrance coaches the UNC men's soccer teamCoaching tenure · Chapel Hill

    Dorrance, a 1974 UNC graduate, coached the Tar Heel men from 1977 through the 1988 season and won 172 games with them.

13. 1977 Carrboro Civic Club's public library closesInstitutional milestone · Carrboro

    The Carrboro Civic Club, which had run a volunteer public library since 1950 with some help from the town and Hyconeechee Regional Library, told the town in 1976 that it could no longer administer it, and the library had closed by 1977. An attempt in 1974 to turn the library over to town government had failed, and Hyconeechee's bookmobile served Carrboro until 1995.

14. 1977 Katherine Kennedy Carmichael retires from the universityRetirement · Chapel Hill

    Carmichael retired in 1977, thirty-one years after she became dean of women.

15. 1977 Planning begins for Carrboro’s farmers’ marketDated milestone · Carrboro

    UNC organizing and town funding efforts supported a formal market.

16. 1977–1979 St. Joseph CME sold Henry W. Baldwin's Broad Street land to Carrboro for a parkLand transfer · Baldwin Park, Broad Street, Carrboro

    Henry W. Baldwin, a Black landowner in the Lloyd/Broad neighborhood, left his estate to St. Joseph CME Church. During the pastorate of Dr. L. Kenneth Bennett the church sold a tract on Broad Street to the Town of Carrboro for a park, which was named Baldwin Park in his honor.

17. February 13, 1977 Pauli Murray celebrates her first Eucharist at the Chapel of the CrossChurch service · Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill

    Murray, newly ordained an Episcopal priest, celebrated her first Eucharist at the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill at the invitation of the rector Peter James Lee, who cited her family's connection to the parish. Her grandmother Cornelia Smith Fitzgerald had been baptized in the same chapel on December 20, 1854.

18. February 16, 1977 OWASA commenced operations, taking over the water and sewer systems of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and the universityCarrboro

    The three separately owned systems serving the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Carrboro were transferred to the Orange Water and Sewer Authority, which began serving the whole Carrboro and Chapel Hill community as a single public utility that day.

19. May 1977 Carr Mill Shopping Village opens in Carrboro's renovated millBuilding opening · Carrboro

    Carr Mill Shopping Village, a shopping center built inside Carrboro's renovated former textile mill, was scheduled to open on May 1, 1977, with ten retail stores, a Harris Teeter supermarket and a Revco drug store. By that September it advertised about 25 businesses; the complex is now known as Carr Mill Mall.

20. September 26, 1977 Court of Appeals lets OWASA survey Cane Creek land over owners' objectionsCourt case · Cane Creek, Orange County

    Landowners including the estate of Nancy Armstrong had refused OWASA's surveyors access to the dam site. After a trial court ordered access on April 28, 1977, the N.C. Court of Appeals held that the authority could enter and survey before starting eminent domain proceedings.

21. November 8, 1977 Bob Drakeford is elected mayor of CarrboroPolitical milestone · Carrboro

    Robert "Bob" Drakeford, a Carrboro alderman since 1975 and a Carrboro Community Coalition candidate, won the mayor's race on November 8, 1977, with 57 percent of the vote over John Boone. He was the town's first Black mayor and served until 1983.

22. December 1977 Caldwell and Cedar Grove volunteer fire departments are incorporatedFire protection · Caldwell and Cedar Grove

    The Caldwell Volunteer Fire Department was incorporated on December 6, 1977 and the Cedar Grove Volunteer Fire Department a week later, on December 13, extending local fire protection across the northern townships.

23. December 21, 1977 OWASA asks the state for power to condemn Cane Creek landLaw or policy · Raleigh

    OWASA petitioned the N.C. Environmental Management Commission for a certificate authorizing eminent domain for the Cane Creek reservoir, which would need about 700 acres of mostly woodland and prime farmland. The commission held a seven-day hearing between April and June 1978.

24. 1978 Pauli Murray declines an honorary degree from UNCHonor declined · Chapel Hill

    Chancellor N. Ferebee Taylor wrote to Murray on February 10, 1978 offering her an honorary Doctor of Laws at the commencement of May 14, 1978. Murray declined, citing the University's dispute with the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare over dismantling segregation and her refusal to share the platform with Governor Jim Hunt.

25. 1978–1988 Roy Williams serves as an assistant coach under Dean Smith at UNCCoaching tenure · Chapel Hill

    Williams spent ten seasons on Dean Smith's UNC men's basketball staff before leaving to become head coach at Kansas.

26. 1978 UNC hires Willie Scroggs to coach men's lacrosseCoaching appointment · Chapel Hill

    Athletic director Bill Cobey recruited Scroggs, the top assistant at Johns Hopkins, to build the Tar Heel program. His teams went 120 and 37 over 12 seasons and reached the NCAA tournament every year from 1980 through 1990.

27. July 12, 1978 St. Mary's Chapel is listed in the National RegisterPreservation action · St. Mary's community

    St. Mary's Chapel, the brick Gothic Revival Episcopal chapel on St. Mary's Road northeast of Hillsborough, built in 1859 for a congregation dating to the late 1750s, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on July 12, 1978.

28. 1979 Carrboro Farmers’ Market is establishedInstitutional milestone · Carrboro

    The market dates its founding to 1979, following organizing and planning in 1977.

29. 1979 Sandy McClamroch helps found the Carol Woods retirement communityCivic institution · Chapel Hill

    McClamroch, by then a former mayor and the founder of WCHL, was instrumental in founding the Carol Woods retirement community in Chapel Hill in 1979.

30. 1979 The Orange County Women's Center is establishedWomen's organizing · Chapel Hill

    An anonymous $30,000 gift in March 1979 created a fund for an Orange County Women's Center, meant to give office space to the rape crisis center, the Women's Health Counseling Service and the Orange-Durham Coalition for Battered Women, along with classes and counseling. By April 1980 it was open at 307 North Columbia Street, and it later merged with the Family Violence Prevention Center of Orange County to form Compass Center.

31. 1979 UNC starts a varsity women's soccer team with Anson Dorrance as its coachAthletics program · Chapel Hill

    UNC named Dorrance head coach of its new women's soccer program in 1979, and he coached the men's and women's teams at the same time for the next decade.

32. April 1979 State commission overrules its hearing panel and backs condemnationLaw or policy · Raleigh

    A three-member Environmental Management Commission panel recommended in March 1979 that OWASA be denied the certificate, but the full commission adopted the minority report and granted it. The Daily Tar Heel reported this was the first time the full commission had gone against a panel's recommendation.

33. 1980 Census counts Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro inCensus statistic · Orange County

    The 1980 census counted 77,055 people in Orange County, 32,421 in Chapel Hill (32,038 in the Orange County part) and 7,336 in Carrboro.

34. 1980s Chapel Hill brings public housing under direct town control after a rent strikeInstitutional milestone · Chapel Hill

    After a rent strike and other problems in the 1980s, the town council took over public housing from a separate housing authority and ran it as a town department. Chapel Hill and Shelby are the only North Carolina municipalities with that structure.

35. 1980–2010 Northside's Black population falls by about 40 percentDemographic change · Northside, Chapel Hill

    Between 1980 and 2010 Northside's Black population fell by roughly 40 percent as investors bought homes and converted or replaced them as student rentals; over the same period the share of university workers living 10 or more miles away rose above 60 percent.

36. 1980s Robert Campbell helps start Faith Tabernacle Oasis of Love International ChurchChurch founded · Rogers Road, Chapel Hill

    Campbell and his wife helped start Faith Tabernacle Oasis of Love International Church, where he was ordained in the 1980s. He has said his bishop's charge to the congregation to go beyond its own comfort turned him toward the landfill and the neighborhood's water.

37. March 28, 1980 UNC housekeepers present grievances to the Physical PlantLabor action · Chapel Hill

    Thirty Physical Plant housekeeping assistants gave director Claude Swecker a list of grievances in Berryhill Hall, including the rehiring of Gene Alston, an organizer they said had been fired for organizing. On April 2 Swecker granted two concessions to about sixty housekeepers.

38. July 4, 1980 The first Festival for the Eno is heldFestival or tradition · West Point on the Eno, Durham

    The Eno River Association held the first Festival for the Eno on July 4, 1980, at West Point on the Eno, a Durham city park on the river. The yearly festival of traditional music, crafts and trades raises money for land protection in the Eno River basin.

39. 1981–1997 Hilliard Caldwell is elected to the Carrboro Board of AldermenElection · Carrboro

    Hilliard Caldwell, who had advised the students of the 1960 Colonial Drug sit-in in Chapel Hill, was first elected to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen in 1981. He served four terms, through 1997.

40. 1981 Karen Shelton becomes head coach of UNC field hockeyCoaching appointment · Chapel Hill

    Shelton took over the Tar Heel program in 1981, after finishing at West Chester State in 1979 and spending a year as an assistant coach at Franklin and Marshall. She coached at Chapel Hill for 42 seasons and had 40 winning ones.

41. 1981–82 through 1983–84 Michael Jordan plays his Carolina career in Carmichael AuditoriumCollege career · Chapel Hill

    Jordan played all three of his Carolina seasons in Carmichael Auditorium in Chapel Hill and scored in double figures in 90 of his 101 games for UNC. He was Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and National Player of the Year in 1984.

42. 1981 to present UNC women’s soccer builds a national dynastyStoryline · Chapel Hill

    Anson Dorrance, the program's head coach from its first varsity season in 1979 through 2023, led the Tar Heels to the 1981 AIAW national title and 21 NCAA titles, and his successor Damon Nahas added the 2024 NCAA title, for 23 national championships in all through the 2025 season. UNC won 22 of the 43 NCAA tournaments held from 1982 through 2024, and its teams went 103 consecutive games without a loss from 1986 to 1990.

43. 1981 UNC women’s soccer wins the AIAW national championshipChapel Hill

    UNC won the AIAW national championship before the first NCAA women’s soccer tournament.

44. May 30, 1981 UNC men’s lacrosse wins the 1981 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

    UNC won the 1981 NCAA men’s lacrosse championship.

45. July 21, 1981 Army Corps of Engineers issues the federal permit for the Cane Creek damLaw or policy · Cane Creek, Orange County

    The Corps' district engineer issued OWASA a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit to place fill for the dam on the same day the Court of Appeals voided the state certificate. The permit was set to expire on August 31, 1982 unless construction had begun.

46. July 21, 1981 Court of Appeals throws out the state's approval of the Cane Creek projectCourt case · Raleigh

    On appeal by the Cane Creek Conservation Authority, several landowners and Teer Farms, the N.C. Court of Appeals vacated the commission's certificate, which Wake County Superior Court had upheld on March 5, 1980. It held that the decision needed an environmental impact statement under the state Environmental Policy Act and a review of the whole record, and sent the case back to the commission.

47. November 5, 1981 Friends of the Orange County Public Library is foundedFounding or opening · Countywide

    Residents organized the Friends of the Orange County Public Library on November 5, 1981, to raise money and advocate for a county library preparing to move into larger quarters in Hillsborough. The group incorporated on May 3, 1982, and the IRS recognized it as a 501(c)(3) charity in June 1983.

48. December 1981 Orange County Public Library moves to larger quarters in HillsboroughHillsborough

    Volunteers were sought to move the Orange County Public Library's 30,000 books from the 1934 library building on Churton Street to new quarters in the Human Services Complex in Hillsborough, the former Hillsborough High School on West Tryon Street, with the move planned for the end of December 1981. The old building became the Orange County Historical Museum.

49. 1982 Orange County begins discussing the first expansion of the Eubanks Road landfillPlanning decision · Eubanks Road landfill

    Ten years after the landfill opened, the county began discussing an expansion even though it had estimated the site would be full by 1985. Residents had been told the landfill would close after about ten years.

50. 1982 The Love Trust is established for the Chapel Hill Public LibraryBequest · Chapel Hill

    A $350,000 estate gift from Cornelia Spencer Love created the Love Trust in 1982. The library foundation has managed it since 1999 and it has given the library more than $2.3 million.

51. February 1982 Bill Neal and Gene Hamer reopen Crook's CornerBusiness opening · Chapel Hill

    Bill Neal, a former manager of La Residence, and Gene Hamer leased Crook's Corner, a West Franklin Street barbecue restaurant opened by Cam Hill in 1978 and closed in November 1981, and planned to reopen it in February 1982 serving Southern-style meals. Under Neal and later chef Bill Smith it became nationally known.

52. March 29, 1982 UNC men’s basketball wins the 1982 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

    UNC defeated Georgetown, 63–62, to win the national title.

53. May 29, 1982 UNC men’s lacrosse wins the 1982 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

    UNC won the 1982 NCAA men’s lacrosse championship.

54. September 29, 1982 Opponents sue in federal court, arguing the dam permit has lapsedCourt case · Cane Creek, Orange County

    The Cane Creek Conservation Authority filed suit in U.S. District Court claiming OWASA's Corps permit expired on August 31, 1982 because no fill had actually been placed at the site. OWASA said its preliminary work before the deadline kept the permit valid.

55. November 21, 1982 UNC women’s soccer wins the 1982 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

    UNC defeated Central Florida, 2–0, in the national final.

56. 1983 Orange County Public Library refers overdue cases to the Dispute Settlement CenterPublic service · Hillsborough

    County librarian Kathleen Moeller-Peiffer reported in 1983 that the library's first attempt to settle overdue cases through the local Dispute Settlement Center had worked: of five patrons sent mediation notices, three returned or paid for their books. The library planned to use the process every three months for its most delinquent materials.

57. 1983 Shanklin's Press prints Irene Oliver Pender's History of Orange County SchoolsPublication · Hillsborough

    Shanklin's Press of Hillsborough, the Black-owned print shop run by the family of Thomas Shanklin, published Irene Oliver Pender's A History of Orange County Schools: 1752-1983. The shop began in the family home in the 1960s and later moved to Cornelius Street.

58. By September 1983 Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen opensBusiness opening · Chapel Hill

    Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen, a drive-through biscuit restaurant from a small chain begun in Henderson and Louisburg in 1977 and 1978, was operating at 1305 East Franklin Street in Chapel Hill by September 1983.

59. 1983–1986 The Fredricks site is found and excavated and Occaneechi Town is locatedArchaeological excavation · Hillsborough

    UNC archaeologists trying to relocate the Wall site in the spring of 1983 found European trade goods among Indian pottery in a garden about a hundred yards away, and dug there for four seasons. They uncovered a palisaded village of about a quarter of an acre with ten to twelve houses set around a plaza, a sweat lodge and a cemetery outside the stockade, and identified it as the Occaneechi town Lawson visited in 1701.

60. 1983 UNC women’s soccer wins the 1983 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

    UNC defeated George Mason, 4–0, in the national final.

61. October 1983–April 1986 OWASA buys out most of the Cane Creek landownersLand acquisition · Cane Creek, Orange County

    By April 1986 OWASA owned 48 of the 50 parcels needed for the reservoir, almost all bought through negotiated sales. Sam Crawford recalled an opening offer of $500 an acre that rose to about $3,500 to $3,600, and that his family lost 50 acres, including their biggest field.

62. October 13, 1983 OWASA agrees to buy the Stanford dairy farm at the dam siteLand acquisition · Cane Creek, Orange County

    The same day the commission ruled, OWASA agreed to buy 267 acres of the dam site from dairy farmers William and Joyce Stanford for about $1.28 million, bringing it to 60 percent of the 728 acres it needed. Between 20 and 25 of the 48 affected landowners had sold by then.

63. October 13, 1983 State commission grants OWASA condemnation power for the third timeLaw or policy · Raleigh

    After a second hearing in late 1982, the Environmental Management Commission reissued OWASA's certificate in March 1983, a Wake County Superior Court judge sent it back, and on October 13 the commission reinstated OWASA's power of eminent domain. Mike Teer, by then president of the Cane Creek Conservation Authority, said the group would appeal.

64. 1984 Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County bought the Greene Tract as a possible landfill siteLand acquisition · Greene Tract

    The three governments purchased the roughly 164-acre Greene Tract, just north of Rogers Road inside Chapel Hill's extraterritorial jurisdiction, for a future landfill. The county's landfill site search committee did not choose it, and its future use was argued over through the 1990s.

65. 1984 Eno Mill closesDated milestone · West Hillsborough

    Textile production ended at the Hillsborough plant.

66. 1984 The Eno-Occaneechi Indian Association formsOrganization founded · Orange and Alamance counties

    Descendants of the Occaneechi, Saponi and related Siouan peoples living around the Little Texas settlement reorganized in 1984 as the Eno-Occaneechi Indian Association, with the aim of winning state recognition. The group has since been governed by an elected nine-member tribal council headed by a chair.

67. 1984 UNC gives John Ehle its Distinguished Alumnus AwardHonor · Chapel Hill

    The university's 1984 citation honored Ehle as a writer and for his work, beginning as special assistant to Governor Terry Sanford in 1963 and 1964, on the School of the Arts, the School of Science and Mathematics and the Governor's School.

68. 1984 UNC women’s soccer wins the 1984 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

    UNC defeated Connecticut, 2–0, in the national final.

69. August 10, 1984 Federal court dismisses the opponents' permit suits for lack of standingCourt case · Cane Creek, Orange County

    The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina dismissed the two suits brought by the Cane Creek Conservation Authority and Teer Farms, finding they alleged only a general fear of environmental loss rather than a direct injury. The court noted that OWASA had so far acquired all its land through voluntary purchases.

70. 1985 Charles Kuralt gives the UNC spring commencement addressSpeech · Chapel Hill

    Kuralt, who had edited the Daily Tar Heel as a student, returned to Chapel Hill to deliver the University's spring commencement address in 1985. He told the graduates that the influence of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill moves outward to the farthest corners of the state.

71. June 1985 Cane Creek Conservation Authority members go to the General Assembly to oppose an OWASA billLobbying · North Carolina General Assembly

    Fifteen members of the Cane Creek Conservation Authority traveled to the legislature to oppose a bill OWASA sought to settle its outstanding court cases and widen its authority.

72. July 1985 OWASA builds a temporary impoundment on Cane CreekConstruction · Cane Creek, Orange County

    During a water shortage OWASA built a temporary impoundment at the Cane Creek site as an emergency water source, while the permanent dam was still being designed.

73. 1986 Frank Heath buys Cat's CradleOwnership change · Chapel Hill

    David Robert and his partners sold the Chapel Hill club to Frank Heath and Richard Fox in 1986; Heath became sole owner in 1987 and still runs the club.

74. 1986 Michael Jordan returns to UNC and earns his geography degreeDegree · Chapel Hill

    Jordan left Carolina with a year of eligibility left to enter the 1984 NBA draft, then returned to the university and earned a bachelor of arts degree in geography in 1986.

75. 1986 UNC men’s lacrosse wins the 1986 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

    UNC won the 1986 NCAA men’s lacrosse championship.

76. 1986 UNC women’s soccer wins the 1986 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

    UNC defeated Colorado College, 2–0, in the national final.

77. April 1, 1986 Court of Appeals upholds OWASA's right to condemn the Teer landCourt case · Raleigh

    The N.C. Court of Appeals affirmed the commission's 1983 certificate against an appeal by the Cane Creek Conservation Authority and Teer Farms, ruling among other points that water quality was a proper factor. The Daily Tar Heel reported that the case turned on two parcels owned by dairy farmer Thomas Teer, the last two of the 50 parcels OWASA needed.

78. 1986–1988 Orange County Rural Buffer is establishedPreservation or planning · Carrboro

    Orange County adopted the Orange County-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan and map on August 19, 1986, designating a low-density Rural Buffer. The three governments signed the Joint Planning Agreement on November 2, 1987, and the county dates the buffer to 1988.

79. November 1986 Carmichael Residence Hall is dedicatedBuilding dedication · UNC campus, Chapel Hill

    The university dedicated a new six-storey residence hall for 486 students, named for Katherine Kennedy Carmichael.

80. 1987 UNC men's soccer wins the ACC title and reaches the NCAA Final FourAthletics championship · Chapel Hill

    Under Dorrance the Tar Heel men won the Atlantic Coast Conference title in 1987 and reached the NCAA Final Four.

81. 1987 UNC women’s soccer wins the 1987 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

    UNC defeated Massachusetts, 1–0, in the national final.

82. 1987–2008 Valerie Foushee works as an administrative officer for the Chapel Hill Police DepartmentCareer · Chapel Hill

    Foushee spent 21 years as an administrative officer with the Chapel Hill Police Department, from 1987 to 2008.

83. January 24, 1987 OWASA breaks ground for the Cane Creek damConstruction · Cane Creek, Orange County

    OWASA held a groundbreaking for the Cane Creek Reservoir, designed by Hazen and Sawyer: a 72-foot-high, 1,350-foot earthen dam on a 760-acre site, with a 480-acre lake holding 3 billion gallons. Completion was scheduled for June 1989.

84. April 1987 Orange County Public Library receives a $50,000 bequest from Rebecca B. WallGift · Hillsborough

    The library received $50,000 from the estate of Rebecca B. Wall, a retired Veterans Administration hospital librarian and former Orange County Board of Education member who died on April 2, 1986. The fund had grown to more than $100,000 by 2010, when the library dedicated its Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection at the new Main Library.

85. August 17, 1987 R. B. House dies in Chapel HillDeath · Chapel Hill

    House died at his home in Chapel Hill and was buried in the local cemetery. He had retired as chancellor in 1957 and taught in the university's English department until 1962.

86. September 23, 1987 Frank Wilkinson returns to speak in Manning HallPublic lecture · Manning Hall, UNC

    Wilkinson, then 74, spoke in Manning Hall on FBI surveillance and U.S. policy in Central America at an event sponsored by the Carolina Committee on Central America.

87. October 12, 1987 Sitterson Hall, the new computer science building, is dedicated on University DayBuilding dedication · Sitterson Hall, Chapel Hill

    The Department of Computer Science moved into its new building over the summer of 1987, and the formal dedication of Sitterson Hall, named for former chancellor J. Carlyle Sitterson, was held on University Day with Sitterson present and former governor Hunt giving the main address.

88. November 1987 Town of Hillsborough restores Margaret Lane Cemetery and dedicates a memorial plaqueMemorial dedication · Margaret Lane Cemetery, Hillsborough

    After a restoration by the Town of Hillsborough, a bronze plaque on a large stone was dedicated at the center of the cemetery listing people known to have been buried there from before 1852 to 1931. It notes that the exact location of most of their graves is not known.

89. November 3, 1987 Joe Herzenberg wins election to the Chapel Hill Town CouncilElection · Chapel Hill

    Joe Herzenberg placed third in the four-seat Town Council race at the municipal election of November 3, 1987, with 3,308 votes, behind Nancy Preston and Roosevelt Wilkerson, and said he was the first openly gay elected official in the history of North Carolina. He was sworn in at the Council's organizational meeting on December 7, 1987, with his neighbor Lightning Brown administering the oath.

90. 1987–1995 LGBTQ political firsts in Chapel Hill and CarrboroStoryline · Carrboro

    Joe Herzenberg's election to the Chapel Hill Town Council in November 1987 made him North Carolina's first openly gay elected official. Carrboro created a domestic partnership registry in September 1994 and Chapel Hill followed in 1995, and in November 1995 Carrboro elected Mike Nelson, the state's first openly gay mayor.

91. November 16, 1987 Hilliard Caldwell tells a Chapel Hill forum that local schools still fail Black studentsPublic forum · Chapel Hill

    Speaking as home school coordinator for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools at a Human Rights Week forum, Caldwell said the community spent millions on education without adequate results and that few Black students reached the honor rolls. His cousin Ed Caldwell, a school board member, spoke as well.

92. December 1, 1987 Eleanor Kinnaird is sworn in as mayor of CarrboroOath of office · Carrboro

    Elizabeth R. Holland administered the oath of office to Mayor-elect Eleanor Kinnaird at the Board of Aldermen meeting of December 1, 1987. The board had approved the abstract of votes cast at the November 3, 1987 election earlier in the meeting, and outgoing mayor James V. Porto Jr. and departing aldermen Zona Norwood and John Boone made their parting remarks.

93. 1988 Carrboro residents begin campaigning for a public libraryCivic campaign · Carrboro

    Plans for a Carrboro library were first proposed in 1988, and residents formed a Friends group that raised money, lobbied town and county governments and worked on site selection. Their campaign led to the Carrboro library that opened in the McDougle schools in May 1995.

94. 1988 Gold family acquires Eno MillDated milestone · West Hillsborough

    The property became a business center with varied tenants.

95. 1988 UNC women’s soccer wins the 1988 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

    UNC defeated NC State, 4–1, in the national final.

96. June 1988 Weaver Street Market opensBusiness opening · Carrboro

    Weaver Street Market, a cooperative grocery owned by both its customers and its workers, opened in Carrboro in June 1988. Start-up money came from a Center for Community Self-Help loan, a $200,000 Community Development Block Grant from the Town of Carrboro, and shares and loans from local supporters.

97. July 1, 1988–June 30, 1995 Paul Hardin serves as chancellor of UNC at Chapel HillUniversity leadership · Chapel Hill

    Hardin, who had led Wofford College, Southern Methodist University and Drew University, was chancellor at Chapel Hill from July 1, 1988 to June 30, 1995. His administration covered the university's bicentennial and its fundraising campaign, the argument over a freestanding black cultural center and the housekeepers' class action suit.

98. 1989 Cane Creek Reservoir is filledPreservation or planning · Carrboro

    OWASA completed and filled the reservoir on Cane Creek west of Carrboro, adding roughly three billion gallons of storage drawn from a 32 square mile drainage area. Before it came online OWASA's estimated dependable yield was about two million gallons a day, and the 1980s had brought repeated mandatory restrictions and purchases of water from neighboring utilities.

99. 1989 Merge Records is founded in Chapel HillFounding or opening · Chapel Hill

    Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance started Merge in Chapel Hill in 1989, the year they formed Superchunk, to put out their own band's and friends' records on 7-inch singles and cassettes.

100. 1989 Mike Nelson loses his first race for the Carrboro Board of Aldermen by 32 votesElection · Carrboro

     Nelson first ran for elected office in 1989 and lost his bid for a seat on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen by 32 votes.

101. 1989 UNC women’s soccer wins the 1989 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Colorado College, 2–0, in the national final.

102. February 1989 Cat's Cradle opens at 206 West Franklin StreetRelocation · 206 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill

     After leaving the small 320 West Franklin Street room known as the shoebox in August 1988, the club reopened at 206 West Franklin Street, its fourth location, where it stayed until 1993.

103. May 25, 1989 General Assembly renames North Carolina Memorial Hospital as UNC Hospitals at Chapel HillLaw or policy · Chapel Hill

     Session Law 1989-141, ratified May 25, 1989, replaced the name University of North Carolina Memorial Hospital with University of North Carolina Hospitals at Chapel Hill throughout the General Statutes and changed the terms of its board members.

104. November 20, 1989 UNC field hockey wins the 1989 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the 1989 NCAA field hockey title against Old Dominion.

105. December 5, 1989 Eleanor Kinnaird is sworn in for a second term as mayor of CarrboroOath of office · Carrboro

     Town clerk Sarah C. Williamson administered the oath to Mayor-elect Kinnaird and to aldermen-elect Hilliard Caldwell and Tom Gurganus after the board approved the abstract of votes from the November 7, 1989 election. Jacquelyn Gist was sworn in as an alderman at the same meeting.

106. December 5, 1989 Jacquelyn Gist is sworn in as a Carrboro aldermanOath of office · Carrboro

     Robin Lackey administered the oath of office to alderman-elect Jacquelyn Gist at the Board of Aldermen meeting of December 5, 1989. The board had approved the abstract of votes cast at the November 7, 1989 election earlier in the same meeting, at which Eleanor Kinnaird was also sworn in as mayor.

107. 1990 1990 census counts the Hispanic-origin population of Orange County, Carrboro and Chapel HillCensus count · Orange County

     The 1990 census counted 1,279 persons of Hispanic origin in Orange County (1.4% of 93,851), 199 in Carrboro (1.7% of 11,553) and 607 in Chapel Hill (1.6% of 38,719). Census Bureau report 1990 CP-1-35, Table 5 (counties) and Table 6 (places).

108. 1990 Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Orange County begin a countywide search for a new landfill siteInstitutional milestone · Orange County

     The three governing boards started a countywide search for the next sanitary landfill, carried out with a citizens' Landfill Search Committee and an engineering consultant. The Greene Tract, bought in 1984 for landfill use, was screened but not made a finalist.

109. 1990 Census counts Orange County residents working in Durham County inCommuting statistic · Orange County

     Of 49,915 employed Orange County residents in the 1990 census, 12,185 (about 24 percent) worked in Durham County, 31,591 worked in Orange County and 2,085 worked in Wake County.

110. 1990 Census counts Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro inCensus statistic · Orange County

     The 1990 census counted 93,851 people in Orange County, 38,719 in Chapel Hill (37,604 in Orange County and 1,115 in Durham County) and 11,553 in Carrboro.

111. 1990 Randee Haven-O'Donnell is named Soil and Water Conservation Teacher of the YearAward · Orange County

     Haven-O'Donnell, who taught in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, was named Orange County and North Carolina Soil and Water Conservation Teacher of the Year.

112. 1990 UNC women’s soccer wins the 1990 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Connecticut, 6–0, in the national final.

113. 1990 Willie Scroggs leaves coaching for athletics administration at UNCAppointment · Chapel Hill

     Scroggs retired from coaching at the end of the 1990 season to become associate athletic director for game operations and outdoor facilities, a job that grew into responsibility for athletics construction and operations on campus.

114. January 1990 Eno-Occaneechi Indian Association petitions the NC Commission of Indian Affairs for state recognitionLaw or policy · Alamance and Orange counties

     After years of genealogical and historical research, the Eno-Occaneechi Indian Association filed a petition for state recognition with the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs.

115. September 25, 1990 Superchunk releases its first albumRelease · Chapel Hill

     The Chapel Hill band, whose early singles had launched Merge Records, issued its self-titled debut album on Matador; Merge put out the band's later albums from Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

116. December 18, 1990 Carrboro adds sexual orientation to its equal employment opportunity policyLaw or policy · Carrboro

     The Board of Aldermen unanimously amended the town's personnel ordinance to add sexual orientation to the characteristics protected in its merit principle and equal employment opportunity policy. On November 13, 1990 the Board had written a sexual orientation nondiscrimination clause into a planning grant agreement with the City of Durham and asked for the code amendment to be scheduled.

117. 1991–1997 Mark Chilton is elected to the Chapel Hill Town Council at 21Election · Chapel Hill

     Chilton, then a UNC undergraduate, won a seat on the Chapel Hill Town Council in 1991 at the age of 21 and served until 1997. He took a geography degree from UNC in 1993 and a law degree from North Carolina Central University in 1997.

118. 1991 Orange County Affordable Housing Task Force creates the Orange Community Housing CorporationFounding or opening · Orange County

     The county's Affordable Housing Task Force created the Orange Community Housing Corporation, the organization that later became the Community Home Trust.

119. 1991–1993 Students campaign for a freestanding Black Cultural CenterProtest or organizing · Chapel Hill

     After Sonja Haynes Stone died in 1991, students, faculty and Black athletes at UNC pressed for a freestanding Black Cultural Center named for her. Following marches in September 1992, Chancellor Paul Hardin endorsed a freestanding building on October 15, 1992, and the trustees approved a site in 1993.

120. 1991–1996 UNC Housekeepers organize for pay and respectLabor action · Chapel Hill

     UNC housekeepers formed the Housekeepers Association in 1991 and brought a class-action discrimination suit against the University over pay, advancement and treatment. Led by Marsha Tinnen and Barbara Prear, they signed a settlement with UNC on November 26, 1996, that brought raises, a career training program and monthly meetings with administrators.

121. 1991 UNC women’s soccer wins the 1991 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Wisconsin, 3–1, in the national final.

122. By January 1991 Walter Faribault Jr. opens Faribault's Pit Cooked Bar-B-Q in HillsboroughBusiness opening · Hillsborough

     Dr. Walter Faribault Jr., a Chapel Hill physician, had opened Faribault's Pit Cooked Bar-B-Q in Hillsborough using a recipe that had been in his family for more than a hundred years. The family had cooked pork barbecue on Faribault Lane for generations, and by 1993 the business was running as a catering service.

123. March 22, 1991 Herbert Aptheker returns to speak at UNC in Greenlaw HallPublic lecture · Greenlaw Hall, UNC

     Twenty-five years after he was kept off campus, Aptheker spoke to students and faculty in Greenlaw Hall in a visit arranged by anthropology professor Don Nonini.

124. April 12, 1991 The William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education is dedicatedBuilding dedication · Friday Center, Chapel Hill

     UNC dedicated its continuing education center, named for William and Ida Friday, on April 12, 1991. Friday described it as "the citizens' classroom."

125. May 27, 1991 UNC men’s lacrosse wins the 1991 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the 1991 NCAA men’s lacrosse championship.

126. October 4, 1991 Nirvana plays Cat's CradleConcert · Cat's Cradle, 206 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill

     Nirvana played the club's West Franklin Street room ten days after the release of Nevermind; Pearl Jam also played the Cradle in 1991, to about 100 people.

127. 1992 Baptist conventions disassociate from BinkleyDated milestone · Chapel Hill

     State and Southern conventions acted after the church licensed an openly gay ministerial candidate.

128. 1992 Daniel Pollitt retires from the UNC law facultyInstitutional milestone · Chapel Hill

     Pollitt, by then a Kenan professor of law, retired from teaching in 1992 after more than 35 years at UNC. The Daily Tar Heel credited him with founding the North Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, opposing the Speaker Ban and helping to integrate the university.

129. 1992 Local 506 opens on West Franklin StreetFounding or opening · 506 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill

     Glenn Boothe opened Local 506, an all-ages rock club for emerging and local bands, at 506 West Franklin Street and owned it for about a decade.

130. 1992 Merge Records moves into an office in CarrboroInstitutional milestone · 120 East Main Street, Carrboro

     After working out of several Chapel Hill houses, Merge took space at 120 East Main Street in Carrboro, upstairs from the Armadillo Grill; it moved to a Chapel Hill house in 1996 and to Durham in 2001.

131. 1992 Merge releases its first full-length, Superchunk's Tossing SeedsRelease · Chapel Hill

     The Superchunk singles collection Tossing Seeds (Singles 89–91) was Merge's first full-length release and its first CD.

132. 1992 Orange, Person and Caswell make their Hyconeechee libraries county departmentsGovernance · Orange County

     The Hyconeechee Regional Library board and the three county governments made each county library a department of its own county, responsible for procurement, personnel, accounting, travel and facility maintenance. The regional library kept regional policy, collection development, grants and the regional budget under a joint contract with the counties.

133. 1992 Polvo releases its debut album Cor-Crane secret on MergeRelease · Chapel Hill

     The Chapel Hill quartet's first album came out on Merge in 1992, followed by Today's Active Lifestyles on Merge in 1993.

134. 1992 UNC women’s soccer wins the 1992 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Duke, 9–1, in the national final.

135. December 1992 The Chapel Hill sound gains national attentionCultural movement · Chapel Hill and Carrboro

     Spin's December 1992 feature "Robbing the Cradle," its title a play on the Cat's Cradle, looked at Polvo and other local bands as record scouts hunted for the next big thing after Seattle. By January 1993 the Daily Tar Heel counted about six publications calling Chapel Hill the next Seattle, and Details and Time followed that year.

136. 1993 Brenda Stephens becomes director of the Orange County library systemAppointment · Orange County

     Brenda W. Stephens, who had started her library career driving the county bookmobile in 1976, became director of the Orange County Library System in 1993. By the end of that year North Carolina Libraries identified her as director of the Hyconeechee Regional Library, and a 2025 profile calls her the first Black director of a regional library system in the state.

137. 1993 Chinese School at Chapel Hill is foundedCommunity school · Chapel Hill

     The Chinese School at Chapel Hill, which teaches Chinese language and culture, was founded in 1993 in a community that had grown around UNC since graduate students from mainland China began arriving in the early 1980s. The IRS recognized it as a tax-exempt organization in December 1999.

138. 1993 Entertainment Weekly asks whether Chapel Hill is the next SeattleNational press coverage · Chapel Hill

     A 1993 Entertainment Weekly article proposed Chapel Hill as Seattle's successor and questioned whether Superchunk wanted the role; Rolling Stone the same year floated Superchunk as the next Nirvana.

139. 1993 Grant supports new farmers’ market sheltersDated milestone · Carrboro

     Funding enabled preparation of the Town Commons location.

140. 1993 Mike Nelson is elected to the Carrboro Board of AldermenElection · Carrboro

     Nelson won a seat on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen in 1993, and as an alderman he championed the domestic partners ordinance the town adopted in 1994.

141. 1993 Orange County commissioners decline to fund a Carrboro libraryGovernment decision · Carrboro

     The county commissioners turned down the Friends of the Carrboro Library's request for library funding in 1993. With a new middle school under construction, the Friends were encouraged to pursue a library in the school's media center instead.

142. Summer 1993 Squirrel Nut Zippers form near Chapel HillFounding or opening · Efland, Orange County

     Jim Mathus and Katharine Whalen, who had moved from Chapel Hill to a farmhouse in Efland, started the band in summer 1993, played their first show that November and signed with Mammoth Records in 1994.

143. 1993 The Cat's Cradle moves to CarrboroBusiness relocation · Carrboro

     After about six months dark, the club reopened in the former Nice Price Books space at 300 East Main Street, a standing-room hall holding about 750.

144. 1993 UNC women’s soccer wins the 1993 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated George Mason, 6–0, in the national final.

145. January 23, 1993 Community Church joins the Unitarian Universalist AssociationDated milestone · Chapel Hill

     Members approved affiliation after years of discussion.

146. February 1993 Details magazine profiles the scene as "Chapel Hill-billies"National press coverage · Chapel Hill

     Details followed Spin with a February 1993 piece on the town's bands, and Time the same year named Chapel Hill as a possible alternative-rock boomtown.

147. April 5, 1993 UNC men’s basketball wins the 1993 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Michigan, 77–71, to win the national title.

148. May 19, 1993 Cat's Cradle closes its last Franklin Street locationClosing · 206 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill

     The owners of the building at 206 West Franklin Street sold to a developer, and the club scheduled its last show there for May 19; Frank Heath then spent about six months looking for a new site.

149. July 23, 1993 UNC Trustees approve a freestanding Black Cultural Center on the Coker sitePolicy decision · Chapel Hill

     On July 23, 1993, the UNC Board of Trustees approved building a freestanding Sonja Haynes Stone Black Cultural Center on the Coker Woods site between Coker Hall and the Bell Tower. Supporters had wanted the Wilson-Dey site on the main quad, and student leaders accepted the Coker site that November.

150. September 7, 1993 Archers of Loaf release their debut album Icky MettleRelease · Chapel Hill

     The Chapel Hill band's first album came out on Alias Records; Merge later reissued it with bonus material.

151. October 12, 1993 UNC and Chapel Hill celebrate their bicentennialChapel Hill

     UNC marked 200 years since the laying of Old East's cornerstone with a Bicentennial Convocation in Kenan Stadium, where President Bill Clinton spoke to about 45,000 people. The town dedicated Michael Brown's mural of the October 12, 1793, lot auction at the Franklin Street post office.

152. 1994 The organization adopts the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation nameInstitutional milestone · Orange and Alamance counties

     While its recognition petition was under review, the Eno-Occaneechi Indian Association changed its name to the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation.

153. 1994 UNC women’s soccer wins the 1994 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Notre Dame, 5–0, in the national final. This completed nine consecutive NCAA titles (1986–1994).

154. March 1994 Carrboro Board of Aldermen votes to help fund a branch library at McDougleGovernment decision · Carrboro

     The Carrboro Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to fund a Carrboro branch of the Orange County library that would share space and resources with the McDougle Middle School media center. Carrboro and Orange County both provided funding for the library that year.

155. March 17, 1994 Jacob Jackson Farm is listed in the National RegisterPreservation action · Near Hillsborough

     The National Park Service listed the Jacob Jackson Farm, also called Maple Hill, in the National Register of Historic Places on March 17, 1994, for its architecture and agriculture. The 63-acre district on St. Mary's Road northeast of Hillsborough includes a c. 1810 log cabin, a c. 1820 Federal farmhouse and a barn built about 1855 to 1910.

156. April 3, 1994 UNC women’s basketball wins the 1994 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     Charlotte Smith’s last-second three-pointer gave UNC a 60–59 victory over Louisiana Tech.

157. September 13, 1994 Carrboro Board of Aldermen adopts a domestic partnership registryLaw or policy · Carrboro

     The Board voted unanimously to amend the Town Code so that statements of domestic partnership could be filed with the Town Clerk, set the effective date at October 11, 1994, added a $40 registration fee, and extended the financial disclosure required of elected officials to cover their domestic partners. The Board took no action on a third proposal to extend health insurance benefits to domestic partners of town employees.

158. October 1994 UNC hires Jenny Levy to start its women's lacrosse programCoaching appointment · Chapel Hill

     Carolina added women's lacrosse as a varsity sport and in October 1994 named Levy, then an assistant coach at Georgetown, its first head coach. She is still the only head coach the program has had.

159. November 6, 1994 Charles and Lucile McDougle Middle School is dedicatedNaming or dedication · Carrboro

     The middle school that opened in the fall of 1994 was officially named the Charles and Lucile McDougle Middle School and dedicated on November 6, 1994. The school's history says McDougle was a teacher, principal and central office administrator in a career of more than forty years, and that Lucile McDougle taught for more than forty years.

160. November 7, 1994 WXYC makes the first internet radio simulcastChapel Hill

     WXYC streamed its radio broadcast over the internet on November 7, 1994.

161. 1995 Ben Folds Five release their debut albumRelease · Chapel Hill

     The piano trio, formed in Chapel Hill around 1993, issued its self-titled first album on the independent Caroline label, then signed with Sony's 550 Music, which released Whatever and Ever Amen in 1997.

162. 1995–1998 Chapel Hill Museum is organized in the former town libraryInstitutional milestone · Chapel Hill

     In 1995 a museum study committee proposed a town museum for the former public library at 523 East Franklin Street, and in November the town council agreed to negotiate a rent-free lease with Chapel Hill Museum Inc. The nonprofit museum opened its first exhibit to the public in February 1998.

163. 1995 Chapel Hill creates a domestic partner registryLaw or policy · Chapel Hill

     The Town of Chapel Hill established a domestic partner registry in 1995, the year after Carrboro adopted its own. The Town added sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression to its employment protections in 2004.

164. 1995 First annual Occaneechi powwow on the Eno planned for downtown HillsboroughFestival or gathering · Hillsborough, Eno River

     John Jeffries planned the first annual powwow on the Eno River in downtown Hillsborough. The band now holds its annual powwow and fall festival on its tribal land in Alamance County.

165. 1995–2022 Friends run a community art gallery in the Carrboro Branch LibraryCultural program · Carrboro

     The Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library set up a gallery for two-dimensional art in the shared library and McDougle schools media center, run by a volunteer art committee. By 2015 it had shown more than 1,750 local artists in more than 60 exhibitions, and by the time the branch closed in 2022 it had shown more than 2,000.

166. 1995 Gold family donates future park landDated milestone · Hillsborough

     The donation supplied land later developed as Gold Park.

167. 1995–2000 John Blackfeather Jeffries serves as chairman of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi NationLeadership · Orange County

     Jeffries chaired the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation from 1995 to 2000 and remained on its tribal council through 2020.

168. 1995 N.C. Neurosciences Hospital opens at UNC HospitalsBuilding opening · UNC Hospitals, Chapel Hill

     The N.C. Neurosciences Hospital opened in 1995 as a specialized hospital within the UNC Hospitals complex in Chapel Hill.

169. 1995 Orange County ends bookmobile service to fund the Carrboro branchPublic service · Orange County

     When the Carrboro branch opened at McDougle in 1995, Orange County moved money to it by cutting the library's bookmobile service to the whole county. The bookmobile had been Carrboro's main public library service since the Civic Club library closed in 1977.

170. May 1995 Carrboro Branch Library opens at McDougle SchoolFounding or opening · Carrboro

     The Carrboro Branch of the Orange County Public Library opened in McDougle Middle School in May 1995, sharing space with the school library and open after school hours and on Sundays. Books circulated from May 1 and the ribbon was cut on May 21, with the Friends of the Carrboro Library having raised $2,000 toward its $46,000 budget.

171. June 6, 1995 Carrboro votes to pay for domestic partner coverage in its employee health planLaw or policy · Carrboro

     Setting town employee health insurance for fiscal 1995-96, the Board of Aldermen voted that the town would bear any expense of adding coverage for domestic partners to its Kaiser plan, after asking staff on May 23 to find out why the insurer Healthsource did not offer such coverage. The vote was six to one, with Michael Nelson opposed.

172. August 24, 1995 Commission of Indian Affairs recognition committee votes to deny the Occaneechi petitionLaw or policy · Alamance and Orange counties

     The Recognition Committee of the NC Commission of Indian Affairs voted to deny state recognition, finding the petitioners had not met five of the eight required criteria. The band then sought a contested case hearing, filed January 3, 1996.

173. October 12, 1995 Michael Hooker is inaugurated as chancellor at Chapel HillUniversity leadership · Chapel Hill

     Hooker, who took office on July 1, 1995, was inaugurated on University Day. A Hugh Morton photograph records university president C. D. Spangler at the ceremony in Chapel Hill.

174. November 7, 1995 Mike Nelson is elected mayor of CarrboroPolitical milestone · Carrboro

     Michael R. Nelson, then a member of the Carrboro Board of Aldermen, won the mayor's race at the municipal election held on November 7, 1995, becoming the first openly gay mayor elected in North Carolina. The Board approved the Orange County abstract of votes from that election at its meeting of December 5, 1995.

175. November 19, 1995 UNC field hockey wins the 1995 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the 1995 NCAA field hockey title against Maryland.

176. December 5, 1995 Mike Nelson is sworn in as mayor of CarrboroInstitutional milestone · Carrboro

     At the Board of Aldermen meeting of December 5, 1995, outgoing mayor Eleanor Kinnaird gave closing remarks and Mayor-elect Michael R. Nelson took the oath of office, along with aldermen-elect Jay Bryan, Hilliard Caldwell and Alex Zaffron. The Board then appointed Diana McDuffee to the alderman seat Nelson vacated.

177. 1996 Ellie Kinnaird is elected to the North Carolina SenateElection · Orange County

     Kinnaird left the Carrboro mayor's office for the state Senate, where she sat from 1997 until 2013 representing a district that included Orange County. She had earned a law degree from North Carolina Central University while serving as mayor.

178. 1996 Farmers’ Market moves to Town CommonsDated milestone · Carrboro

     The market opened at its new town-center site.

179. 1996 Maple View Farm builds a creamery and begins bottling its own milkDairy farming · Hillsborough

     Maple View Farm, which had begun dairying near Hillsborough in 1963 when Orange County had about 100 dairy farms, built a creamery in 1996 and began bottling milk on the farm in glass bottles in place of selling to a co-op. It opened an ice cream shop in 2000; by 2019 only two dairy farms remained in the county.

180. 1996 RTPnet puts a public Internet computer in the Orange County Public LibraryPublic service · Hillsborough

     The community network RTPnet bought a Pentium PC for $1,746.88 in May 1996 as a public access terminal for the Orange County Public Library in Hillsborough, and by July it was installed running Windows 95 in kiosk mode. In October RTPnet reported the library computer on the Internet through a local provider, with classes being taught.

181. 1996 Squirrel Nut Zippers release Hot on Mammoth RecordsRelease · Carrboro (Mammoth Records)

     The band's second album and its single "Hell" reached the national charts during the swing revival, and Hot went platinum.

182. 1996 UNC women’s soccer wins the 1996 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Notre Dame, 1–0 in two overtimes, in the national final.

183. February 12, 1996 Chapel Hill Town Council recommends site OC-17 beside the Eubanks Road landfill for the next county landfillLaw or policy · Chapel Hill

     After the search narrowed to four sites judged permittable, the council voted 7 to 2 to recommend a reduced site OC-17, adjacent to the existing landfill, as the county's next sanitary landfill. INDY Week reports that the county commissioners and the Hillsborough board also voted for it that month, with Carrboro Mayor Mike Nelson opposed.

184. April 22, 1996 Chapel Hill authorizes buying land beside the landfill to widen its bufferLand acquisition · Eubanks Road landfill

     The council unanimously authorized the town manager to buy the 4.05-acre Wilson property adjoining the Eubanks Road landfill at $6,000 an acre to expand a minimal buffer, subject to approval by Carrboro and Orange County.

185. June 19, 1996 Four governing boards hold a unified public hearing on a new landfill next to the Eubanks Road sitePublic hearing · Chapel Hill

     The Orange County commissioners, Chapel Hill council, Carrboro aldermen and Hillsborough commissioners took comment on site 17 and three alternatives. Neighbours including David Caldwell, Kathy Schinley and Cornelius Kirschner spoke against it, B.B. Olive presented a 39-signature petition, and Frank Emory, representing Duke University, said the poorest residents lived nearest site 17.

186. August 1996 The Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation becomes a tax-exempt nonprofitInstitutional milestone · Orange and Alamance counties

     IRS records list the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, based in Mebane, as a tax-exempt nonprofit since August 1996. The group had taken that name in 1994 and in January 1996 filed to contest the state Commission of Indian Affairs' denial of its petition for recognition.

187. August 20, 1996 East Chapel Hill High School opensBuilding opening · Chapel Hill

     East Chapel Hill High School opened on August 20, 1996, to relieve crowding at Chapel Hill High School, with construction still under way around it. It enrolled grades nine through eleven that first year, most of them transfers from Chapel Hill High, and held an opening celebration on November 17.

188. August 20, 1996 McDougle Elementary School opens on the shared McDougle campusFounding or opening · Carrboro

     McDougle Elementary School, named like the middle school for Charles and Lucille McDougle, opened on August 20, 1996 and shares its campus with McDougle Middle School.

189. September 1996 Chapel Hill building inspectors count homes destroyed and damaged by Hurricane FranDamage assessment · Chapel Hill

     The town's Building Inspection Department reported four homes near Airport Road, Homestead Road and Culbreth Road destroyed, 391 homes with major damage and 222 with minor damage.

190. 1996–1998 Duke Forest closes and salvages timber after Hurricane FranNatural disaster · Duke Forest

     Fran brought down more than 1,400 trees across 35 miles of Duke Forest roads, damaged the Bobby Ross Jr. Memorial Picnic Shelter and a research tower in the Blackwood Division, and kept parts of the forest closed for three to six months. A helicopter crew salvaged about 800,000 board feet from 163 acres within two weeks, and salvage through summer 1998 recovered 2 million board feet from 540 acres, worth about $260,000.

191. September 1996 Orange Regional Landfill takes Hurricane Fran yard waste free as Chapel Hill faces tens of thousands of tons of debrisCleanup · Chapel Hill; Orange Regional Landfill

     The Orange Regional Landfill on Eubanks Road accepted yard waste at no charge until further notice. Town Manager Cal Horton estimated Chapel Hill had 25,000 to 40,000 tons of fallen limbs and trees and said the town would eventually remove curbside debris, while urging residents to haul debris to the landfill themselves.

192. September 5–6, 1996 Hurricane Fran strikes Orange CountyDisaster or violence · Countywide

     Hurricane Fran came ashore on the night of September 5, 1996 and crossed to the Triangle overnight. In Chapel Hill winds topped 70 mph, falling trees caused about 29,000 power outages and UNC cancelled classes, and the Eno at Hillsborough hit a record flow. No one in Orange County was killed.

193. September 6–9, 1996 Hurricane Fran causes about 29,000 power outages in Chapel HillUtility outage · Chapel Hill

     Trees on power lines caused about 29,000 outages in Chapel Hill; more than 12,000 residents were still without electricity on Sunday evening, September 8, and about 10,000 on Monday afternoon. Duke Power had 1,800 workers plus 1,000 on loan from other utilities in the area and expected to restore Chapel Hill by the middle or end of that week.

194. September 6, 1996 Hurricane Fran fells old trees on UNC's north campusNatural disaster · UNC campus, Chapel Hill

     Fran brought down several roughly 200-year-old trees around New West Hall and left North Campus and Cameron Avenue covered in fallen trees, while the Davie Poplar survived. University power came back within hours, and Sitterson Hall opened as a place for people to recharge batteries, get ice and water and shower.

195. September 6–10, 1996 Mayor Rosemary Waldorf declares a state of emergency in Chapel Hill after Hurricane FranEmergency declaration · Chapel Hill

     Waldorf declared a town state of emergency on Friday, September 6, because of storm damage and power outages, and residents were urged to stay home; UNC cancelled Friday classes at 3 a.m. She partially lifted the emergency at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, September 10, keeping it in force where utility crews were still working.

196. September 6–9, 1996 OWASA issues a boil-water advisory after Hurricane Fran knocks out its pumpingUtility outage · Chapel Hill; Carrboro

     The Orange Water and Sewer Authority told Chapel Hill and Carrboro customers to boil water from Friday evening, September 6, after its University Lake pump station lost power and the system lost pressure, and the wastewater plant flooded. The advisory was lifted at 1:50 p.m. Monday, September 9, after lab tests found no contamination; the area drew emergency water from Durham, and a conservation order was lifted soon after.

197. September 6, 1996 The Eno River at Hillsborough reaches its highest recorded flow during Hurricane FranFlood · Eno River, Hillsborough

     The USGS gauge on the Eno River at Hillsborough recorded a peak of 10,800 cubic feet per second at a gauge height of 21.13 feet, the largest peak in its record until Tropical Storm Chantal in July 2025.

198. September 11, 1996 UNC suspends afternoon classes for a campuswide Hurricane Fran cleanupCampus event · UNC campus, Chapel Hill

     Chancellor Michael Hooker suspended classes from noon on Wednesday so students, faculty and staff could clear storm debris. Nearly 1,000 students reported to the Old Well within the first hour, working with University forester Kirk Pelland's crews, and Coker Arboretum staff expected their cleanup to run into the winter.

199. September 12, 1996 A 70-foot oak weakened by Hurricane Fran falls on Venable HallCampus event · Venable Hall, UNC campus, Chapel Hill

     A 70-foot white oak fell against Venable Hall at about 2:10 p.m., damaging handrails on the building's steps; no one was hurt. University forester Kirk Pelland said Fran's winds and Wednesday's heavy rain had left many old campus trees at risk, and Executive Vice Chancellor Elson Floyd asked people to report damaged trees to the Grounds Division.

200. September 17, 1996 Carrboro aldermen take up a tree-cutter registration plan after Hurricane Fran scamsLaw or policy · Carrboro

     The Board of Aldermen discussed asking tree removal workers to identify themselves at town hall before starting work, after Mayor Mike Nelson cited a resident who paid $800 in advance to remove Fran-felled trees and the workers did not return. Staff were to bring a formal proposal to the next meeting.

201. November 24, 1996 UNC field hockey wins the 1996 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the 1996 NCAA field hockey title against Princeton.

202. November 26, 1996 UNC Housekeepers’ settlement is reachedLabor agreement · Chapel Hill

     UNC administrators and leaders of the UNC Housekeepers Association signed a mediated agreement on November 26, 1996, meant to end the housekeepers' 5 1/2-year-old discrimination suit. Housekeepers had approved it 212 to 1; it included back pay for about 340 workers, a career training program and regular meetings with administrators.

203. 1997 Assembly of Governments agrees compensation items for neighbors of the landfillAgreement · Orange County

     Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro met as an Assembly of Governments in 1997 to take up benefits for people living near the Orange Regional Landfill and agreed a set of compensation items. In 2007 Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton wrote that not all of them had been carried out.

204. 1997–1999 Occaneechi Band members build a replica village on the Eno in HillsboroughBuilding opening · Hillsborough, Eno River

     Tribal members led by John "Blackfeather" Jeffries built a replica of the palisaded Occaneechi village beside the Eno River in Hillsborough, modelled on the site excavated by UNC archaeologists. The village fell into disrepair and was dismantled in 2003.

205. 1997–1999 Occoneechee Mountain becomes a State Natural AreaPreservation or planning · Hillsborough

     At the urging of the Eno River Association and The Nature Conservancy, the state began buying land on Occoneechee Mountain just south of Hillsborough, with the Conservancy purchasing 96 acres for the state. The 124-acre Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area was dedicated on July 20, 1999, with a blessing from an Occaneechi tribal member.

206. By 1997 Orange County Public Library offers English as a second language classesPublic service · Hillsborough; Carrboro

     By December 1997 the library held a Saturday English as a second language class in Hillsborough and English conversation and beginning English classes at the Carrboro Branch Library, run by an ESL coordinator. A 1999 statewide article said the library had started ESL tutoring and a conversation group several years before and that demand led the county to fund a full-time coordinator.

207. 1997 Orange County chooses to keep expanding the Eubanks Road landfill instead of opening a new sitePlanning decision · Eubanks Road landfill

     With site OC-17 blocked, the county announced it would expand the existing landfill rather than close it. A new construction and demolition landfill was later built on the north side of Eubanks Road.

208. 1997 UNC women’s soccer wins the 1997 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Connecticut, 2–0, in the national final.

209. 1997–2004 Valerie Foushee is elected to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school boardElection · Chapel Hill

     Foushee was elected to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro city schools board in 1997 and served until 2004, pressing for equity in the schools. It was the first of the local offices she held over 25 years in local and state government.

210. May 20, 1997 Mary Claire Engstrom diesDeath · Hillsborough

     Mary Claire Engstrom, born in Kansas City in 1906, died on May 20, 1997. She had lived in Hillsborough and continued her historical research there until her death.

211. June 3, 1997 Mayor Mike Nelson proclaims June Lesbian and Gay Pride Month in CarrboroProclamation · Carrboro

     At the Board of Aldermen meeting of June 3, 1997, Mayor Michael Nelson issued a proclamation naming June Lesbian and Gay Pride Month in the Town of Carrboro.

212. July 1997 Charles Kuralt is buried in the Old Chapel Hill CemeteryDeath and burial · Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, Chapel Hill

     Kuralt died on July 4, 1997 and was buried on the UNC campus in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery. About 1,600 people attended a memorial service in Memorial Hall, where Hugh Morton and William C. Friday spoke.

213. July 1997 Disney buys Carrboro's Mammoth RecordsBusiness milestone · Carrboro

     The Walt Disney Company announced its purchase of the Carrboro-based independent label for about $25 million, and founder Jay Faires signed a long-term employment contract.

214. July 7, 1997 Chapel Hill approves digging on the Neville Tract to build new landfill cellsLand use permit · Neville Tract, Eubanks Road

     The council voted 9 to 0 for a special use permit letting the Orange Regional Landfill take earth from the Neville Tract to build containment cells and for daily cover, with access across landfill property to Eubanks Road. Work was to begin by 1999 and end by 2007.

215. October 13, 1997 Duke University easement to NASA stalls landfill candidate site OC-17Institutional milestone · Chapel Hill

     Chapel Hill's manager reported that Duke University had filed an easement in favor of NASA on candidate site OC-17, leaving the towns unable to test the land. The council voted 8 to 0 to have the town attorney write to the U.S. Attorney and called an Assembly of Governments for October 22, 1997.

216. November 23, 1997 UNC field hockey wins the 1997 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the 1997 NCAA field hockey title against Old Dominion.

217. 1998 General Assembly creates the UNC Health Care SystemLaw or policy · Chapel Hill

     Legislation in 1998 created the UNC Health Care System, bringing UNC Hospitals and the clinical work of the School of Medicine under one entity.

218. 1998 Project HomeStart opensDated milestone · Chapel Hill

     Project HomeStart, transitional housing for homeless families on Homestead Road, opened in 1998 as a joint project of the Inter-Faith Council and the Orange County/Durham Coalition for Battered Women. By October it housed five families; it now runs as IFC's HomeStart shelter for women and families.

219. January 28 – September 17, 1998 The University Laundry is renamed for housekeeping leaders Kennon Cheek and Rebecca ClarkNaming · Cheek-Clark Building, UNC

     On January 28, 1998 the trustees voted to rename the 1920s University Laundry for Kennon Cheek and Rebecca Clark, who led campus housekeepers in the 1930s and 1940s. The building was rededicated on September 17, 1998.

220. June 15, 1998 Northside Gymnasium opens at Hargraves ParkBuilding opening · Chapel Hill

     Chapel Hill's Northside Gymnasium at William H. Hargraves Park, beside the Hargraves Center on North Roberson Street, opened to the public on June 15, 1998. Construction began April 21, 1997, paid for in part with parks bonds voters approved in November 1996, and the gym was dedicated on September 16, 1998.

221. July 2, 1998 Chapel Hill sets conditions for new solid waste sites before handing control to the countyLaw or policy · Chapel Hill

     The council unanimously directed its Landfill Owners Group members to secure a construction and demolition waste site by fall 1998, naming land on the north side of Eubanks Road next to the landfill, with eminent domain if needed, and the Greene Tract as options. It said pending solid waste issues had to be settled before any change in governance.

222. August 6, 1998 Dr. Arch Jordan House is listed in the National RegisterPreservation action · Caldwell

     The National Park Service listed the Dr. Arch Jordan House at 7015 NC 57 in Caldwell in the National Register of Historic Places on August 6, 1998, for architecture and social history. The Italianate house, built between 1875 and 1885 and home to physician Arch Jordan until 1905, served as a manse for three churches from 1905 to 1929.

223. October 12, 1998 Chapel Hill backs countywide funding to extend water lines to the Rogers Road neighborhoodLaw or policy · Rogers Road, Chapel Hill

     By a 7 to 2 vote the council said water service lines for the community around the landfill should be paid for from a countywide revenue source so that all county residents share the cost, and opposed using the sales tax for those benefits.

224. December 7, 1998 Administrative law judge recommends state recognition of the Occaneechi BandCourt case · Alamance and Orange counties

     After a contested case hearing that ran from February 1997 to July 1998, an administrative law judge recommended that the Commission of Indian Affairs grant the Occaneechi Band tribal recognition.

225. 1999 Community Land Trust in Orange County is incorporatedFounding or opening · Orange County

     Local activists and governments incorporated the Community Land Trust in Orange County to keep homes permanently affordable through ground leases.

226. 1999–November 2009 El Centro Latino serves Latino residents from CarrboroFounding or opening · Douglas Building, Main Street, Carrboro

     El Centro Latino, incorporated in 1999, provided educational and social services, advocacy and cultural activities for Latinos in and around Orange County from Carrboro. It closed the day before Thanksgiving 2009 after funding losses and eight executive directors in ten years.

227. 1999–2011 Joal Hall Broun joins the Carrboro Board of AldermenElection · Carrboro

     In early 1999 Joal Hall Broun, an assistant public defender, was appointed to fill out the term of the late Alderman Hank Anderson, and she won election to the board that fall. She served on the board until 2011.

228. 1999 The solid waste interlocal agreement set 60 acres of the Greene Tract aside as Headwaters PreserveLaw or policy · Greene Tract

     The 1999 Solid Waste Management Interlocal Agreement set the terms for disposing of the 104 acres that stayed in joint ownership and allowed 60 acres to be deeded to Orange County, which became the Headwaters Preserve. In 2002 the three governments adopted a resolution identifying acreage on the joint portion for preservation and affordable housing.

229. 1999 UNC women’s soccer wins the 1999 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Notre Dame, 2–0, in the national final.

230. 1999 Willie Scroggs is UNC's point person for the 1999 Special Olympics World Summer GamesEvent management · Chapel Hill

     As an athletics administrator Scroggs was the university's point person for the Special Olympics World Summer Games, part of which were held in Chapel Hill.

231. June 29, 1999 Chancellor Michael Hooker dies in officeDeath · Chapel Hill

     Hooker was chief administrative officer at Chapel Hill from July 1, 1995 until his death on June 29, 1999. He was found to have lymphoma in January 1999 and took medical leave from April, when William O. McCoy served as acting chancellor.

232. July 1999 Hilliard Caldwell announces he will not seek another term as a Carrboro aldermanRetirement from office · Carrboro

     Caldwell said he would not run again and named controlled growth as the board's major achievement. The Daily Tar Heel counted 16 years of service under four Carrboro mayors.

233. July 11, 1999 Commission of Indian Affairs rejects the judge's recommendation and denies Occaneechi recognitionCourt case · Orange County

     At a June 11, 1999 hearing the Commission of Indian Affairs voted against the administrative law judge's recommendation, and on July 11 it issued a Final Agency Decision denying the petition. The band appealed to Orange County Superior Court on August 16, 1999, which affirmed the denial.

234. September 13, 1999 Chapel Hill lets Orange County commissioners pick the next construction and demolition landfill siteLaw or policy · Chapel Hill

     With the existing construction and demolition landfill expected to fill by summer 2000, the council voted 9 to 0 to let the Board of Commissioners select an in-county replacement site on its behalf, citing time pressure and the expected transfer of solid waste authority to the county.

235. 2000 2000 census counts the Hispanic or Latino population of Orange County, Carrboro and Chapel HillCensus count · Orange County

     The 2000 census counted 5,273 Hispanic or Latino residents in Orange County (4.5% of 118,227), 2,062 in Carrboro (12.3% of 16,782) and 1,506 in the Orange County part of Chapel Hill (3.2% of 46,798). Census Bureau report PHC-1-35, Table 3.

236. 2000 Census counts Orange County residents working in Durham County inCommuting statistic · Orange County

     Of 60,860 employed Orange County residents in Census 2000, 16,470 (about 27 percent) worked in Durham County, 35,053 worked in Orange County and 4,212 worked in Wake County.

237. 2000 Census counts Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro inCensus statistic · Orange County

     Census 2000 counted 118,227 people in Orange County, 46,798 in the Orange County part of Chapel Hill and 16,782 in Carrboro, according to the county's published table.

238. 2000 UNC women’s soccer wins the 2000 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated UCLA, 2–1, in the national final.

239. 2000–2001 County Library Services Task Force recommends expanding library service across Orange CountyLaw or policy · Orange County

     In June 2000 the Board of Commissioners created a 14-member Library Services Task Force to study county library service. Its 2001 report recommended raising library funding to the state per-capita average, starting library projects in the northern and southern parts of the county together, building an Orange County heritage center, and offering Internet-based library service in the Carrboro Century Center.

240. June 2000 The land trust sells its first home, in CarrboroInstitutional milestone · Carrboro

     The first land trust home was sold in June 2000 in Carrboro. By then the organization had helped create nearly 100 affordable housing opportunities in Chapel Hill.

241. 2000 Orange County and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools put the McDougle branch library under contractLaw or policy · Carrboro

     A contract between Orange County and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Board of Education made the public library in the McDougle schools a branch of the Orange County Public Library, with a county-employed branch librarian. The schools provided space and utilities, the county paid for furnishings, insurance, janitorial service and staff stipends, and branch hours were not to overlap school hours.

242. 2001 Land trust and housing corporation merge as the Orange Community Housing and Land TrustInstitutional milestone · Orange County

     The Community Land Trust in Orange County merged with the Orange Community Housing Corporation under the name Orange Community Housing and Land Trust. It reached 100 homes in 2005 and 230 by 2014.

243. 2001–2009 Mark Kleinschmidt serves on the Chapel Hill Town CouncilOffice · Chapel Hill

     Kleinschmidt was elected to the Chapel Hill Town Council in 2001 and served until 2009. He was executive director of the Fair Trial Initiative and a former board president of the state ACLU affiliate.

244. 2001 North Carolina Children's and Women's Hospitals openBuilding opening · Chapel Hill

     UNC Hospitals opened freestanding women's and children's hospitals in 2001. The Women's Hospital houses labor and delivery, operating rooms and ambulatory clinics, and the Children's Hospital holds a 58-bed newborn intensive care nursery.

245. 2001 Orange County purchases Blackwood FarmPreservation action · Blackwood Farm

     Orange County purchased the 152-acre farm from Nannie and Mary Blackwood.

246. 2001–2007 Penny Rich is appointed to the OWASA boardAppointment · Orange County

     Chapel Hill appointed Rich to the Orange Water and Sewer Authority board in 2001, and she served two three-year terms through 2007. She helped write water conservation policy during a severe drought.

247. 2001 UNC's School of Law founds the Center for Civil Rights with Julius Chambers as its first directorInstitution founded · Chapel Hill

     The UNC School of Law established the Center for Civil Rights in Chapel Hill in 2001, with Julius Chambers as its first director, Dean Gene Nichol, and John Charles Boger as deputy director. The center worked on inequalities facing minority and low-income communities.

248. February 2001 Hyconeechee Regional Library receives a Gates Foundation grant for public computersInstitutional milestone · Hillsborough

     The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation committed $58,581 to Hyconeechee Regional Library in Hillsborough to expand public access to computers and the Internet.

249. August 21, 2001 NC Court of Appeals rules the Occaneechi recognition recommendation standsCourt case · Orange County

     The Court of Appeals reversed the Orange County Superior Court and held that because the Commission of Indian Affairs missed its statutory deadline, the administrative law judge's recommendation for recognition became the final agency decision by operation of law. It remanded the case for an order consistent with that holding.

250. October 3, 2001 Town Council approves UNC's main-campus Development Plan under OI-4 zoningLaw or policy · UNC main campus, Chapel Hill

     The Chapel Hill Town Council approved the university's Development Plan covering 582 acres of the main campus in the Office/Institutional-4 district, proposing 41 new buildings, 8 parking decks and new roads, about 5.9 million square feet in all, to carry out the 2001 Campus Master Plan.

251. December 16, 2001 UNC men’s soccer wins the 2001 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Indiana to win the 2001 NCAA men’s soccer championship.

252. 2002 Harvey Beech receives the General Alumni Association's Distinguished Service MedalHonor or award · Chapel Hill

     The General Alumni Association awarded Beech its Distinguished Service Medal in 2002. The citation, read at the Annual Alumni Luncheon, called him the inspiration behind the Black Alumni Reunion and noted the scholarship endowment he set up at the university.

253. 2002 North Carolina recognizes the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi NationLaw or policy · Orange and Alamance counties

     Following the 2001 appeals ruling, the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation became the eighth tribe officially recognized by the State of North Carolina through the Commission of Indian Affairs.

254. 2002 Occaneechi Homeland Preservation Project beginsPreservation action · Orange and Alamance counties

     In 2002, the year North Carolina recognized the tribe, the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation began buying back ancestral land through the Occaneechi Homeland Preservation Project. Its first purchase, a 25-acre parcel in Alamance County, followed in 2004, and a later phase funded by the NC Tobacco Trust Fund planned heritage farms linked to the tribe's reconstructed 1680 village.

255. 2002 Orange County agrees to build a new construction and demolition landfill tied to a recycling ordinanceLaw or policy · Eubanks Road landfill

     Because the construction and demolition landfill on Eubanks Road would fill around 2003, the Board of Commissioners agreed to build a new one only if certain bulky materials had to be recycled. The Regulated Recyclable Materials Ordinance took effect on October 1, 2002.

256. January 2, 2002 Chapel Hill Transit becomes fare-freeCarrboro

     Chapel Hill Transit stopped charging fares on January 2, 2002, and added 11 buses and new routes. Under the funding agreement, UNC paid about 40 percent of the cost and Chapel Hill and Carrboro split the rest by population.

257. May 2, 2002 Holden-Roberts Farm is listed in the National RegisterPreservation action · Rural Orange County

     The National Park Service listed the Holden-Roberts Farm near Hillsborough in the National Register of Historic Places on May 2, 2002, for architecture and agriculture. The district centers on a Reconstruction-era farmhouse of about 1873, and in 2020 a conservation easement protected 57 acres of the farm on St. Mary's Road.

258. May 2, 2002 Occoneechee Speedway is listed in the National RegisterPreservation or planning · Hillsborough

     The 44-acre Occoneechee Speedway site near Hillsborough, acquired by preservationists from the France and Staley families in 1997, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on May 2, 2002. It is the only surviving dirt track from NASCAR's inaugural 1949 season.

259. 2003 Historic Occoneechee Speedway trail opens to the publicPreservation action · Hillsborough

     A public walking trail opened in 2003 on the Occoneechee Speedway site near Hillsborough, crossing the surviving clay oval of the old NASCAR track. The landowner, the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust (later the Jenrette Foundation), built it with the volunteer Historic Speedway Group.

260. 2003 Holy Family Catholic Church in Hillsborough holds its first Spanish MassCongregation · Hillsborough

     Holy Family parish in Hillsborough, which had grown from about 107 families in 1986 to about 250 in 1999, celebrated its first Spanish Mass in 2003 as Latino members joined the congregation. By 2012 the parish counted about 680 families and held a Sunday Spanish Mass alongside its three other services.

261. 2003–2005 Mark Chilton serves on the Carrboro Board of AldermenOffice · Carrboro

     Chilton moved to Carrboro and sat on the Board of Aldermen from 2003 to 2005, the seat from which he ran for mayor. He was working as an attorney and a broker and living in downtown Carrboro.

262. 2003 Orange County Public Library moves its catalog to the Polaris systemInstitutional milestone · Orange County

     The library replaced its Galaxy automation system with Polaris. County budgets later list remote access to the online catalog and to patrons' own library accounts through Polaris.

263. 2003–2004 Town forms the Horace Williams Citizens Committee to shape review of the tractLaw or policy · Horace Williams tract, Chapel Hill

     Chapel Hill formed the Horace Williams Citizens Committee in 2003 to advise on development proposals for the university's Horace Williams tract, and the Town Council adopted the committee's March 2004 final report as town policy.

264. 2003–2007 UNC Health Care expands Interpreter Services as Spanish-speaking patients increaseInstitutional milestone · UNC Hospitals, Chapel Hill

     After a 2003 summary on the state of Hispanic health was presented to the UNC Health Care executive board, the system added Interpreter Services resources from 2003 to 2007. UNC Hospitals handled nearly 40,000 interpreter consults in 2005-2006.

265. April 14, 2003 Roy Williams is named head coach of UNC men's basketballAppointment · Dean E. Smith Center, Chapel Hill

     Williams left Kansas a week after losing the NCAA championship game and was introduced in Chapel Hill as UNC's head coach, succeeding Matt Doherty.

266. May 20, 2003 General Assembly writes Occaneechi recognition into state lawLaw or policy · Little Texas community, Alamance County

     Session Law 2003-54 (House Bill 746), ratified May 19 and signed May 20, 2003, added G.S. 71A-7.2 designating the Indians of the Little Texas settlement in Pleasant Grove Township as the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation of North Carolina. The same act recognized the Meherrin Tribe and updated the Lumbee statute.

267. November 20, 2003 Orange County votes to extend health benefits to domestic partnersLaw or policy · Countywide

     At a November 20, 2003, work session, the Orange County commissioners voted unanimously to extend employee health benefits to domestic partners. The county's insurance trust could not add them for January 2004, so the county budgeted the cost in 2004 and coverage for partners of county employees began January 1, 2005.

268. December 7, 2003 UNC women’s soccer wins the 2003 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Connecticut, 6–0, in the national final.

269. 2004 Occaneechi Band buys 25 acres for its tribal groundsLand acquisition · Little Texas community, Alamance County

     The band bought a 25-acre tract of former tobacco farmland near Dailey Store Road in northeastern Alamance County, the first land it had held as a tribe in over two centuries. The site became its ceremonial ground, open-air museum and tribal center.

270. 2004 UNC School of Medicine starts CAMPOS to train Spanish-speaking physiciansFounding or opening · Chapel Hill

     Marco Alemán and colleagues founded the Comprehensive Advanced Medical Program of Spanish in 2004 to prepare medical students to care for Spanish-speaking patients without relying on interpreters. Its first class graduated in 2008, and students do yearly service with Spanish-speaking communities.

271. 2004–2012 Valerie Foushee is elected to the Orange County Board of CommissionersElection · Orange County

     Foushee served on the Orange County Board of Commissioners from 2004 to 2012. Her official House biography says she was the first African American woman to chair the county commission.

272. 2004 Second library task force calls for a new main library of 30,000 to 65,000 square feetLaw or policy · Hillsborough

     A second Library Services Task Force, appointed in January 2004, recommended building a centrally located main library of 30,000 to 65,000 square feet sized for 2025 population estimates, a southwest branch in Carrboro combining the McDougle branch and the Cybrary, and an Orange County heritage center.

273. February 17, 2004 Robert Campbell petitioned Chapel Hill for bus service to the Rogers Road neighborhoodPetition · Rogers Road

     Minister Robert Campbell asked the Chapel Hill council to extend free transit service to the Rogers Road community, noting that it lacked sidewalks and sewer service and that children walked along the landfill's heavy truck route. He suggested rerouting underused Airport Road buses.

274. February 23, 2004 Chapel Hill enacts the Northside neighborhood conservation districtLaw or policy · Northside, Chapel Hill

     After residents asked for protection from student-rental conversions, the council enacted the town's first neighborhood conservation district, a zoning overlay limiting house size and height in Northside. An advisory committee drafted it through 2003 before a January 21, 2004 public hearing.

275. April 21, 2004 Cedar Grove Branch Library opens in northern Orange CountyFounding or opening · Cedar Grove

     Orange County opened the Cedar Grove Branch Library in two rooms of the Northern Human Services Center, a former school, to serve Cedar Grove and northern Orange. Budgets describe books, Spanish-language materials, children's and adult programs, computer classes and materials borrowed from other regional libraries.

276. April 24, 2004 UNC dedicates the William E. Scroggs locker room at Kenan StadiumNaming · Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill

     Lacrosse alumni and the Educational Foundation paid to refurbish the men's lacrosse locker room at the old Kenan Field House, and it was dedicated in Scroggs's name before lacrosse alumni and fans.

277. August 20–23, 2004 The Sonja Haynes Stone Center celebrates its grand openingBuilding opening · Chapel Hill

     After more than a decade of organizing, the freestanding Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History opened in Coker Woods with a four-day celebration. A Friday candlelight procession from the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery preceded Saturday's dedication by Chancellor James Moeser before more than 500 guests.

278. August 30, 2004 The Carrboro Cybrary opens in the Century CenterFounding or opening · Carrboro

     The Cybrary, a branch of the Orange County Public Library focused on computer and Internet access, opened in Room 5 of the Carrboro Century Center with five computer stations, current books and a paperback exchange. The Town of Carrboro provided the space. It closed on January 31, 2025, when its services moved to the Southern Branch Library.

279. September 29, 2004 WCOM community radio begins broadcastingBroadcast milestone · Carrboro

     WCOM, a 100-watt low-power FM community station run by the nonprofit Public Gallery of Carrboro, first went on the air at 103.5 FM from Carrboro at 11:27 p.m. on September 29, 2004. Its founders included Jacques Menache and Ruffin Slater, and it first broadcast from a building at Weaver and Greensboro streets.

280. November 5, 2004 A Charlie Justice monument is dedicated at UNC's Kenan Football CenterMonument dedication · Kenan Football Center, Chapel Hill

     A bronze sculpture of Justice in his number 22 uniform, 8 feet 6 inches tall, was dedicated at the west entrance of the Frank H. Kenan Football Center near the Sonja Haynes Stone Center. Private donations paid for it, and it was proposed by his teammate Joe Neikirk with Charlie Loudermilk and Hugh Morton.

281. 2005 Carrboro formed the New Horizons task force for the Rogers Road areaInstitutional milestone · Carrboro

     Carrboro created the New Horizons task force to serve residents of the Rogers Road area it was annexing. The town's Rogers Road sidewalk and bus stop project, begun in 2018, grew out of the task force's work.

282. 2005–2015 El Futuro runs a bilingual mental health clinic in CarrboroFounding or opening · Carrboro

     El Futuro, a Latino mental health nonprofit started by psychiatrist Luke Smith, opened a Carrboro office in 2005, a year after its Siler City clinic. The Carrboro location closed in 2015 for lack of funding.

283. 2005–2013 Mark Chilton serves four terms as mayor of CarrboroOffice · Carrboro

     Chilton was mayor of Carrboro from 2005 to 2013. Supporters held a roast in October 2013 to mark the end of his fourth term and about twenty years in local office.

284. 2005 Occaneechi Band establishes a permanent ceremonial ground on its new landFounding or opening · Little Texas community, Alamance County

     The band established a permanent ceremonial ground on the Alamance County tract, which later hosted its powwow and its annual School Days for area students.

285. 2005 Randee Haven-O'Donnell is elected to the Carrboro Board of AldermenElection · Carrboro

     After serving on the Carrboro Planning Board and other town advisory boards, Haven-O'Donnell won a seat on the Board of Aldermen in 2005, the first of five consecutive terms. She had moved to Carrboro in 1978 and taught in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.

286. Fiscal year 2005–2006 Refugees from Burma are among the first recorded direct arrivals in Orange CountyMigration and resettlement · Orange County

     Orange County Health Department figures record 19 refugee direct arrivals in fiscal year 2005-2006, from Burma, Cuba and Iran. At the time one resettlement agency, Lutheran Family Services, served the Triangle.

287. April 4, 2005 UNC men’s basketball wins the 2005 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Illinois, 75–70, to win the national title.

288. June 27, 2005 Chapel Hill council took up how to carry out a Rogers Road small area planPlanning milestone · Chapel Hill

     Under a 2002 resolution adopted jointly by Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro, Chapel Hill had agreed to plan the residential area west of the Greene Tract around Rogers and Purefoy roads, including an affordable housing site. The manager recommended starting after four neighborhood conservation districts were finished, with the Planning Board leading.

289. October 12, 2005 – February 28, 2006 UNC Libraries opens the exhibit Slavery and the Making of the UniversityExhibition · Wilson Library, UNC

     University archivists mounted an exhibit on the enslaved and free Black people who built and served the early university, including cabinetmaker Thomas Day and poet George Moses Horton.

290. November 5, 2005 The Unsung Founders Memorial is dedicated in McCorkle PlaceMemorial · McCorkle Place, UNC

     The Class of 2002's gift, a black granite table held up by 300 bronze figures by artist Do-Ho Suh, honors the people of color, bond and free, who helped build the university.

291. December 6, 2005 Mike Nelson presides over his last meeting as mayor of CarrboroLocal government · Carrboro Town Hall

     At the December 6, 2005 meeting the Board of Aldermen approved the November 8 election results, in which Mark Chilton defeated Alex Zaffron for mayor, 1,337 to 776, and outgoing Mayor Michael Nelson gave his parting comments.

292. 2006 Carrboro annexed subdivisions on the west side of Rogers RoadAnnexation · Carrboro

     Carrboro annexed six subdivisions north of Homestead Road, including Fox Meadow and Highlands, bringing part of the Rogers Road area inside town limits. In September 2004 the aldermen had voted 6 to 1 to go ahead even though the historic neighborhood had asked the two towns to move their annexation boundary so the community would not be split.

293. 2006–2007 Joal Hall Broun serves as Carrboro's mayor pro temInstitutional milestone · Carrboro

     Town budget documents for fiscal years 2006-07 and 2007-08 list Alderman Joal Hall Broun as mayor pro tempore, serving under Mayor Mark Chilton.

294. 2006–2009 Mike Nelson serves on the Orange County Board of CommissionersElected office · Orange County

     Nelson placed third of seven candidates in the May 2, 2006 primary for three county commissioner seats and went on the November ballot; his papers date his service as a commissioner to 2006 through 2009.

295. 2006 OWASA gives Daniel Okun a lifetime achievement awardAward · Orange County

     The Orange Water and Sewer Authority gave Okun a lifetime achievement award in 2006; the school credits him with leading the campaign to build the Cane Creek Dam and Reservoir in the 1980s.

296. Fiscal year 2006–2007 Refugees from Burma begin arriving in Orange County in larger numbersMigration and resettlement · Orange County

     All 55 refugee direct arrivals recorded in Orange County in fiscal year 2006-2007 came from Burma. A second resettlement agency, the Triangle office of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, opened.

297. 2006 UNC's Latino Migration Project begins the New Roots/Nuevas Raíces oral history initiativeInstitutional milestone · University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

     The Latino Migration Project at UNC-Chapel Hill began New Roots/Nuevas Raíces to record stories of Latino migration, settlement and integration in North Carolina, with interviews archived through the Southern Oral History Program and University Libraries. The project has collected over 200 interviews, adding about 20 a year.

298. March 22, 2006 UNC's Campus Master Plan update is approvedInstitutional milestone · UNC main campus, Chapel Hill

     The update to the 2001 Campus Master Plan found about half of the 2001 plan's sites under construction or in design, with over six million square feet of new buildings under way, and put remaining main-campus capacity at about 4.5 million square feet; it planned residence halls to replace Odum Village on South Campus.

299. May 16, 2006 Carrboro aldermen bar police arrests based solely on civil immigration violationsLaw or policy · Carrboro

     The Carrboro Board of Aldermen unanimously adopted Resolution No. 123/2005-06, making it police policy not to arrest or take into custody anyone solely because they have or may have committed a civil immigration violation. The board had asked the town attorney to research the question on April 18, 2006.

300. June 12, 2006 Chapel Hill enacts the Pine Knolls neighborhood conservation districtLaw or policy · Pine Knolls, Chapel Hill

     The council voted 9-0 to adopt Ordinance O-7 creating the Pine Knolls district, which bans new duplexes, caps floor area at 2,500 square feet and reduces front-yard parking. The Greenwood and Kings Mill/Morgan Creek districts were adopted the same night.

301. December 3, 2006 UNC women’s soccer wins the 2006 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Notre Dame, 2–1, in the national final.

302. Fiscal year 2007–2008 Arrivals from Burma to Orange County increase sharplyMigration and resettlement · Orange County

     Orange County recorded 255 refugee direct arrivals in fiscal year 2007-2008, from Burma, Iran and Colombia, the highest annual figure in the 2005-2017 series. A third resettlement agency, the Triangle office of World Relief, opened.

303. About 2007 Hannah Gill founds the Latino Migration Project at UNCOrganization founded · Chapel Hill

     Gill started the Latino Migration Project at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to improve public understanding of Latin American migration to North Carolina. The project describes itself as an initiative of INSITE Latin America and the Caribbean.

304. Fiscal year 2007–2008 Orange County Health Department starts an Immigrant and Refugee Health ProgramInstitutional milestone · Orange County

     During the sharp rise in arrivals from Burma, the Orange County Health Department initiated an Immigrant and Refugee Health Program. The 2018 report found Karen and Burmese were the two refugee languages most requested by the department's patients.

305. 2007 Residents founded the Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood AssociationFounding or opening · Rogers Road

     About 85 households founded RENA as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, putting a long-running informal community alliance on a formal footing. RENA went on to organize the Coalition to End Environmental Racism and to run the neighborhood's community center.

306. 2007 Rogers–Eubanks Coalition to End Environmental Racism organizesFounding or opening · Countywide

     Residents of the Rogers Road and Eubanks Road neighborhood formed the Rogers-Eubanks Coalition to End Environmental Racism in 2007. At the September 20, 2007 Assembly of Governments meeting, member Neloa Jones asked officials to drop the neighborhood as a transfer station site, end solid-waste operations there by November 2009, and provide water and sewer service.

307. 2007 St. Joseph CME Church and UNC begin the Northside oral history partnershipFounding or opening · Northside, Chapel Hill

     Rev. Troy Harrison and UNC professor Della Pollock began collecting oral histories in Northside, the project that grew into the Marian Cheek Jackson Center.

308. 2007 St. Paul AME Church bought land on Rogers Road for a new church campusLand purchase · Rogers Road and Purefoy Drive, Chapel Hill

     The Chapel Hill congregation bought more than 22 acres for a worship complex with a banquet hall, wellness center, daycare, senior and affordable housing, athletic fields and a cemetery. The land, at Rogers Road and Purefoy Drive, became the site of the planned St. Paul Village.

309. March 2007 Orange County commissioners vote to put a waste transfer station at the Eubanks Road landfillLaw or policy · Eubanks Road landfill

     The board voted unanimously to develop a solid waste transfer station at the landfill site, following its Solid Waste Advisory Board's recommendation, over objections from Rogers Road residents. The landfill was then expected to fill in 2010.

310. May 2007 Orange County's Museum and Historical Society MergeInstitutional milestone · Hillsborough

     In May 2007 the Orange County Historical Museum, founded by the Hillsborough Garden Club in 1957, merged with the Hillsborough Historical Society to form the Historical Foundation of Hillsborough and Orange County, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The News of Orange reported the merger in its June 20, 2007 issue.

311. June 26, 2007 Carrboro rewrites its density bonus for affordable housingLaw or policy · Carrboro

     Section 15-182.4 of Carrboro's Land Use Ordinance sets a goal that at least 15 percent of units in new residential developments be affordable and offers density bonuses or payments in lieu to meet it. The section was rewritten on June 26, 2007.

312. FY 2007–08 County library begins offering downloadable videosInstitutional milestone · Orange County

     The FY 2007-08 county budget added funds for MyLibraryDV, letting regional library patrons download videos in the library or on their own computers.

313. August 27, 2007 Carrboro High School opensBuilding opening · Carrboro

     Carrboro High School on Rock Haven Road was dedicated with a ribbon-cutting on August 23, 2007, and began classes on August 27 with more than 600 students under principal Jeff Thomas. The Carrboro Citizen called it the town's first high school.

314. September 26, 2007 UNC trustees approve the Carolina North planInstitutional milestone · Horace Williams tract, Chapel Hill

     The Board of Trustees approved a plan for Carolina North on the Horace Williams tract, later submitted to the town with the 2009 rezoning application; the trustees adopted Carolina North design guidelines on November 19, 2008.

315. November 2007 Carrboro adopts an anti-lingering ordinance at the Jones Ferry and Davie roads day-labor cornerLaw or policy · Jones Ferry Road and Davie Road, Carrboro

     After neighbors complained about conditions at the corner where day laborers, many of them Latino, waited for contractors, the Board of Aldermen approved an ordinance barring waiting at the intersection of Jones Ferry and Davie roads from 11 a.m. to 5 a.m. In September 2007 the board had also approved an action plan and a motion to create a designated space for day laborers.

316. November 2007 Lydia Lavelle is elected to the Carrboro Board of AldermenElection · Carrboro

     In her first run for office Lavelle led the field of aldermen candidates with 1,656 votes, about 25 percent, ahead of two-term incumbent Joal Hall Broun and Dan Coleman. She lived in the northern part of town Carrboro had recently annexed, and Mayor Mark Chilton read her first-place finish as a sign that voters were ready to move past the annexation fight.

317. November 5, 2007 Commissioners reopen the search for a transfer station siteInstitutional milestone · Orange County

     After Rogers Road residents and the Coalition to End Environmental Racism pressed the county, the Board of Commissioners announced it would reopen its search for a transfer station site. Eubanks Road stayed on the list while consultant Olver Inc. drew up siting criteria.

318. November 18, 2007 UNC field hockey wins the 2007 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the 2007 NCAA field hockey title against Penn State.

319. December 10, 2007 Daniel Okun dies in Chapel HillDeath · Chapel Hill

     Okun, Kenan Professor of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, died in Chapel Hill of complications of leukemia at age 90.

320. Fiscal year 2008–2009 A fourth resettlement agency opens as Orange County arrivals stay highMigration and resettlement · Orange County

     Orange County recorded 194 refugee direct arrivals in fiscal year 2008-2009, from Burma, Bhutan, Iran and Iraq. The Triangle office of Church World Service opened as a fourth resettlement agency.

321. 2008 A state highway marker for Billy Strayhorn goes up in HillsboroughHistorical marker · Hillsborough

     The North Carolina Office of Archives and History put up marker G-125 on South Churton Street. It calls Strayhorn a jazz composer and pianist who wrote Take the A Train for the Duke Ellington Orchestra and points a quarter mile west to his boyhood home site.

322. 2008 David Caldwell retires as a sheriff's lieutenant to organize in Rogers Road full timeCareer · Orange County

     Caldwell joined the sheriff's department in 1985 after returning to the area and retired as a lieutenant in 2008 to work full time on community and social justice work. He became project director and community organizer for the Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood Association.

323. 2008 Orange County's 2030 Comprehensive Plan places county growth within the Triangle economyLand use plan · Orange County

     The Land Use Element of Orange County's 2030 Comprehensive Plan says the county, as an integral part of the Triangle, grew nearly 50 percent from 1980 to an estimated 121,991 in 2005, and names the Research Triangle Park as part of its region, calling jobs and economic conditions a frequent catalyst for changes in population and land use. It also records the 1984 Joint Planning Agreement with Chapel Hill, extended to Carrboro in 1987, and the 1986 rural buffer plan.

324. 2008 Three alumni recreate the walk attributed to Hinton James and finish at the Old WellCommemoration · Chapel Hill

     Nick Becketti, Bryan Jones and Whitney Reeds set out from the coast near Wilmington in the summer of 2008 to repeat the roughly 170-mile walk attributed to Hinton James. The university says the two-week trip ended at the Old Well in Chapel Hill.

325. 2008 UNC opens the Center for Latino Health for Spanish-speaking patientsFounding or opening · UNC Hospitals, Chapel Hill

     The UNC Center for Latino Health (CELAH) began in 2008 in the School of Medicine and UNC Health Care, offering specialty and primary care in Spanish, same-day access and health education. It served more than 15,000 patients in its first ten years.

326. 2008 Valerie Foushee finishes her UNC degreeEducation · Chapel Hill

     Foushee had left the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after two years and returned later to finish, graduating in 2008 with a degree in political science and African and Afro-American studies. She was by then an Orange County commissioner.

327. March 5, 2008 Eve Carson, UNC’s Student Body President, is killedDisaster or violence · Chapel Hill

     Eve Marie Carson, 22, UNC's student body president and a Morehead-Cain Scholar from Athens, Georgia, was abducted from her Chapel Hill home early on March 5, 2008, robbed and shot on Hillcrest Road near campus. Demario Atwater pleaded guilty in 2010, and a Hillsborough jury convicted Laurence Lovette on December 20, 2011.

328. December 2008 Commissioners drop Eubanks Road and choose two other transfer station candidatesLaw or policy · Orange County

     Conceding that the 2007 choice had not adequately weighed its effect on Rogers Road, the commissioners voted 5 to 1 to pursue two other sites, the 143-acre Howell property and an OWASA tract in Bingham Township.

329. December 7, 2008 UNC women’s soccer wins the 2008 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Notre Dame, 2–1, in the national final.

330. 2009 Burma Art Therapy Project begins in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City SchoolsSchool program · Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools

     The Art Therapy Institute began a school-based art therapy program for adolescent refugees from Burma in partnership with Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and the refugee community in Orange County. A later UNC evaluation estimated that about 400 Burmese families lived in the county.

331. 2009 North Carolina Cancer Hospital opensBuilding opening · Chapel Hill

     The North Carolina Cancer Hospital opened as the clinical home of UNC Lineberger.

332. 2009–2012 Penny Rich is elected to the Chapel Hill Town CouncilElection · Chapel Hill

     Rich won a seat on the Chapel Hill Town Council in 2009 and served until 2012, working on land use, planning, public transit, affordable housing and economic development.

333. January 12, 2009 Lucinda Munger becomes Orange County library services directorAppointment · Hillsborough

     Lucinda Munger became library services director for Orange County, heading the main library in Hillsborough and three branches.

334. January 22, 2009 Sheriff Pendergrass defends Orange County's enrollment in Secure CommunitiesPolice policy · Hillsborough (Orange County)

     At a county commissioners' meeting, Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass explained his decision to enroll the Orange County jail in the federal Secure Communities pilot, which checks the fingerprints of people booked into jail against federal databases including immigration records. Commissioners, who had resolved in 2007 not to join the 287(g) program, raised concerns but took no action.

335. February 2009 Cliff's Meat Market is honored for serving Carrboro's Spanish-speaking customersBusiness · Carrboro

     Cliff's Meat Market in Carrboro received Orange County's Pauli Murray Award in the business category; owner Cliff Collins was nominated for reaching out to the Spanish-speaking community. The butcher shop, open since 1973, had hired Latino staff as Spanish-speaking customers began asking for cuts in Spanish.

336. March–June 2009 Commissioners reject closing the Carrboro and Cedar Grove branch librariesLaw or policy · Carrboro; Cedar Grove

     Facing recession cuts while opening the new Hillsborough main library, the county manager proposed closing the Carrboro branch at McDougle School and the Cedar Grove branch and moving their staff to the new building. After opposition from Commissioner Mike Nelson, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen and residents, commissioners rejected the closures and used reserve funds to staff the new library in the budget adopted in June 2009.

337. March 16, 2009 Chapel Hill council received the Rogers Road Small Area Plan Task Force's final reportPlanning milestone · Chapel Hill

     Council members Mark Kleinschmidt and Bill Strom presented the report, and the council voted 9 to 0 to send it to advisory boards, Carrboro, Orange County, OWASA and the city schools, with a joint public hearing planned for October 2009. Rev. Robert Campbell of RENA thanked the council for giving the community a voice.

338. April 6, 2009 UNC men’s basketball wins the 2009 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Michigan State, 89–72, to win the national title.

339. May 2, 2009 Marian Cheek Jackson Center opens at St. Joseph CME ChurchFounding or opening · St. Joseph C.M.E. Church, Chapel Hill

     The Marian Cheek Jackson Center for Saving and Making History held its ribbon cutting on the second floor of the H.W. Baldwin Fellowship Hall at St. Joseph C.M.E. Church. It is named for Marian Cheek Jackson, the church historian and lifelong Pine Knolls resident.

340. June 12–August 31, 2009 UNC's library exhibited Rogers Road family histories drawn from Emily Eidenier Pearce's bookExhibit · UNC University Library, Chapel Hill

     The exhibit We're All Family Here: Preserving Community Heritage in the Rogers Road Neighborhood of Chapel Hill introduced families who had shaped the area from the 1700s on. It was inspired by Pearce's 2009 history Rogers Road, which RENA presents as part of its History Project.

341. June 22, 2009 Town Council approves the Carolina North development agreement and U-1 zoningLaw or policy · Horace Williams tract, Chapel Hill

     After ten joint work sessions with trustees and hearings on May 11, June 15 and June 22, the Town Council approved a 20-year development agreement for Carolina North and rezoned the in-town portion of the tract to University-1, authorizing about 3 million square feet on 133 acres.

342. July 22–26, 2009 Merge Records marks its 20th anniversary with the XX Merge festivalFestival · Cat's Cradle, Carrboro; Memorial Hall, Chapel Hill

     The label held four nights at Cat's Cradle and a finale at UNC's Memorial Hall, with film screenings at the Ackland Art Museum and a free show at the Orange County Social Club in Carrboro.

343. August 2009 The Greenbridge condominium towers topped out on West Rosemary StreetDevelopment · West Rosemary Street, Chapel Hill

     The 10-story and 7-story Greenbridge towers, with 98 condominium units, rose on the former Black business block that had held the Mason Motel. Northside residents opposed the project in an open letter, and restaurant owner Mildred "Mama Dip" Council said rising property values threatened her business.

344. September 2009 N.C. Cancer Hospital is dedicatedBuilding opening · UNC Hospitals, Chapel Hill

     The seven-story, 315,000-square-foot N.C. Cancer Hospital, built with a 180 million dollar authorization from the General Assembly, was dedicated in September 2009. It tripled the space available for treating cancer patients at UNC.

345. October 2009 Commissioner Mike Nelson announces he will not seek re-electionElected office · Orange County

     County Commissioner and former Carrboro mayor Mike Nelson announced that he would not run for re-election to the Orange County board.

346. November 2009 Flyleaf Books opensBusiness opening · Chapel Hill

     Flyleaf Books, an independent bookstore in the Midtown Market shopping center on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Chapel Hill, opened in November 2009 with a soft opening set for November 16. Jamie Fiocco, Sarah Carr and Land Arnold ran the store, and its grand opening followed on January 9, 2010.

347. November 2009 Sammy Slade is elected to the Carrboro Board of AldermenElection · Carrboro

     Slade, a carpenter with a psychology degree from UNC who was raised in Bogota and Chapel Hill, won a seat on the Board of Aldermen in November 2009 and was reelected in 2013. He went on to serve fourteen years on the town's governing board.

348. November 3, 2009 Mark Kleinschmidt is elected mayor of Chapel HillElection · Chapel Hill

     Kleinschmidt won 4,006 votes to Matt Czajkowski's 3,766 with all 21 precincts reporting, succeeding Kevin Foy, who had endorsed him. He was Chapel Hill's first openly gay mayor and the third openly gay man elected mayor in North Carolina, after Mike Nelson in Carrboro.

349. November 22, 2009 UNC field hockey wins the 2009 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the 2009 NCAA field hockey title against Maryland.

350. December 2009 Commissioners vote to truck county trash to Durham's transfer stationLaw or policy · Orange County

     After OWASA refused to sell or swap land for a transfer station and Chapel Hill withdrew its Millhouse Road property, the Board of Commissioners voted to haul county trash to Durham's transfer station for three to five years while the towns and county weighed a longer-term plan.

351. December 6, 2009 UNC women’s soccer wins the 2009 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Stanford, 1–0, in the national final.

352. 2010 2010 census counts the Hispanic or Latino population of Orange County, Carrboro and Chapel HillCensus count · Orange County

     The 2010 census counted 11,017 Hispanic or Latino residents in Orange County, 2,603 in Chapel Hill and 1,921 in Carrboro, as compiled in the NC Office of State Budget and Management's LINC Census Population dataset.

353. 2010 El Centro Hispano opens a Carrboro officeFounding or opening · Carrboro Plaza, Carrboro

     El Centro Hispano, founded in Durham in 1992, added a Carrboro office in 2010 after El Centro Latino closed. It planned a resources office, legal and tax clinic, tutoring, ESL classes and an HIV prevention program at Carrboro Plaza on N.C. 54, beside a new Latino Community Credit Union branch.

354. Fiscal year 2010–2011 Local schools and health providers report Burmese, Karen and Chin families moving to Orange County from elsewhereMigration and resettlement · Orange County

     Although direct refugee arrivals fell to 86 in fiscal year 2010-2011, local schools and health care agencies reported significant in-migration of Burmese, Karen and Chin residents from other counties and states.

355. Summer 2010 RENA opened its first community center on Edgar RoadFounding or opening · Rogers-Eubanks neighborhood

     Three years after incorporating as a nonprofit, the Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood Association opened a small community center on Edgar Road so the neighborhood had a place of its own to gather and run programs.

356. 2010 Transplanting Traditions Community Farm begins with refugee farmers from BurmaFounding or opening · Orange County

     Kelly Owensby started Transplanting Traditions in 2010 with three years of federal Office of Refugee Resettlement funding, after meeting Karen families at a community garden run by the Orange County Partnership for Young Children. In the first year 44 people from Burma turned a pasture into a farm.

357. 2010 UNC Hospitals employs about 7,000 peopleStatistic · Chapel Hill

     Town figures show UNC Hospitals employed 6,680 full-time and 359 part-time staff in 2010, and the UNC Health Care System, with 7,964 employees, was Orange County's second-largest public employer after the university.

358. 2010 UNC starts the Building Integrated Communities programProgram founded · Chapel Hill

     The Latino Migration Project began Building Integrated Communities, which Gill co-founded, to help North Carolina local governments plan with immigrant and refugee residents. Each partner community works with the program for about two years.

359. January 8, 2010 Orange County Main Library opens on Margaret LaneFounding or opening · Hillsborough

     The county's new 23,500-square-foot Main Library at 137 West Margaret Lane in Hillsborough held its grand opening on January 8, 2010, after planning that began with a task force in 2000 and a groundbreaking in April 2008. It added a teen center, a 90-person meeting room and a local history area.

360. March 5, 2010 Daniel H. Pollitt dies in Chapel HillBirth or death · Chapel Hill

     Pollitt died in Chapel Hill on March 5, 2010. His honors included the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the Thomas Jefferson Award and the Order of the Golden Fleece.

361. June 2010 Chapel Hill adopts an inclusionary zoning ordinanceLaw or policy · Chapel Hill

     The Town Council unanimously passed an ordinance requiring for-sale developments of five or more units to make 10 to 15 percent of them affordable to households earning 65 to 80 percent of area median income, or to give land, housing or cash in lieu. It took effect in 2011 and does not cover rental projects.

362. 2010–2011 Orange County Public Library begins lending eBooks and KindlesInstitutional milestone · Orange County

     In the 2010-11 budget year the library added an eBook collection and Kindle readers, provided through donations from the Friends of the Orange County Public Library. The next year it added an OverDrive eBook collection for download to patrons' own devices.

363. 2010–2011 Orange County Public Library forms a Teen Advisory BoardInstitutional milestone · Hillsborough

     The library completed its first year of teen programming in the 2010-11 budget year and established a Teen Advisory Board.

364. July 11, 2010 The Chapel Hill Museum closes its physical siteInstitutional closure · Chapel Hill

     The Chapel Hill Museum closed to the public on July 11, 2010, after 14 years in the town-owned former library building on East Franklin Street. Its trustees said the Town Council's budget offer of $20,250 fell short of the $49,000 supporters had sought for building upkeep, and staff planned to find new homes for its artifacts.

365. August 1, 2010 Orange County closes the Cedar Grove Branch LibraryClosing · Cedar Grove

     The county closed the Cedar Grove Branch Library, northern Orange County's only staffed library, effective August 1, 2010, citing 502 registered borrowers and a cost per patron far above other branches. Its materials and computers went to the main library and the Cybrary, and some Cedar Grove items were reused in 40 Literacy Bag outreach kits.

366. December 4, 2010 Brick memorial holding three recovered gravestones is dedicated at Margaret Lane CemeteryMemorial dedication · Margaret Lane Cemetery, Hillsborough

     A brick monument designed and built by town employee Sam Dunevant was unveiled at the cemetery entrance, holding three gravestones recovered during earlier restoration, for Daniel Whitted, W. O. Parker and Nancy Wheatting. About fifty people attended, including descendants, and Mayor Tom Stevens spoke.

367. 2011 Karen Shelton receives UNC's C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service AwardAward · Chapel Hill

     The university gave Shelton its C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award for her long service to Carolina. She had been inducted into the campus honor society the Order of the Golden Fleece in March 2002.

368. 2011 Occaneechi Band pays off its land and moves the tribal office to the homeland siteInstitutional milestone · Little Texas community, Alamance County

     The band paid its land mortgage in full and relocated its tribal office to the Homeland Preservation Project site in Alamance County.

369. 2011 Transplanting Traditions begins farming at the Irvin Nature PreserveFounding or opening · Irvin Nature Preserve, Orange County

     After Triangle Land Conservancy began working with the farm in 2010 to find more land, Transplanting Traditions held its first growing season at the conservancy's J. Logan and Elinor Moore Irvin Nature Preserve, off Jones Ferry Road, in 2011.

370. May 17, 2011 Orange County commissioners raised the landfill tipping fee to pay for Rogers Road remediationLaw or policy · Orange County

     Commissioners raised the tipping fee from $52 to $57 a ton to create a remediation fund of about $50,000 to $60,000 a year for water and sewer connections, cleanup of illegal dumping and a community center in Rogers Road. The county also moved $750,000 out of its solid waste reserve for the same purpose. Chapel Hill and Carrboro objected to the timing of the fee.

371. 2011 Commissioners drop a proposed bookmobile and fund year-round Sunday hours at the main libraryLaw or policy · Hillsborough

     The manager's recommended 2011-12 budget included $317,315 for a new bookmobile, $252,500 of it to finance the vehicle. Commissioners did not approve it and instead allocated $128,500 to expand service, including 60 hours a week with year-round Sundays at the main library from September 1, more Kindles, and more money for books, databases and programs.

372. June 2011 Council freezes building in Northside and Pine Knolls for six monthsLaw or policy · Northside, Chapel Hill

     The council voted 7-0 for a six-month development moratorium in Northside and Pine Knolls, backdated to May 23, 2011, while a community plan was drafted. Jackson Center staff helped organize residents in support.

373. August 28, 2011 Rebecca Clark's name is added to the Peace and Justice Plaza plaqueHonor or memorial · Peace and Justice Plaza, Chapel Hill

     Clark, Yonni Chapman, the Rev. Charles M. Jones and Dan Pollitt were honored after their deaths for their work for civil rights, social justice and equality in Chapel Hill. Their names were added to the plaque at Peace and Justice Plaza, in front of the historic post office on Franklin Street.

374. October 2011 Commissioners decide not to extend the life of the landfillLaw or policy · Eubanks Road landfill

     The Board of Commissioners voted not to extend the landfill and approved cleanup of 50 illegal dump sites. In April 2011 it had postponed a decision on deepening the landfill, which could have added capacity to 2018.

375. October 12, 2011 Speaker Ban marker dedicated at the McCorkle Place wallMonument or marker · McCorkle Place wall at Franklin Street, Chapel Hill

     On University Day a bronze marker naming the twelve student plaintiffs was dedicated at the wall where Wilkinson and Aptheker spoke, a gift of Anne Dickson Fogleman and Robert Dickson.

376. October 25, 2011 Karen Community of North Carolina is incorporated in Chapel HillFounding or opening · Chapel Hill

     The Karen Community of North Carolina was registered as a nonprofit corporation with a Chapel Hill principal office and Eh Tha Pwee as registered agent. In May 2012 he estimated that about 400 Karen families lived in Orange County.

377. December 11, 2011 UNC men’s soccer wins the 2011 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Charlotte to win the 2011 NCAA men’s soccer championship.

378. By January 2012 Asif Khan founds the Refugee Community PartnershipFounding or opening · Carrboro

     Asif Khan, then a UNC-Chapel Hill undergraduate, founded the Refugee Community Partnership to strengthen support networks among refugee families in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. The organization, now based in Carrboro, runs help lines that include Karen and Burmese.

379. 2012–2020 Penny Rich is elected to the Orange County Board of CommissionersElection · Orange County

     Rich was elected a county commissioner in 2012 and served two terms, to 2020, working on economic development, job creation, affordable housing, transportation and social justice.

380. January 9, 2012 Council adopts the Northside and Pine Knolls community planLaw or policy · Northside and Pine Knolls, Chapel Hill

     The council approved three resolutions under the plan, amending both conservation districts with building rules effective February 1, 2012 and a four-vehicle-per-lot parking limit effective September 1, 2012.

381. February 21, 2012 Commissioners set the landfill's closing date and created the Historic Rogers Road Neighborhood Task ForceInstitutional milestone · Orange County

     On the night the Orange County commissioners voted to close the landfill on June 30, 2013, they also authorized an eight-member task force, with two members each from Chapel Hill, Carrboro, the county and RENA, to recommend how to deliver sewer service and a community center and how to guard against displacement. An interim report was due that August and a final report to the Assembly of Governments on December 6, 2012.

382. March 6, 2012 Carrboro aldermen approve criteria for siting a freestanding libraryPlanning decision · Carrboro

     The Carrboro Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to approve criteria, recommended to the Orange County commissioners, for siting a freestanding southwest Orange County library in Carrboro, whose county branch was then housed in McDougle School. Aldermen ranked transit, walking and cycling access first, while Nerys Levy of the Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library asked for ample parking for older patrons and stressed access to computers and information.

383. March 26, 2012 New Roots interview records the history of the Spanish Mass at St. Thomas MoreOral history · St. Thomas More Catholic Church, Chapel Hill

     Luis Royo, coordinator of Hispanic ministries at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Chapel Hill, told New Roots interviewer Kelsey Jost-Creegan that the parish's Spanish Mass went back almost twenty years. He said his coordinator post had existed for about ten years and that he was its fourth holder.

384. June 7, 2012–August 26, 2013 School Board converts Frank Porter Graham Elementary into a Spanish dual-language magnet schoolSchool program · Carrboro (Frank Porter Graham Elementary)

     After a district report named serving students with limited English and closing the achievement gap as the main purposes of dual language, and after forums that included sessions for Spanish-speaking and Karen and Burmese families, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board approved converting Frank Porter Graham Elementary into a Spanish-English magnet school. It reopened as the district's first dual-language magnet on August 26, 2013, with more than 500 students.

385. June 25, 2012 Chapel Hill's comprehensive plan describes the town as a university and health care townPlanning document · Chapel Hill

     The Chapel Hill 2020 data summary opens with a chapter titled Chapel Hill: A University and Health Care Town, names the UNC Health Care System among the town's three largest employers, and describes its expansion beyond the main campus toward NC 54, the 15-501 corridor and a new UNC Hospitals site in Hillsborough.

386. 2012–2013 Orange County Main Library introduces RFID self-checkoutPublic services · Hillsborough

     During the 2012–13 fiscal year the Main Library in Hillsborough put radio frequency identification tags and self-checkout stations into service. Patrons used self-checkout for 63 percent of transactions, above the library's 50 percent goal, and the next year's objective was 70 percent.

387. July 2012 Refugee Support Center opens in CarrboroFounding or opening · Carrboro

     The Refugee Support Center, a volunteer-based nonprofit in Carrboro, was established in July 2012 to serve refugees in Orange County. Its main client groups are from Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Syria, and it offers Karen interpretation.

388. July 1, 2012 Hyconeechee Regional Library is dissolvedInstitutional closure · Orange County

     The regional library Orange County had shared with Person and Caswell counties closed on July 1, 2012, ending the county's annual matching contribution and leaving the Orange County Public Library to operate as a county system on its own. In the following budget year the county moved library software costs into its IT department, absorbed a lower state aid estimate, and replaced the Polaris catalog system with Sierra.

389. October 12, 2012 William C. Friday dies at his Chapel Hill homeDeath · Chapel Hill

     Friday, president of the University of North Carolina from 1956 to 1986 and a longtime Chapel Hill resident, died in his sleep at home on October 12, 2012, at 92.

390. December 2, 2012 UNC women’s soccer wins the 2012 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Penn State, 4–1, in the national final.

391. 2013 A new Northside Elementary opened on the old Training School groundsBuilding opening · 350 Caldwell Street, Chapel Hill

     The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools opened a new Northside Elementary on the former Orange County Training School site. In 2012 neighbors had rallied to make sure the new school kept the Northside name.

392. 2013 Cat's Cradle opens the Back RoomBuilding opening · 300 East Main Street, Carrboro

     The club added a second room holding about 200 people beside its main hall at 300 East Main Street.

393. 2013–2014 Neighbors form the Rogers Road Community Unity BoardOrganization founded · Rogers Road, Chapel Hill

     The Community Unity Board brought together leaders from every sub-neighborhood of Rogers-Eubanks, among them Historic Rogers Road, Billabong, TallyHo, Meadow Run, Phoenix Place and Sandberg, for continuing talks about the area's future. RENA and the Jackson Center reconvened it in 2015 for the planning work the three governments had asked for.

394. 2013 Orange County Public Library adopts its first strategic planPlan adoption · Orange County

     The FY 2013–14 county budget reported that the library was creating a strategic plan, and county capital documents later refer to the approved Library Strategic Plan 2013–16, which charged the library with serving rural residents. The county called the 2017–2020 plan the library's second.

395. 2013 UNC School of Social Work launches its Refugee Mental Health and Wellness InitiativeInstitutional milestone · Chapel Hill

     Josh Hinson launched the initiative at the UNC School of Social Work in 2013 to support resettled refugees, connecting refugee communities to interpreters, mental health screening and treatment.

396. 2013 Walter Horton becomes Carrboro's first African American police chiefInstitutional milestone · Carrboro

     Town Manager David Andrews named Captain Walter Horton, a Carrboro native who joined the department in 1993, to succeed retiring Chief Carolyn Hutchison. Horton led the department until he retired in early 2021.

397. April 23, 2013 John S. Pope Farm is listed in the National RegisterPreservation action · Cedar Grove

     The Capt. John S. Pope Farm at 6909 Efland-Cedar Grove Road, near Cedar Grove, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on April 23, 2013. The Pope family has farmed the tract, now in organic tobacco, since at least 1870, and its two-story I-house dates from about 1870 to 1874.

398. May 26, 2013 UNC women’s lacrosse wins the 2013 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the 2013 NCAA women’s lacrosse championship.

399. June 20, 2013 EPA accepted RENA's civil rights complaint over water and sewer service for investigationLaw or policy · Orange County

     The EPA Office of Civil Rights took up the question whether the Orange County Planning and Inspections Department had intentionally discriminated on the basis of race by denying water and sewer service to the African American residents of Rogers Road. RENA had filed the complaint with the U.S. Justice Department, which referred it to several federal agencies, and it was joined to an earlier complaint against OWASA accepted on November 23, 2009.

400. June 29, 2013 Rogers Road landfill closesPreservation or planning · Chapel Hill

     The landfill closed at noon on Saturday, June 29, 2013 after 41 years, with a ceremony at which Rogers Road residents symbolically locked the service entrance. The closure plan called for a synthetic cap covered with soil and vegetation, vented so that the county's methane recovery system, which feeds power to UNC buildings, could keep running.

401. August 19, 2013 Ellie Kinnaird resigns her state senate seatResignation · Orange County

     Kinnaird announced her resignation after nine terms, saying she could not get anything done in the short session as one of seventeen Democrats in a fifty-member chamber. She said she would instead work with churches and community groups to help voters obtain the photo identification the state had just begun to require. Democrats from the counties she represented were to choose her successor.

402. October 12, 2013 Carol Folt is installed as chancellor at Chapel HillUniversity leadership · Chapel Hill

     Folt was installed as the eleventh chancellor of the university on University Day in Polk Place, the first woman to hold the post. Chief Justice Sarah Parker administered the oath, and system president Tom Ross presided and presented the chancellor's medallion.

403. December 3, 2013 Lydia Lavelle takes office as Carrboro mayor, the first openly lesbian mayor in North CarolinaPolitical milestone · Carrboro

     Lydia Lavelle, who ran unopposed for mayor in the fall 2013 election, was sworn in on December 3, 2013 as North Carolina's first openly lesbian mayor. Aldermen Randee Haven-O'Donnell, Sammy Slade and Jacquelyn Gist were sworn in for new terms at the same meeting.

404. 2014 Chapel Hill extended its extraterritorial jurisdiction over the Historic Rogers Road areaLaw or policy · Rogers Road

     Because none of the neighborhood lay inside Chapel Hill's limits, the town could not legally spend money on its sewer, so the council held a public hearing set for October 15, 2014 on bringing its part of the area under the town's extraterritorial jurisdiction. Afterward the neighborhood was split between Carrboro and Chapel Hill's ETJ.

405. By 2014 Mark Chilton compiles a land grant atlas of old Orange CountyResearch and publication · Orange County

     Chilton wrote The Land Grant Atlas of Old Orange County, Volume 2: The Saxapahaw Old Fields, tracing title to about a thousand parcels between 1728 and 1818 in western Orange and eastern Alamance counties. He found that roughly 95 percent of the county's deed records for 1752 to 1781 were lost after a Tory official buried the deed books and they rotted.

406. 2014 NEH funds public access to the New Roots oral history archiveInstitutional milestone · University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

     The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded UNC-Chapel Hill a Humanities Collections and Reference Resources grant (PW-51527-14) to open public access to New Roots interviews through a bilingual digital archive.

407. 2014 Orange County Health Department reports serving clients in almost 20 languagesInstitutional milestone · Orange County

     The county's 2014 State of the County Health Report said the Health Department served clients in almost 20 languages through bilingual staff and interpreters and bought translation memory software. It also described the Orange County Latino Health and Refugee Health Coalitions working on access to care.

408. 2014 RENA and the Jackson Center produced the Historic and Vibrant Rogers Road reportReport · Rogers Road

     The Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood Association and the Marian Cheek Jackson Center put together survey analysis and community feedback on the neighborhood's future. Two years later the same partners ran the planning process behind Mapping our Community's Future.

409. January 18, 2014 Eric Van Loon presents his Carolina Story to the alumni association boardAlumni address · Chapel Hill

     The General Alumni Association published Van Loon’s My Carolina Story, given as a member of its board of directors. In it he recounts chairing the Carolina Political Union and signing the Speaker Ban lawsuit as one of a dozen students who were plaintiffs.

410. May 6, 2014 Mark Chilton wins the register of deeds primary on a same-sex marriage pledgeElection · Orange County

     Chilton took just over 42 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary, beating the incumbent register of deeds, Deborah Brooks, and a second challenger. He had campaigned on a promise to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite the state ban, and because no Republican filed, the primary settled the office.

411. June 2014 Willie Scroggs retires as a senior associate athletic director at UNCRetirement · Chapel Hill

     Scroggs retired at the end of June 2014 after decades overseeing athletics facilities at Carolina, including work at Carmichael Arena, Boshamer Stadium, Kenan Stadium, Woollen Gym and the Eddie Smith Field House.

412. July 23–26, 2014 Merge Records holds its 25th anniversary festival in CarrboroMusic festival · Carrboro

     Merge marked 25 years with a festival built around Cat's Cradle, ending with an outdoor show in the club's parking lot that organizers expected to draw about 3,000 people after the indoor nights sold out. Passes were sold through the Cat's Cradle website.

413. October 13, 2014 Same-sex couples begin receiving marriage licenses in Orange CountyLaw or policy · Countywide

     A federal judge struck down North Carolina's ban on same-sex marriage late on Friday, October 10, 2014, by which time the Orange County Register of Deeds office in Hillsborough had closed for the day. The office issued its first licences to same-sex couples when it reopened on Monday, October 13, with Carrboro mayor Lydia Lavelle and Alicia Stemper first in line; the two married at the Carrboro Town Commons on October 25, 2014.

414. November 18, 2014 Carrboro aldermen declare the town a welcoming community for immigrant childrenLaw or policy · Carrboro

     The Board of Aldermen unanimously passed a resolution declaring Carrboro a welcoming community for minors fleeing violence and affirming immigrant children's right to attend public school regardless of immigration status. The Southern Coalition for Social Justice and the ACLU of North Carolina helped develop it.

415. December 2014 The county-funded Rogers Road Community Center opened at 101 Edgar StreetBuilding opening · Rogers-Eubanks neighborhood

     Orange County commissioners awarded a $522,488 contract to Riggs-Harrod Builders of Durham on April 1, 2014 after a first round of bids came in at two to three times the authorized budget and the building was redesigned. The larger center, with a community room, kitchen, computer lab and outdoor courts, opened that December a short walk from RENA's 2010 building.

416. 2015 Hillsborough votes to remove "Confederate Memorial" lettering from the former libraryMonument removal · Hillsborough

     The 1934 public library building on North Churton Street, home of the Orange County Historical Museum since 1983, still carried part of its "Confederate Memorial Library 1934" sign. After museum leaders asked in June 2015 to take the words down, saying some Black residents felt unwelcome, the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners voted that year to remove the sign from the pediment.

417. 2015 Mark Kleinschmidt leaves the Chapel Hill mayor's officeOffice · Chapel Hill

     Kleinschmidt served as mayor from his election in November 2009 until 2015.

418. 2015 New community house opensDated milestone · Chapel Hill

     The men’s shelter moved to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

419. 2015 Saunders Hall is renamed Carolina HallPolitical milestone · Chapel Hill

     UNC trustees approved the name change in May 2015; the building received its new name that August.

420. 2015 UNC Refugee Wellness begins providing mental health care under a state refugee contractInstitutional milestone · Orange County

     In 2015 the UNC School of Social Work's Refugee Mental Health and Wellness Initiative began contracting with the Refugee Office of the state Department of Health and Human Services to provide mental health services directly to refugees in Wake, Durham and Orange counties.

421. February 3, 2015 Frank Heath tells the Carrboro Board of Aldermen that the Cat's Cradle has outgrown its buildingPublic hearing · Carrboro

     At the second public hearing on a proposed arts and innovation center and hotel at East Main Street, Heath said the Cat's Cradle and the ArtsCenter were both too big for their buildings and that expansion had become urgent. He called it a dilemma for a small town with two successful arts organizations.

422. February 10, 2015 Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salha are killed in Chapel HillDisaster or violence · Chapel Hill

     On February 10, 2015, neighbor Craig Hicks shot and killed Deah Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister Razan Abu-Salha, 19, in the couple's Chapel Hill condominium. Hicks pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder in June 2019 and received three consecutive life sentences without parole.

423. March 9, 2015 UNC, Self-Help, the Jackson Center and the town launch the Northside neighborhood initiativeFounding or opening · Northside, Chapel Hill

     UNC-Chapel Hill committed a $3 million, 10-year, no-interest loan to Self-Help to buy Northside homes as they came on the market and hold them in a land bank for affordable resale or rental. The Jackson Center and the Town of Chapel Hill were partners.

424. April 26, 2015 Carrboro's Center for Employment and Leadership for day laborers opensFounding or opening · 201 W. Weaver St., Carrboro

     El Centro Hispano, the Carrboro Day Laborer Task Force, Orange County Justice United and the Town of Carrboro opened a workers' center for day laborers at 201 W. Weaver St., which organizers called the first in North Carolina. The opening began with a march from the Jones Ferry and Davie roads corner and followed about ten years of planning.

425. 2015–2016 Orange County Public Library begins lending Wi-Fi hotspotsPublic services · Orange County

     In the 2015–16 fiscal year the library and county IT staff piloted lending Wi-Fi hotspots to residents of southern Orange County and added hotspots to the lending collection at its libraries. Federal CARES Act money later doubled the hotspot inventory to meet pandemic demand.

426. October 8, 2015 State highway marker honoring Carl T. Durham is dedicated at N.C. 54 and Carl Durham RoadCommemoration · N.C. 54 at Carl Durham Road, Orange County

     Durham's daughters Anne Novak and Peggy Wall, other relatives and county officials gathered for the dedication of the marker. The ceremony recalled his 22 years in Congress and the 1951 amendments, written with Senator Hubert Humphrey, that created the prescription and over-the-counter drug classes.

427. 2016 County capital plan budgets a Southern Branch library at 203 South Greensboro StreetPlanning decision · Carrboro

     Orange County's FY 2016–21 capital plan scheduled $6,375,000 in FY 2017–18 to design and build a Southern Branch library replacing the Cybrary and the Carrboro branch at McDougle School, after commissioners directed staff to work with Carrboro on siting it on the town-owned 203 South Greensboro Street property. The plan projected ten staff positions, two of them moved from existing Carrboro library operations.

428. January 2016 New Roots launches its bilingual digital archiveInstitutional milestone · University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

     New Roots/Nuevas Raíces launched a Spanish and English website with more than 150 digitized interviews, including audio recordings, abstracts and full transcripts. UNC's University Libraries handled digitization, cataloging and preservation.

429. March 3, 2016 Joal Broun is sworn in to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school boardSchool board appointment · Chapel Hill

     The district said Broun, a former Carrboro alderman then directing the state's lobbying compliance division, was sworn in to fill the seat left by Michelle Brownstein's resignation. She had also served on the Orange Water and Sewer Authority board and the Orange County Dispute Settlement Center.

430. March 26, 2016 Carrboro Board of Aldermen calls for the repeal of House Bill 2 at a Saturday special meetingResolution · Carrboro

     Three days after the General Assembly passed and Governor Pat McCrory signed House Bill 2, the Board met in special session and adopted a resolution affirming the dignity of LGBT people, calling for the law's repeal and urging other North Carolina governments to use it as a model, then adopted a second resolution condemning by name the legislators and governor who enacted it. Both passed six to none with Jacquelyn Gist absent, and the Board asked staff to raise the town's rainbow pride flags on March 28.

431. May 2016 RENA and the Jackson Center published the Rogers Road community plan commissioned by the three governmentsInstitutional milestone · Rogers-Eubanks neighborhood

     In July 2015 Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro asked the Marian Cheek Jackson Center and RENA to run a community-first planning process as sewer design advanced. The resulting report, built from nine Unity Board sessions and two rounds of interviews, set four priorities for the neighborhood and became the reference document for the later zoning districts and Greene Tract resolutions.

432. May 29, 2016 UNC women’s lacrosse wins the 2016 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the 2016 NCAA women’s lacrosse championship.

433. May 30, 2016 UNC men’s lacrosse wins the 2016 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the 2016 NCAA men’s lacrosse championship.

434. June 2016 Cedar Grove Community Center opens with a self-service library stationPublic services · Cedar Grove

     Orange County dedicated the renovated Cedar Grove Community Center, once home to the Cedar Grove Negro School, in June 2016, with a self-serve library station beside the building. The $180,000 kiosk offered automated borrowing in northern Orange County without a staffed branch; the county's FY 2021–22 budget ended support for it, citing poor performance and low patron use.

435. November 8, 2016 Orange County voters approve a $5 million affordable housing bondReferendum · Orange County

     More than 65 percent of voters approved $5 million in bonds for affordable housing, alongside a $120 million school bond that passed with 75.5 percent.

436. December 2016 Rebuilding of the Occaneechi replica village in Hillsborough beginsBuilding opening · River Park, Hillsborough

     Tribal members, community volunteers, Orange County and the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough began rebuilding a smaller replica village in River Park, funded by a $20,000 budget set aside in 2015. The new village has a palisade and four huts.

437. 2017 A stone gateway honoring Northside's freedom fighters was opened at Rosemary and Roberson streetsCommemoration · West Rosemary and Roberson Streets, Chapel Hill

     The gateway of Chatham stone carries eight black granite slabs with civil rights images and quotations from oral history interviews. It was opened with a ribbon cutting at the first Northside Festival, as the Jackson Center renamed its annual celebration.

438. 2017 Barbara Foushee receives the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP's Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service AwardAward · Chapel Hill

     The branch gave Foushee its Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award for work promoting diversity and social justice. She was then the branch's secretary.

439. January 2017 Carrboro accepts a community climate action planPlan adoption · Carrboro

     The Board of Aldermen accepted a plan setting out steps residents could take to cut greenhouse gas emissions, extending the Energy and Climate Protection Plan the town had adopted in 2014 for its own operations. The two plans aimed at an 80 percent cut from 2010 emission levels by 2030. Sammy Slade was the board's leading advocate for the town's climate policy.

440. March 2017 Michael Jordan expands the Jordan Brand partnership with UNC athleticsSponsorship · Chapel Hill

     Jordan announced an expansion of his Jordan Brand partnership with North Carolina Tar Heels athletics in March 2017, saying that it is always great to come home.

441. April 2017 Chapel Hill is selected for a Building Integrated Communities partnershipPartnership · Chapel Hill

     The Latino Migration Project chose Chapel Hill, along with Siler City, for two years of community planning support to help the town work with foreign-born residents. Town manager Roger Stancil said the town already had policies meant to make the community inclusive.

442. April 3, 2017 UNC men’s basketball wins the 2017 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC defeated Gonzaga, 71–65, to win the national title.

443. June 20, 2017 Ground was broken on the sewer extension to the historic Rogers Road areaInfrastructure project · Rogers-Eubanks neighborhood

     Orange County, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, OWASA and RENA held a groundbreaking at the RENA Community Center on Edgar Street after the sanitary sewer design was finished and a contractor hired. Construction was to begin in July 2017 and run 10 to 12 months.

444. 2017–2018 Orange County's library branches are merged into one catalogPublic services · Orange County

     Preparing for the Southern Branch, the library merged the holdings of the Main Library, the Carrboro branch at McDougle School and the Cybrary into a single catalog during the 2017–18 fiscal year and added the Cedar Grove kiosk's items. Staff reported an immediate rise in circulation at all three branches and in items sent between locations by courier.

445. October 2017 John Blackfeather Jeffries gives his Occaneechi collection to UNC's Southern Historical CollectionArchive or collection · Wilson Library, UNC campus, Chapel Hill

     Jeffries gave the Wilson Library about 5,000 items, including photographs of Occaneechi powwows and of the replica village's construction in Hillsborough, recordings of Occaneechi, Saponi and Tutelo songs, and the band's petition for state acknowledgment of tribal status.

446. November 2017 Barbara Foushee is elected to the Carrboro Board of AldermenElection · Carrboro

     Foushee, who announced her candidacy in March 2017 saying she wanted a seat at the table where changes were made, won a seat in the 2017 municipal election. She served on the town's governing board for six years before being elected mayor.

447. December 18, 2017 Quintana Stewart becomes Orange County's health directorAppointment · Orange County

     After a nationwide search, the Orange County Board of Health chose Stewart, then assistant health director at the Forsyth County Department of Public Health. She started on December 18, 2017, succeeding Colleen Bridger, who had left in February 2017 for a post in San Antonio.

448. 2018 Carrboro broke ground on the Rogers Road sidewalk and bus stop projectInfrastructure project · Carrboro

     A $1.37 million project put a five-foot sidewalk from the west side of Rogers Road to Meadow Run Court, together with a new bus pad and shelter. Ground was broken in late June 2018 and construction began that fall. The project traced back to a New Horizons task force created in 2005.

449. 2018 Mark Kleinschmidt is elected Orange County clerk of superior courtOffice · Hillsborough

     Kleinschmidt was first elected clerk of superior court in 2018 and has held the office since. The state judicial branch says that in the post he has worked to strengthen court services and the administration of guardianship matters.

450. 2018–2020 Penny Rich chairs the Orange County Board of CommissionersOffice · Orange County

     Rich was vice chair of the county commissioners from 2016 to 2018 and chair from 2018 to 2020, and she led the board through the start of the county's COVID-19 response.

451. April 24, 2018 University Archives publishes the names of 119 enslaved people who built and worked at the universityInstitutional milestone · Chapel Hill

     Drawing on research by archivists, historians and students in Jim Leloudis's fall 2017 History 398 class, the archives listed 119 enslaved people who built and labored at the university from 1795 to 1865, including November Caldwell and David Barham.

452. May 15, 2018 Horace Williams Airport closesTransportation milestone · Chapel Hill

     UNC closed Horace Williams Airport on May 15, 2018, under a November 2017 trustees resolution, citing money lost running the field and at least $1 million in needed runway repairs. The airfield dated to 1928 and had trained Navy pre-flight cadets during World War II; the Carolina North campus once planned for the site had stalled.

453. June 2018 Carrboro created a zoning overlay district to protect the Lloyd-Broad neighborhoodLaw or policy · Lloyd-Broad neighborhood, Carrboro

     At residents' request the Board of Aldermen set square-footage and parking limits and a cap of four unrelated occupants per household for the historically African American neighborhood, which had seen more student rentals and larger replacement houses. New building had to comply at once and existing houses were given three years.

454. June 13, 2018 Danita Mason-Hogans presents Chapel Hill's civil rights timeline to the town councilTown task force report · Chapel Hill

     The Historic Civil Rights Commemorations Task Force, created by Mayor Pam Hemminger in the fall of 2017, gave the council a timeline of people, places and events in the town's civil rights struggle. Mason-Hogans, one of its leaders, told the council that who tells the history matters as much as the history itself.

455. August 2018 Chapel Hill's Building Integrated Communities assessment documents the refugee community from BurmaCommunity count · Chapel Hill

     The Town of Chapel Hill's Building Integrated Communities assessment reported about 1,200 refugees living in Orange County, roughly 90 percent from Burma. Of 74 refugees surveyed through Transplanting Traditions and the Refugee Support Center, 57 were from Burma and spoke Karenic languages.

456. August 2018 New Hope Elementary starts a Spanish dual-language program in Orange County SchoolsSchool program · New Hope (Orange County Schools)

     After a year and a half of planning, New Hope Elementary opened a 50-50 Spanish-English dual-language program for 48 kindergarten students at the start of the 2018-19 school year, taught on alternating days in English and Spanish. The principal described it as a way for Latino students to take pride in their heritage and keep the Spanish they use with their families.

457. August 20, 2018 Silent Sam is toppledChapel Hill

     On the evening of August 20, 2018, the eve of fall classes, about 250 protesters pulled UNC's Confederate monument in McCorkle Place from its pedestal at around 9:20 p.m. The toppling followed a year of campaigning for removal after the 2017 Charlottesville rally, and campus authorities took the statue to an undisclosed location.

458. August 24, 2018 The Smith Center floor is dedicated as Roy Williams CourtNaming · Dean E. Smith Center, Chapel Hill

     UNC announced on August 2, 2018 that it would name the Dean E. Smith Center playing floor for Williams, and the floor was dedicated on August 24.

459. September 24, 2018 UNC names its new field hockey stadium for Karen SheltonNaming · Karen Shelton Stadium, Chapel Hill

     The university announced that its field hockey facility would be called Karen Shelton Stadium, the first UNC playing field named in honor of a woman. The team had moved in at the start of preseason that August, and the stadium holds about 1,000 spectators.

460. November 2018 Chapel Hill's council accepts the task force plan for a Chapel Hill Nine markerTown council decision · 450 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill

     The council voted unanimously to accept the recommendations for a marker in front of 450 West Franklin Street, where Colonial Drug stood, and sent the plans to the town manager. Mason-Hogans, a task force member, said the marker and the learning around it mattered for young people.

461. November 6, 2018 Chapel Hill voters approve a $10 million affordable housing bondReferendum · Chapel Hill

     About 72 percent of voters approved $10 million in general obligation bonds toward the town's goal of 400 new and 300 preserved affordable units over five years, including public housing redevelopment.

462. November 18, 2018 UNC field hockey wins the 2018 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the 2018 NCAA field hockey title.

463. 2019 Chapel Hill adopts a Building Integrated Communities action planTown plan · Chapel Hill

     Following the 2018 community assessment, the town produced a 34-point plan covering public transportation, relations with law enforcement, resident leadership, housing access and communication in other languages. The town went on to translate documents into Spanish, Mandarin, Karen and Burmese and to add interpretation at meetings.

464. 2019 Chapel Hill adopts a Language Access Plan covering Karen and BurmeseLaw or policy · Chapel Hill

     The Chapel Hill Town Council adopted a Language Access Plan in 2019, following the Building Integrated Communities process in which immigrant and refugee residents named language access as a key need. The town has since translated hundreds of documents into Karen and Burmese as well as Spanish and Mandarin.

465. January 14 and 15, 2019 Folt orders the Silent Sam pedestal removed and announces she will step downMonument removal · McCorkle Place, Chapel Hill

     Folt ordered the removal on the Monday and announced in a campuswide email that she would resign, saying the remaining parts of the monument threatened the safety of the community. The university said at 1 a.m. on Tuesday that removal had begun, and by 2:40 a.m. a crew had taken the last of the base from the quad.

466. February 26, 2019 Hillsborough holds a celebration of Billy StrayhornCommemorative event · Hillsborough

     A day of events called A Celebration of Billy Strayhorn began at the historical marker on South Churton Street and ran on at the Orange County Main Library and the Burwell School Historic Site. Mayor Tom Stevens, the musician Yahyah Corbett, the choreographer David Rousseve, the Duke professor Thomas DeFrantz and the puppeteer Jeghetto took part.

467. February 28, 2019 The Chapel Hill Nine marker site is dedicated on the 59th anniversary of the sit-inCommemoration · 450 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill

     The town dedicated the marker site at 5 p.m. in front of the West End Wine Bar, where Colonial Drug had stood, and a march to First Baptist Church followed for a community celebration. Mason-Hogans, a main proponent of the marker, spoke about the task force's work.

468. March 7, 2019 Joal Broun is elected chair of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school boardSchool board leadership · Chapel Hill

     The board elected Broun chair by unanimous vote after chair Margaret Samuels resigned during a recall push over the Glenwood Elementary dual language magnet decision. Mary Ann Wolf took the vice chair seat Broun had held.

469. March 27, 2019 Durham–Orange light rail project endsCountywide

     On March 27, 2019, the GoTriangle board voted unanimously to stop planning the 18-mile Durham-Orange light rail line between Chapel Hill and Durham after Duke University declined to sign needed agreements. Orange County commissioners voted unanimously on April 2 to end the county's work on it.

470. May–June 2019 Chapel Hill and Carrboro created Historic Rogers Road zoning districtsLaw or policy · Rogers-Eubanks neighborhood

     The Chapel Hill Town Council closed its public hearing on May 22, 2019 and enacted Land Use Management Ordinance amendments establishing new zoning districts for the Historic Rogers Road Neighborhood. Carrboro added Section 15-136.1 to its Land Use Ordinance on June 18, 2019, creating the HR-R and HR-CC districts expressly to carry out the Mapping Our Community's Future plan.

471. June 27, 2019 The Rogers Road sewer extension was placed in serviceInfrastructure project · Rogers-Eubanks neighborhood

     OWASA put the extension into service on June 27, 2019 after the state accepted the as-built certification, ending a wait that residents traced to the 1972 landfill agreement. About 3.5 miles of sewer had been laid, and the neighborhood held a celebration at the community center on June 3. Individual owners still had to pay to connect their homes.

472. July 24–27, 2019 Merge Records holds its 30th anniversary festival at Cat's Cradle and in DurhamMusic festival · Carrboro

     More than 30 acts from the label's roster played MRG30 over four days. The Carrboro nights were at Cat's Cradle, where Superchunk closed the Thursday bill at midnight, and the opening night and after party were in Durham. Fans held a potluck and kickball game at Wilson Park in Carrboro on the Friday.

473. August 2019 A mural for Billy Strayhorn is painted on South Churton StreetPublic art · Hillsborough

     Max Dowdle painted an eleven by thirty five foot mural called Take the A Train on the side of 226 South Churton Street, the building that houses the record store and bar Volume. Volume's owner Tony Lopez proposed it, the Tourism Development Authority paid for it, and the Arts Council and the Historic District Commission approved it.

474. September 11, 2019 EPA closed the Rogers Road civil rights complaint as mootLaw or policy · Orange County

     The EPA External Civil Rights Compliance Office told the Orange County attorney that Complaint No. 13R-07-R4 was closed because interlocal agreements to which the county was a party had produced a completed water and sewer extension, and because OWASA is bound by those agreements to serve Rogers Road residents who connect. The letter found no systemic issues left to investigate and made no finding of discrimination.

475. September 29, 2019 UNC dedicates Dorrance Field at its new soccer and lacrosse stadiumNaming · Dorrance Field, Chapel Hill

     The university dedicated the field at its new soccer and lacrosse stadium to Dorrance before the women's game against Notre Dame, in his 43rd year of coaching at Carolina.

476. November 19, 2019 Carrboro's Board of Aldermen votes to rename itself the Town CouncilGovernance change · Carrboro

     After 50 years as the Board of Aldermen, a name the General Assembly approved in 1969, Carrboro's governing board passed a resolution changing its title to Town Council as part of making the town code gender neutral. It had tentatively approved the change after a public hearing on November 12. Randee Haven-O'Donnell said members who had sat on the board had felt the pinch of being called aldermen.

477. November 24, 2019 UNC field hockey wins the 2019 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the 2019 NCAA field hockey title.

478. December 2019–January 2020 Cat's Cradle marks 50 years with an anniversary concert seriesAnniversary · Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

     The "Cat's Cradle Turns 50" series put 50 acts on stage over six nights at the Carrboro club.

479. December 13, 2019 Kevin M. Guskiewicz is named UNC-Chapel Hill's twelfth chancellorAppointment · Chapel Hill

     The UNC System Board of Governors voted to make Guskiewicz chancellor, effective that day. He had been interim chancellor since February 6, 2019, was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from January 2016 and had taught at Chapel Hill since 1995. He marked the start with a $5 million investment for the university to study its past.

480. 2020 2020 census counts the Hispanic or Latino population of Orange County, Carrboro and Chapel HillCensus count · Orange County

     The 2020 census counted 15,812 Hispanic or Latino residents in Orange County, 4,734 in Chapel Hill and 2,723 in Carrboro, from the 2020 redistricting data as compiled in the NC Office of State Budget and Management's LINC database.

481. February 2020 Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz formally charges the Commission on History, Race and a Way ForwardInstitutional milestone · Chapel Hill

     The commission, formed in 2019 and co-chaired by Jim Leloudis and Patricia Parker, was charged with researching the university's history with race and recommending how to reckon with it.

482. February 2020 Exhibit honoring housekeeping and facilities staff opens in the renovated Cheek-Clark BuildingExhibition · Cheek-Clark Building, UNC

     A lobby exhibit in the renovated Kennon Cheek and Rebecca Clark Building presents the lives of Cheek, Clark and groundskeeper William Hubbard with a timeline of the university's housekeeping and facilities work.

483. March 2020 Mutual Aid Carrboro opens a COVID-19 solidarity fund for workersMutual aid · Carrboro

     Mutual Aid Carrboro partnered with NC Piedmont DSA to raise money for workers sent home without pay, running a solidarity fund for emergencies such as evictions and utility shutoffs. Applications were offered in Spanish, English and Chinese, with interpreter lines for Karen, Burmese and Kinyarwanda speakers.

484. March 11–13, 2020 Cat's Cradle plays its last shows before the pandemic shutdownBusiness closure · Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

     Destroyer played the main room at 300 East Main Street on March 11, 2020, and Songs From the Road Band played the Back Room on March 13, the club's last shows before COVID-19 closed it. Heath said he began rescheduling on the night of March 11, when the NBA suspended its season, and the March 14 shows were cancelled.

485. March 2020–May 2022 COVID-19 transforms Orange CountyDisaster or violence · Chapel Hill

     Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro declared states of emergency on March 13, 2020, and the county and its three towns ordered residents to stay home from March 27. UNC moved undergraduate classes online in August 2020 after campus clusters. The county emergency, extended more than a dozen times, expired on May 1, 2022.

486. March 13, 2020 Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools launches Food for Students meal distributionFounding or opening · Chapel Hill

     CHCCS, the Town of Chapel Hill, PORCH and volunteers began handing out free meals to students as schools closed, starting from about 20 sites. By December 21, 2020 the program had distributed more than 900,000 meals from 37 sites.

487. March 13, 2020 Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro declare a COVID-19 state of emergencyLaw or policy · Orange County

     Orange County government and the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro declared states of emergency to prepare for COVID-19, allowing emergency procedures and funding. The county declaration, extended more than a dozen times, stayed in force until May 1, 2022.

488. March 16, 2020 Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and Orange County Schools close under a statewide orderInstitutional milestone · Orange County

     Governor Roy Cooper closed all North Carolina public schools for at least two weeks from Monday, March 16, 2020, shutting both Orange County districts. CHCCS then began online classes for grades 6-12 and sent learning packets home for grades K-5 at the end of March while serving meals to students.

489. March 18, 2020 Orange County Public Library closes its buildings and sets out a free book shelfInstitutional milestone · Orange County Public Library, Hillsborough

     With its buildings closed, the library kept the Hillsborough and Carrboro book drops and phone reference running, stopped charging late fees, and from March 18 set out a free book and DVD shelf outside the Main Library in Hillsborough.

490. March 20, 2020 Orange County Health Department identifies the county's first COVID-19 casesPublic health · Orange County

     The health department announced that Orange County residents had tested positive for COVID-19 at the State Laboratory of Public Health and were isolating at home. Health Director Quintana Stewart said the response was shifting from containment to mitigation.

491. March 27–May 8, 2020 Orange County and its three towns issue a joint stay-at-home orderLaw or policy · Orange County

     Orange County, with Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough, ordered residents to stay home except for essential needs from 6 p.m. on March 27, 2020, three days before the statewide order took effect. Set to run until April 30, it was extended to May 8 to match the state order.

492. March 30–April 29, 2020 Governor Cooper's statewide stay-at-home order takes effectLaw or policy · Orange County

     Executive Order 121, signed March 27, 2020, took effect at 5 p.m. on March 30 and ordered North Carolinians to stay home except for essential work and activities, capping gatherings at 10 people. Orange County's joint order had begun three days earlier.

493. April 2020 Orange County and the towns launch a Housing Helpline for emergency rental aidFounding or opening · Orange County

     Orange County and the Towns of Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough opened a Housing Helpline in April 2020 to connect residents with emergency rent, utility and deposit assistance. The county's Emergency Housing Assistance program paid out $2.5 million to 1,005 residents in 2020, and an Eviction Diversion Program followed in July 2020.

494. April 10, 2020 Orange County reports its first COVID-19 deathPublic health · Orange County

     The health department reported that a resident in their 70s under hospice care at PruittHealth-Carolina Point, one of two long-term care facilities with outbreaks, had died of COVID-19 complications. The county then had 104 confirmed cases, and PruittHealth had at least 86 positive cases among residents and staff.

495. May 22, 2020 Drive-through food distribution at Chapel Hill Public Library serves 576 householdsMutual aid · Chapel Hill Public Library

     PORCH, the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina and the Town of Chapel Hill ran a drive-through food distribution in the Chapel Hill Public Library's lower parking lot, serving 576 households, or 2,391 people, with about 40 volunteers.

496. June 12, 2020 Orange County requires face coveringsLaw or policy · Orange County

     Orange County and its towns extended the local state of emergency through August 31, 2020 and required face coverings from 5 p.m. on June 12 when people could not keep six feet apart.

497. June 16, 2020 Orange County Commissioners adopt a countywide Language Access policyPublic services · Orange County

     The Board of County Commissioners approved a policy requiring free interpretation and translation for residents with limited English across all county services, and directing each county department to keep a language access plan and train its staff.

498. July 16, 2020 Orange County Schools votes to open the school year onlineInstitutional milestone · Orange County

     The Orange County Schools board voted unanimously to begin the 2020-21 year with remote-only classes for at least the first four weeks, on the recommendation of Superintendent Monique Felder.

499. July 28, 2020 Daphne Athas dies in Chapel HillBirth or death · Chapel Hill

     Athas died in Chapel Hill on July 28, 2020. She had long lived in Carrboro in a small cabin she built with friends and into her late 80s was a familiar sight biking across town.

500. July 29, 2020 UNC trustees vote to remove Josephus Daniels’s name from the student stores buildingRenaming · Chapel Hill

     On July 29, 2020 the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees voted 11 to 2 to remove four names from campus buildings, among them Josephus Daniels. The Daniels Building became UNC Student Stores, and the names of Charles Brantley Aycock, Julian Shakespeare Carr and Thomas Ruffin Sr. were removed at the same meeting.

501. July 30, 2020 Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools extends online-only classes intoInstitutional milestone · Chapel Hill

     The CHCCS board unanimously accepted interim Superintendent Jim Causby's recommendation to keep classes virtual through at least January 15, 2021. On December 18, 2020 the board kept remote learning in place through at least February.

502. July 31, 2020 North Carolina musicians release Cover Charge to benefit the Cat's CradleBenefit album · Carrboro

     Twenty-five North Carolina acts, among them Superchunk, the Mountain Goats, Tift Merritt and Iron and Wine, recorded cover songs for an album to raise money for the closed Carrboro club. Musician and UNC professor Florence Dore organized it, and Heath said presales were running better than expected.

503. August 10–19, 2020 UNC reopening produces a COVID-19 outbreakDisaster or violence · Chapel Hill

     UNC-Chapel Hill began in-person classes on August 10, 2020, reported four COVID-19 clusters in residence halls, private student housing and a fraternity within days, and on August 17 announced that undergraduate classes would move online from August 19. Campus test positivity rose from 2.8 percent to 13.6 percent in one week.

504. November 21, 2020 Family and community march to remember James Cates on the 50th anniversaryCommemoration · Chapel Hill

     A candlelit march went from Hargraves Community Center to St. Joseph CME Church and down Franklin Street to Peace and Justice Plaza, where the Town of Chapel Hill invited residents to leave flowers and messages for the Cates family. Mayor Pam Hemminger pledged to work with the family and UNC to investigate the killing.

505. 2021 Community Home Trust marks 30 years with 332 permanently affordable homesInstitutional milestone · Chapel Hill; Carrboro

     At its 30th anniversary the Home Trust held 332 permanently affordable homes in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, up from about 100 in 2005.

506. 2021 County budget closes the McDougle branch and consolidates Carrboro service at the CybraryClosing · Carrboro

     Orange County's FY 2021–22 budget closed the Carrboro branch library at McDougle School, moved its staff to the Cybrary and lengthened Cybrary hours from 44 to 54 a week to match the Main Library, whose hours were cut from 68 to 54. The two changes together saved $143,083, and the same budget ended support for the Cedar Grove library kiosk.

507. 2021 James Cates Remembrance Coalition proposes naming Student Stores for CatesNaming proposal · Chapel Hill

     A coalition of Cates's family, historian Danita Mason-Hogans and community members proposed renaming UNC's Student Stores building in his honor. The building had not been renamed as of 2024.

508. 2021 Stewart receives the Chapel Hill-Carrboro chamber's citizenship and service awardHonor or award · Chapel Hill

     The Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce gave Stewart its Duke Energy Citizenship and Service Award in 2021, during the county's COVID-19 vaccination campaign. She later received the Ron Levine Public Health Legacy Award in 2022 and a National Association of Counties award in 2025.

509. Early January 2021 Health department vaccinates its first recipients at drive-through clinicsPublic health · Orange County

     By early January 2021 the Orange County Health Department had vaccinated about 1,000 Phase 1a personnel at drive-through clinics in Hillsborough and Chapel Hill and opened sign-ups for residents 75 and older, more than 4,200 of whom registered.

510. January 11, 2021 UNC Health opens a large vaccination clinic at the Friday CenterPublic health · Friday Conference Center, Chapel Hill

     UNC Health opened its largest appointment-only COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the Friday Conference Center in Chapel Hill, starting with people 75 and older. Staff expected about 600 patients a day in the first week and up to 1,500 a day at full capacity.

511. January 12, 2021 Carrboro Town Council adopts a nondiscrimination ordinance covering sexual orientation and gender identityLaw or policy · Carrboro

     Six weeks after the state's moratorium on local employment and public accommodation ordinances expired on December 1, 2020, the Council unanimously adopted Ordinance No. 10/20-21, adding to Chapter 8 of the Town Code a ban on discrimination in employment and places of public accommodation that covers sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. The ordinance took effect on adoption and cited the town's March 26, 2016 pledge to seek such protections.

512. January 21, 2021 IFC Commons opens in CarrboroDated milestone · Carrboro

     The Inter-Faith Council for Social Service opened IFC Commons at 110 West Main Street in Carrboro, a $6 million building that put its community kitchen, food market and other non-shelter programs under one roof. Its virtual grand opening was held January 21, 2021.

513. January 25–March 15, 2021 Orange County Schools students return to classroomsInstitutional milestone · Orange County

     Kindergarten and first-grade students returned for hybrid in-person classes on January 25, 2021. Students in grades 2-12 followed in two rotating cohorts on March 8 and March 15, a month earlier than planned, after Senate Bill 37 required districts to offer in-person instruction.

514. February 28, 2021 Orange County Health Department launches a health equity websitePublic health · Orange County

     The health department launched a health equity webpage to stay accountable to residents on racial equity, citing the county commissioners' June 16, 2020 declaration of structural racism as a public health crisis.

515. March 8, 2021 Hillsborough renames Thomas Ruffin Street as Lydia LaneStreet renaming · Hillsborough

     The Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to rename the street for Lydia, the enslaved woman shot by John Mann in the case Thomas Ruffin decided. All twelve households on the street had petitioned for a new name and had first proposed Hope Lane; Commissioner Mark Bell suggested using Lydia's name, and Commissioner Kathleen Ferguson made the motion to approve.

516. March 21, 2021 Gaps in vaccination among Black and Hispanic residents reportedPublic health · Orange County

     Chapelboro reported that Black residents were 12.4 percent of Orange County's population but 9 percent of those vaccinated, and Hispanic residents 8.6 percent and 5.5 percent. The county was working with church leaders and advocates in a Human Services Consulting Group and had held clinics at the Hargraves Community Center and in Cedar Grove.

517. March 22, 2021 Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools students return for hybrid classesInstitutional milestone · Chapel Hill

     The CHCCS board voted unanimously on March 4, 2021 to begin hybrid in-person instruction on March 22, nearly a month before the April 19 start it had approved in February. Students attended in cohorts two days a week, and roughly half could remain fully remote.

518. April 2021 The three governments adopted an interlocal agreement on the future of the Greene TractLaw or policy · Greene Tract

     The agreement required Orange County, Chapel Hill and Carrboro to act jointly in hiring consultants, entering development agreements and taking public input, put the mayors, chair and managers in a working group to negotiate the ultimate uses, and stated an initial intent covering mixed use and affordable housing, a school site with recreation, a joint preserve and connectivity. A November 2021 resolution then approved the recombination plat and the conceptual plan for the 60-acre county tract and the 107-acre joint tract.

519. April 1, 2021 Roy Williams announces his retirement at the Smith CenterRetirement · Dean E. Smith Center, Chapel Hill

     Williams, 70, announced his retirement at a Smith Center news conference after 33 seasons as a college head coach, with 903 wins and three NCAA titles at UNC.

520. April 19, 2021 House bill to clarify Occaneechi recognition filed but not enactedLaw or policy · Alamance and Orange counties

     House Bill 600 proposed amending G.S. 71A-7.2 to clarify the Occaneechi Band's recognition and its eligibility for federal Indian programs. Its last recorded action was referral to the Senate Committee on Rules and Operations on May 13, 2021.

521. May 1, 2021 Pop-up vaccine clinic held at the Rogers Road Community CenterPublic health · Rogers Road Community Center, Chapel Hill

     The Orange County Health Department held a pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the Rogers Road Community Center for Hispanic and Asian American residents, many of whom do not speak English, after local volunteers asked for one and printed flyers in several languages.

522. May 9, 2021 (2020 championship) UNC field hockey wins the 2020 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the 2020 NCAA field hockey title. The postponed 2020 championship was played in spring 2021.

523. May 26, 2021 Lydia Lavelle announces she will not seek a fifth term as Carrboro mayorAnnouncement · Carrboro

     After four terms as mayor and fourteen years in town office, Lavelle said she would not run again, saying that to everything there is a season and that she looked forward to what came next.

524. May 27, 2021 Jenny Levy is elected to the National Lacrosse Hall of FameHonor · Chapel Hill

     UNC announced that Levy had been chosen for the 2021 class of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in her 26th season at Carolina, with a record of 373 wins and 117 losses and two NCAA titles at that point.

525. June 9, 2021 Crook's Corner announces its closureInstitutional closure · Chapel Hill

     On June 9, 2021, the owners of Crook's Corner told customers the West Franklin Street restaurant was closing, saying the COVID-19 crisis had made their position untenable. Gene Hamer and chef Bill Neal opened it in 1982, Bill Smith later led the kitchen, and the James Beard Foundation named it an America's Classic in 2011.

526. June 18, 2021 Governor Cooper appoints Joal Broun a district court judge for Orange and Chatham countiesJudicial appointment · Orange County

     Broun was appointed to the District 15B seat vacated by Judge Beverly Scarlett. She was then director of the lobbying compliance division at the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State.

527. 2021–2025 Orange County Public Library adds Spanish-language classes and bilingual storytimesPublic services · Carrboro

     Beginning in the 2021–22 fiscal year the library offered Spanish-language computer basics classes with the Family Success Alliance and UNC's Community Workshop Series. By 2023–24 it held storytimes in English and Spanish at Carrboro's Century Center, added Spanish interpretation to free computer classes and ran a health series for Spanish speakers with El Centro Hispano, and in 2024–25 it added bilingual storytimes at the Carrboro Farmers' Market and monthly conversational Spanish programs.

528. July 6, 2021 Orange County Public Library reopens its Main Library buildingInstitutional milestone · Hillsborough

     After more than a year of closure and appointment-only curbside pickup, the Main Library reopened with distancing measures under the county's plan to reopen facilities through July 2021. In Carrboro the branch at McDougle School closed on June 13 and the Cybrary opened for browsing on August 6.

529. July 16, 2021 Joal Broun is sworn in as a district court judgeOath of office · Orange County

     Secretary of State Elaine Marshall administered the oath to Broun, who left her post as the department's lobbying compliance division director and gave up her school board seat to take the judgeship.

530. August 9, 2021 Carrboro unveils a truth plaque naming Green Cordal and Benjamin CraigCommemoration · Carrboro

     The Town of Carrboro unveiled its second truth plaque at the former freedmen's school site on North Merritt Mill Road, next to St. Paul AME Church. The text reads that Green Cordal and Benjamin Craig, freed from bondage, purchased this land for a Freedman School and church, and that with funds from the Society of Friends they built a schoolhouse that served hundreds of free Black children and adults.

531. August 11, 2021 Orange County reinstates an indoor mask mandateLaw or policy · Orange County

     As the delta variant spread, Orange County and the Towns of Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough required masks inside buildings and businesses from 5 p.m. on August 11, 2021.

532. August 12, 2021 Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board honors Stanley Vickers and his family on the 60th anniversary of his court victoryCommemoration · Chapel Hill

     The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools board passed a resolution recognizing the Vickers family's work to integrate the schools. Vickers, then in his 70s, attended and recalled eating lunch and going to gym alone as one of the first Black students at the junior high.

533. October 18, 2021 The history and race commission holds a public webinar on the Unsung Founders MemorialPublic program · Chapel Hill

     The Commission on History, Race and a Way Forward opened a two-part webinar series, Unsung Founders Memorial: Past and Present, with members of the Class of 2002 committee and statements from artist Do Ho Suh.

534. November 2021 Chapel Hill Public Library webinar marks the 51st anniversary of the Cates killingCommemoration · Chapel Hill

     The Chapel Hill Public Library hosted a webinar in which family and friends, including state Senator Valerie Foushee, a first cousin of Cates, reflected on his life and on the failures that followed his death.

535. November 16, 2021 Orange County Public Library ends overdue finesPolicy decision · Orange County

     Orange County commissioners approved a fine-free model for the county library, and overdue fines ended the next day. Library staff had found that fines fell hardest on residents facing economic hardship; charges for lost or damaged items continued.

536. December 7, 2021 Carrboro honors Jacquelyn Gist after 32 years on its governing boardTribute · Carrboro

     Gist, who lost her seat in the 2021 municipal election, was honored by the council for more than three decades of service. Kept away by COVID-19 concerns, she sent a recorded statement saying she had spent 32 years working so that everyone who came to Carrboro would feel the same sense of place and home she had found there.

537. December 7, 2021 Carrboro honors Lydia Lavelle as Damon Seils is sworn in as mayorTransition of office · Carrboro

     At the council's meeting the town honored Lavelle for her four terms as mayor, and state senator Valerie Foushee administered the oath of office to her successor, Damon Seils. Randee Haven-O'Donnell, Barbara Foushee and Danny Nowell began council terms at the same meeting.

538. 2022 Census counts 36 migrant workers on Orange County farmsCensus statistic · Orange County

     The 2022 Census of Agriculture found 174 Orange County farms employing 597 hired workers, including 36 migrant workers on seven farms. Between 2017 and 2022 the number of tobacco farms in the county fell by 60 percent.

539. Spring 2022 Hsar Ree Ree Wei becomes executive director of Transplanting TraditionsInstitutional milestone · Transplanting Traditions Community Farm, Chapel Hill

     Founder Kelly Owensby stepped back in spring 2022 and Hsar Ree Ree Wei, who was born in a Thai refugee camp and joined the farm as a youth intern in 2012, became executive director.

540. 2022 Northside land bank passes 41 propertiesInstitutional milestone · Northside, Chapel Hill

     By mid-2022 the initiative had bought more than 41 Northside properties with the UNC loan, and 51 families with 50 children had moved into the neighborhood through its housing work.

541. March 2022 Justice Department opens a cold-case investigation into the Cates killingInvestigation · Chapel Hill

     The U.S. Department of Justice opened an investigation into the killing under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act and its cold-case initiative for racially motivated killings before 1980. Cates's cousins Nate Davis and Valerie Foushee welcomed the review.

542. March 7, 2022 Orange County lifts its indoor mask mandateLaw or policy · Orange County

     Orange County and its three towns ended the indoor mask requirement on March 7, 2022. UNC-Chapel Hill lifted its campus mandate the same day, and Orange County Schools planned to make masks optional on March 10.

543. April 2022 Danita Mason-Hogans receives a national fellowship for a critical oral history of Chapel Hill and UNCFellowship · Chapel Hill

     The Oral History Association named her one of eleven year-long fellows funded by a National Endowment for the Humanities grant. Her project is a critical oral history of Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina.

544. April 23, 2022 Reconstructed Occaneechi Village is rededicatedMemorial or commemoration · Hillsborough

     The Occaneechi replica village in River Park was rededicated after about five years of work by tribal members, volunteers, town and county staff and the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough. It includes a palisade, four huts, a work arbor, fire pit, lean-to and cooking table.

545. May 1, 2022 Orange County's COVID-19 state of emergency expiresLaw or policy · Orange County

     The county's COVID-19 emergency declaration, in force since March 13, 2020 and extended more than a dozen times, expired at 5 p.m. on May 1, 2022, making it the longest-running state of emergency in county history.

546. May 5, 2022 Ground is broken for the Southern Branch Library in CarrboroConstruction · Carrboro

     Carrboro and Orange County broke ground at 203 South Greensboro Street for the Orange County Southern Branch Library and civic building known as The 203 Project, after both boards gave final approval on March 15, 2022. Mayor Damon Seils led the program, with remarks by commissioners' chair Renee Price, County Manager Bonnie Hammersley, Town Manager Richard J. White III and Nerys Levy of the Friends of the Southern Branch Library.

547. May 29, 2022 UNC women’s lacrosse wins the 2022 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the 2022 NCAA women’s lacrosse championship.

548. June 2022 A Blue Cross NC Foundation grant expands Building Integrated CommunitiesGrant · Chapel Hill

     The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation awarded $1.55 million to the program, with further money to community partners, naming Gill as principal investigator. Chapel Hill received a separate three-year grant of $375,000 from the same foundation for its own immigrant and refugee work.

549. June 17, 2022 Journey of Reconciliation convictions are vacatedCourt case · Countywide

     On June 17, 2022, Orange County Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour vacated the disorderly conduct convictions of Bayard Rustin, Igal Roodenko, Andrew Johnson and Joseph Felmet. The four Journey of Reconciliation riders had been arrested in Chapel Hill in April 1947 for refusing to leave the front of an interstate bus.

550. July 18, 2022 Erin Sapienza is named director of the Orange County Public LibraryAppointment · Orange County

     County Manager Bonnie Hammersley named Erin Sapienza library director after she had served as interim director since October 2021, when director Lucinda Munger resigned. Sapienza joined the library in June 2013 as a branch manager, became community services librarian in October 2015 and assistant director in March 2020.

551. August 12, 2022 UNC announces a permanent memorial to James Cates in the PitInstitutional milestone · Chapel Hill

     Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz announced that a permanent memorial to Cates would be installed in the Pit later in 2022, developed with students, faculty, staff and the Cates family, approved by the Board of Trustees and supported by the Town of Chapel Hill.

552. September 2022 Chapel Hill names the Hargraves Center gym for Nate DavisNaming or dedication · Hargraves Community Center, Chapel Hill

     The Town Council unanimously approved naming the Northside Gym at the Hargraves Community Center for Davis, the center's director for more than three decades, and its indoor court for Fred Battle, director from 1970 to 1987.

553. November 20, 2022 UNC field hockey wins the 2022 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the 2022 NCAA field hockey title.

554. November 21, 2022 UNC dedicates the James L. Cates Jr. Memorial in the PitMemorial dedication · The Pit, UNC-Chapel Hill

     On the 52nd anniversary of his death, UNC dedicated a black lectern-style marker near the spot where Cates was stabbed, with an inscription from the University and the Town of Chapel Hill. Speakers included Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Congresswoman-elect Valerie Foushee for the family, student body president Taliajah Vann and BSM president Julia Clark.

555. December 2022 UNC raises housekeepers' pay by 90 cents an hourLabor dispute · Chapel Hill

     Guskiewicz told the campus by email that housekeeping salaries would rise, with the amount set by position and experience and back pay to November 21, 2022. Housekeepers, who had asked for $20 an hour and an end to parking fees, called the raise a slap in the face and rallied outside South Building in February 2023.

556. December 7, 2022 Karen Shelton announces her retirement as UNC field hockey coachRetirement · Chapel Hill

     Shelton retired after 42 seasons with a record of 745 wins, 172 losses and 9 ties and 10 NCAA championships, the last won by an unbeaten 2022 team. She is the winningest coach in the sport's history.

557. January 24, 2023 John Blackfeather Jeffries dies, and state flags are lowered in his honorDeath · Hillsborough

     Jeffries, a Hillsborough resident and Occaneechi tribal elder, died on January 24, 2023. Governor Roy Cooper ordered state flags lowered to half-staff on February 1, 2023 in his honor.

558. January 31, 2023 Erin Matson succeeds Karen Shelton as UNC field hockey coachCoaching appointment · Chapel Hill

     UNC named Matson, who had graduated a month earlier after playing on four championship teams, the fifth head coach in program history and only the second since the early 1980s.

559. March 2023 Hillsborough tribute remembers John Blackfeather JeffriesMemorial · Passmore Center, Hillsborough

     The Occaneechi Band, the arts group Spirit Freedom and the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau held a tribute to Jeffries at the Passmore Center in Hillsborough. Speakers included former mayor Tom Stevens and tribal chair Tony Hayes.

560. March 3, 2023 Jenny Levy wins her 400th game at Dorrance FieldAthletics milestone · Dorrance Field, Chapel Hill

     UNC beat Boston College 16 to 5 at Dorrance Field for Levy's 400th career victory, all of them at Carolina, in her 28th season. She was the sixth head coach in any division of the sport to reach 400 wins.

561. April 29, 2023 Soil collection ceremony at the Orange County courthouse honors Cyrus Guy and four other 1869 lynching victimsCommemoration · Orange County Courthouse, Hillsborough

     The Orange County Community Remembrance Coalition held a soil collection ceremony for Washington Morrow, Wright Malone, Daniel Morrow, Thomas Jefferson Morrow and Cyrus Guy, all lynched in 1869. One jar for each man was to go to the Equal Justice Initiative's memorial collection in Montgomery, Alabama, and a second jar was to stay in Orange County.

562. May 2023 Latino residents press for Spanish-language mental health care at a Chapel Hill assemblyInstitutional milestone · St. Thomas More Catholic Church, Chapel Hill

     At a public accountability assembly at St. Thomas More Catholic Church organized by Orange County Justice United and the North Carolina Congress of Latino Organizations, residents called for more mental health services in Spanish. That month Alliance Health announced $500,000 for El Futuro's services and programs in Orange County.

563. May 20, 2023 UNC women’s tennis wins the 2023 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the NCAA women’s team tennis championship.

564. 2023–2025 Orange County Main Library begins sensory-friendly browsing hoursPublic services · Hillsborough

     After staff training with the Autism Society of North Carolina, the library started a Sensory Friendly Browsing Hour during the 2023–24 fiscal year. In 2024–25 it installed sensory-friendly furnishings in the Youth Services area and held monthly sensory-friendly browsing hours for families.

565. July 7, 2023 Sammy Slade announces he will not seek reelection to the Carrboro Town CouncilAnnouncement · Carrboro

     As candidate filing opened, Slade said he would step back after fourteen years, writing that he had believed local action was where representation could happen most authentically but that local government, operating within the same system, was no longer where he could help mitigate climate change.

566. August 26, 2023 The ArtsCenter moves to Roberson StreetBuilding opening · Carrboro

     The ArtsCenter opened its new home at 400 Roberson Street in downtown Carrboro with a parade and ribbon-cutting on August 26, 2023, after moving from 300 East Main Street. The renovated former office building, nearly 18,000 square feet, added a larger ceramics studio, maker spaces, a black-box theater and a youth education center.

567. August 28, 2023 Zijie Yan, a UNC professor, is killed on campusDisaster or violence · Chapel Hill

     On August 28, 2023, Zijie Yan, an associate professor, was shot and killed in UNC's Caudill Labs, and the campus locked down for about three hours. Graduate student Tailei Qi was arrested that afternoon and charged with first-degree murder; the case had not come to trial by March 2026.

568. October 17, 2023 EMPOWERment broke ground on PEACH apartments at the former Pine Knolls Community CenterHousing · 107 Johnson Street, Pine Knolls, Chapel Hill

     The nonprofit began building 10 debt-free apartments for households earning 30 percent or less of area median income at 107 Johnson Street, where Ted Parrish had run the independent Pine Knolls Community Center. It had raised $3.5 million for the project.

569. November 2023 Orange County Public Library starts DELIVEReads home deliveryPublic services · Orange County

     The library and Orange County Transportation Services began delivering library materials to residents unable to visit because of illness, disability, physical limitations or transportation problems, with up to ten items a month and staff selections on request. The service made 180 deliveries in its first fiscal year and later extended to caregivers.

570. November 19, 2023 UNC field hockey wins the 2023 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the 2023 NCAA field hockey title.

571. December 5, 2023 Barbara Foushee is sworn in as Carrboro's first Black woman mayorElection · Carrboro

     Barbara Foushee, a council member since 2017, won the November 2023 mayoral election unopposed and took office as the first Black woman mayor of Carrboro and its second Black mayor after Robert Drakeford. She was re-elected in November 2025.

572. Early 2024 El Futuro launches Mentes Fuertes, a Spanish-language mental health program in Orange CountyFounding or opening · Orange County

     Four Spanish-speaking community health workers began leading free ten-session psychoeducation groups at the Orange County Rape Crisis Center, St. Thomas More and Holy Family Catholic Church. By March 2024, 48 participants had enrolled.

573. 2024 Merge Records marks 35 years with four shows at Cat's CradleMusic festival · Carrboro

     Merge celebrated its 35th anniversary with four shows at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, the club that had held its earlier anniversary festivals, in the same year the label was named to the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.

574. January 2024 The News of Orange merges with the Mebane EnterpriseBusiness merger · Hillsborough and Mebane

     Womack Publishing announced on January 3, 2024, that its weeklies The News of Orange County and the Mebane Enterprise would merge at the end of January. The combined paper, with a section for Mebane, covers Mebane, Hillsborough and Efland from the News of Orange office in Hillsborough, and the Mebane office closed.

575. January 12, 2024 Guskiewicz leaves the Chapel Hill chancellorshipResignation · Chapel Hill

     He announced on December 8, 2023 that he would step down after nearly five years leading the campus, and January 12, 2024 was his last day. He became president of Michigan State University on March 4, 2024.

576. February 18, 2024 Carrboro unveils a marker honoring Manly McCauleyMemorial or commemoration · Carrboro

     On February 18, 2024, the Town of Carrboro, the Orange County Community Remembrance Coalition and the Equal Justice Initiative unveiled a historical marker beside Carrboro Town Hall for Manly McCauley. McCauley, an 18-year-old Black farmhand, was lynched by a white mob in 1898 near Hatch Road and Old Greensboro Road, west of Carrboro.

577. March 19, 2024 Carrboro backs a study of turning the old University Railroad line into a greenwayLaw or policy · Carrboro

     The Town Council unanimously approved an agreement to study converting the 11-mile rail corridor, which still carries coal to UNC's cogeneration plant, into a multi-use trail once the plant stops using coal.

578. April 9, 2024 Carrboro adopts a townwide Language Access PlanLaw or policy · Carrboro

     The Town Council adopted a Language Access Plan naming six community languages (Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Karen, Burmese and Arabic), with Spanish the most spoken. The plan was developed with UNC's Building Integrated Communities program and the Refugee Community Partnership.

579. May 30, 2024 State highway marker for the Occaneechi Indian Tribe dedicated at the tribal centerInstitutional milestone · Occaneechi Tribal Center, Dailey Store Road, Alamance County

     North Carolina dedicated highway historical marker G-142, which notes the band's 2002 state recognition, at the Occaneechi Tribal Center on Dailey Store Road, and the tribe opened a new community center the same day.

580. June 3, 2024 Chapel Hill breaks ground on the Trinity Court redevelopmentRedevelopment · Trinity Court, Chapel Hill

     Trinity Court, 40 public housing units built in 1975 and vacated in 2018 for structural problems, is being rebuilt with Community Housing Partners as 54 affordable apartments after an April 2022 rezoning and an October 2022 tax credit award. Leasing began in winter 2026.

581. June 30, 2024 Buckhorn Flea Market closes on Buckhorn RoadBusiness · Buckhorn Road, Orange County (near Mebane and Efland)

     The Buckhorn Flea Market on Buckhorn Road in western Orange County, known to many Spanish speakers as La Pulga de Mebane, closed after about four decades when a trucking company bought the land. Its 300 to 500 weekend vendors were largely Latino immigrants, and the Mebane City Council voted on July 1 to annex and rezone the property for a truck terminal.

582. 2024–2025 A bilingual book walk is installed at Efland-Cheeks Community ParkPublic services · Efland

     The county parks department and the library installed a bilingual English–Spanish book walk at Efland-Cheeks Community Park during the 2024–25 fiscal year, paid for by the Friends of the Orange County Public Library. It brought a library reading program to a rural part of the county without a branch.

583. 2024–2025 Interlibrary loan returns through UNC-Chapel HillPublic services · Orange County

     Working with UNC-Chapel Hill, the Orange County Public Library restored interlibrary loan during the 2024–25 fiscal year at no cost to patrons. The county had charged $1 plus library costs, raised the fee to $3 in October 2013 and cut it from $4 back to $3 in 2018 before the service lapsed.

584. August 11, 2024 Anson Dorrance announces his retirement as UNC women's soccer coachRetirement · Chapel Hill

     Dorrance told his team he was retiring after 45 seasons with the women's program, days before the season opener; associate head coach Damon Nahas became interim head coach. His women's teams went 934-88-53 and won 21 NCAA titles.

585. October 15–November 7, 2024 Carrboro and Orange County name the Drakeford Library ComplexNaming · Carrboro

     The Carrboro Town Council on October 15 and the Orange County commissioners on November 7, 2024 approved naming the building under construction at 203 South Greensboro Street for Robert "Bob" Drakeford, Carrboro's first Black mayor. A naming committee of two council members, two commissioners and two Friends of the Library members recommended the name on September 24 after a community survey drew more than 200 responses.

586. November 20, 2024 Student groups hold a memorial for James Cates in the PitCommemoration · The Pit, UNC-Chapel Hill

     The Southern Student Action Coalition, the Black Student Movement, the Community Justice, Abolition and Anti-Racism Collective and the UNC NAACP held a memorial at the Pit, where speakers criticized the wording and placement of the 2022 plaque.

587. December 9, 2024 UNC women’s soccer wins the 2024 NCAA national championshipCary, North Carolina; UNC–Chapel Hill team

     UNC defeated Wake Forest, 1–0, in the national final.

588. January 2025 Occoneechee Speedway joins Eno River State ParkPreservation or planning · Eno River

     North Carolina finalized the addition of more than 200 acres near Hillsborough, including the Historic Occoneechee Speedway trail and the James M. Johnston Nature Preserve, to Eno River State Park. The Eno River Association had arranged the sale from the Jenrette Foundation, formerly the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust.

589. February 2025 Drakeford Library Complex opensFounding or opening · Carrboro

     Orange County's Southern Branch Library opened in February 2025 in the $42 million Drakeford Library Complex at 203 South Greensboro Street in Carrboro, replacing the Carrboro Cybrary, which had closed on January 31, 2025. The building, named for Robert Drakeford, Carrboro's first Black mayor, also houses town recreation offices and WCOM Radio.

590. May 25, 2025 UNC women’s lacrosse wins the 2025 NCAA national championshipChapel Hill

     UNC won the 2025 NCAA women’s lacrosse championship.

591. 2025–2026 Food pantries open at the Main Library and the Southern BranchPublic services · Hillsborough; Carrboro

     During the 2025–26 fiscal year the library built a permanent food pantry in the Main Library lobby in Hillsborough and worked with a local Girl Scout troop to establish one at the Southern Branch in Carrboro. The Main Library also collected 424 pounds of food for the Orange Congregations in Mission pantry.

592. July 6–7, 2025 Tropical Storm Chantal floods Orange CountyDisaster or violence · Chapel Hill

     Chantal dropped up to 10 inches of rain on Orange County on the night of July 6, 2025. Chapel Hill crews made more than 50 water rescues around Camelot Village and Eastgate Crossing, Carrboro's Weatherhill Pointe flooded, and the Eno at Hillsborough set a record crest on July 7. The county declared an emergency that day.

593. July 18, 2025 Randee Haven-O'Donnell announces she will not seek reelection to the Carrboro Town CouncilAnnouncement · Carrboro

     Ending twenty years on the town's governing board, Haven-O'Donnell said she was encouraging new voices and would turn to organizing and advocacy on reproductive rights, tenants' rights, stormwater, water quality and PFAS pollution. Chapelboro noted that during her service the council approved the South Green development, a community safety task force and greenway projects.

594. September 6, 2025 Hilliard Caldwell dies at 88Death · Carrboro

     Caldwell, who advised the Lincoln High School students who held Chapel Hill's first sit-in in 1960 and later served on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen, died on September 6, 2025. The town issued a statement remembering his service and courage.

595. October 5, 2025 State law removes Chapel Hill's zoning control over UNC projectsLaw or policy · Chapel Hill

     The Regulatory Reform Act of 2025 became law without the governor's signature, making UNC System projects in Orange County subject only to state rules and leaving the town a consultation role on utilities, stormwater, traffic and similar matters.

596. November 18, 2025 Carrboro Town Council reaffirms support for immigrant communities and its 4th Amendment statusLaw or policy · Carrboro

     The Town Council passed a resolution by council members Eliazar Posada-Orozco and Cristóbal Palmer condemning discriminatory actions by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and reaffirming Carrboro's status as a 4th Amendment town. The council had voted unanimously for that designation on May 20, 2025.

597. November 20, 2025 Students and residents mark 55 years since the killing of James CatesCommemoration · UNC-Chapel Hill

     The Carolina NAACP chapter and the Black Student Movement held a remembrance for Cates on campus, and student leaders again called the 2022 plaque's passive wording inadequate.

598. 2026 Penny Rich runs for Orange County register of deedsCandidacy · Orange County

     Rich, by then an assistant clerk of superior court, entered the 2026 Democratic primary for Orange County register of deeds. She campaigned on modernizing the office's technology and public website and on heir property issues affecting African American families.

599. January 21, 2026 UNC announces a campus extension at Carolina NorthInstitutional milestone · Horace Williams tract, Chapel Hill

     The university announced plans for a mixed-use extension on about 230 acres around the former Horace Williams Airport, with student and workforce housing, research space and retail, calling it the largest expansion since 1793; groundbreaking is expected in summer 2027.

600. May 11, 2026 Orange County's clerk of superior court is honored for work in guardianship lawHonor · Orange County

     Kleinschmidt received the Isabella Award at the National Probate Judges Conference for his contributions to guardianship and probate law. The award is named for judge Isabella Horton Grant and goes to people whose leadership improves guardianship laws, court administration and practice.

The other dated entries wait behind a subject, a place, an era, a month, or the All dated entries switch, and each storyline’s page carries its own component entries. Dates come from the sources named on the cards and from the index’s event pages; where sources disagree, the card follows the county records. Entries marked approximate or needing research say so on the card; the rest were checked against the source named on it. Each card’s “Correct this” link opens the contact form with the entry already named. Suggest an event →

Compiled and maintained by the Friends of the Orange County Public Library from county records, the sources named on each card, and the index’s event pages. Last updated September 14, 2026.