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Recent decades · 1976–2026
- 1990s
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Chapel Hill's Town Council votes to move the McDade House to a town parking lot
After months of debate, the Town Council voted unanimously to move the McDade House off University Baptist Church's land to Parking Lot 5, between Franklin, Church and Rosemary streets, to save it from demolition.
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Mary Claire Engstrom dies
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.
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Carrboro aldermen vote to buy the Carrboro Baptist Church property
After months of talks, the Board of Aldermen voted 5 to 2 to buy the church at Greensboro and Main streets, with room for the police and recreation departments. The town remade it as the Century Center, with the sanctuary as a hall seating about 250.
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The McDade House is taken apart brick by brick and carted away from West Franklin Street
When it could not be moved whole before the church's deadline, the McDade House was dismantled piece by piece under a plan approved by the Historic District Commission and paid for by real estate appraiser Tom Heffner. The work finished on July 11, 1997, and the parts went into storage in Franklinton to await rebuilding on the town lot.
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The Carr family cabin near Hillsborough joins the Study List
The National Register Advisory Committee placed the Carr family cabin near Hillsborough on North Carolina's Study List, its list of properties likely to qualify for the National Register.
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Jenrette's preservation trust buys the Occoneechee Speedway site
Preservation North Carolina, which had bought the old speedway from France Staley, LLC in June 1997, sold it to the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust under protective deed restrictions.
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Thomas S. Rankin buys the Ira Ellis House
Thomas S. Rankin bought the Ellis house and its mostly wooded 60-acre tract on the Eno, where he lives with his wife Jill McCorkle. The owners later paid for a history of the house (2012) that the state's 2016 survey drew on.
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The Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District is listed in the National Register
On April 23, 1998 the National Park Service listed the Cedar Grove Rural Crossroads Historic District in Cedar Grove in the National Register of Historic Places.
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Northside Gymnasium opens at Hargraves Park
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.
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The Carolina Inn joins the Study List
The committee approved the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill for the Study List on July 9, 1998, among twenty public requests from the central and southeastern regions. The same meeting recommended the West Chapel Hill Historic District for nomination, and the inn's own nomination followed on April 8, 1999.
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Dr. Arch Jordan House is listed in the National Register
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.
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The Old Tavern and White Oak Grove School join the Study List
The National Register Advisory Committee placed the log Old Tavern at 419 Hillsborough Street, Chapel Hill, and the White Oak Grove School for Black children near Cedar Grove on North Carolina's Study List, its list of properties likely to qualify for the National Register.
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The West Chapel Hill Historic District is listed in the National Register
On December 31, 1998 the National Park Service listed the West Chapel Hill Historic District in Chapel Hill in the National Register of Historic Places.
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Two large rear wings are added to the Ira Ellis House
Owner Thomas Rankin added two-story weatherboarded wings at the back of the brick house, one in 1999 and one in 2005, forming a U around a rear courtyard; a darkroom and a large pond came about 2000. The state later judged the additions too large for the house to qualify for the National Register.
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The Cabe-Pratt-Harris House is listed in the National Register
On April 27, 1999 the National Park Service listed the Cabe-Pratt-Harris House near Chapel Hill in the National Register of Historic Places.
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A county survey proposes a St. Mary's Road rural historic district
With a state Certified Local Government grant won in late 1998, Orange County hired GAI Consultants to survey six miles of St. Mary's Road from US 70 to the Durham line. Its August 1999 report recorded 20 historic places and recommended a rural historic district along the old Trading Path route.
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Montrose joins the Study List
The National Register Advisory Committee placed Montrose, William A. Graham's home in Hillsborough from 1842 to 1874, on North Carolina's Study List, its list of properties likely to qualify for the National Register.
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The David Faucette House is listed in the National Register
On November 22, 1999 the National Park Service listed the David Faucette House near Efland in the National Register of Historic Places.
- 2000s
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The Thomas Jefferson Hogan House joins the Study List
The National Register Advisory Committee placed the Thomas Jefferson Hogan House near Calvander on North Carolina's Study List, its list of properties likely to qualify for the National Register.
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Orange County purchases Blackwood Farm
Orange County purchased the 152-acre farm from Nannie and Mary Blackwood.
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The Thomas and Mary Hogan House is listed in the National Register
On January 26, 2001 the National Park Service listed the Thomas and Mary Hogan House near Carrboro in the National Register of Historic Places.
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The St. Mary's Road area and the Occoneechee Speedway join the Study List
The National Register Advisory Committee placed the farm landscape along St. Mary's Road studied in the 1999 survey, and the Occoneechee Speedway near Hillsborough, on North Carolina's Study List, its list of properties likely to qualify for the National Register. The meeting's minutes are lost; the placements rest on the annotated agenda.
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Montrose is listed in the National Register
On October 18, 2001 the National Park Service listed Montrose in Hillsborough in the National Register of Historic Places.
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Occaneechi Homeland Preservation Project begins
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.
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Holden-Roberts Farm is listed in the National Register
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.
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Occoneechee Speedway is listed in the National Register
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.
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Historic Occoneechee Speedway trail opens to the public
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.
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The Watson-Whisnant House is moved from Burnsville to South Occoneechee Street
The Queen Anne house built about 1898 in Burnsville by banker and lawyer Frank Watson was moved across the state and set on a new brick foundation at 209 South Occoneechee Street, replacing a mobile home.
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The Sonja Haynes Stone Center celebrates its grand opening
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.
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A house already moved once from Occoneechee Mountain is moved to 116 North Nash Street
The house at 116 North Nash Street, built about 1910 on Occoneechee Mountain and moved to Collins Avenue in the 1950s, is moved again in 2005 to its present lot in the district.
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The storefront at 109 West King Street is restored and its pent roof removed
In 2005 the storefront of 109 West King Street was restored, with a recessed entrance between copper-framed plate-glass windows, and the shingled pent roof added in the 1980s was taken off.
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Reviewers reject the Great Oaks Plantation House, moved to Chapel Hill from near Greensboro
Staff recommended denial because the house had been moved more than forty miles from near Greensboro to Chapel Hill and had lost its geographic setting. Asked whether its architecture could outweigh the move, staff replied that the program valued place over fine carpentry, and on February 10, 2005 the committee accepted the recommendation. The same vote put the Cates-Dodson-Minnis House near Hillsborough on the Study List.
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An expansion of the Chapel Hill Historic District joins the Study List
The National Register Advisory Committee placed an expansion of the Chapel Hill Historic District on North Carolina's Study List, its list of properties likely to qualify for the National Register.
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UNC tears down West House for the Arts Common
The university demolished West House after more than two years of effort by the Save the West House Coalition to keep or move it. The trustees had voted for demolition in September 2004, and the Council of State gave final approval in July 2006.
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The 1953 Orange County Courthouse in Hillsborough joins the Study List
The committee's list of properties approved for the Study List on October 12, 2006 includes the Orange County Courthouse in Hillsborough. The survey layer identifies it as the 1953 Colonial Revival courthouse on Margaret Lane, not the older courthouse listed in the National Register in 1971.
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Rocky Ridge Farm's district expansion prompts a debate over the fifty-year rule
When staff presented the boundary increase and added documentation for the Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District on October 11, 2007, one member warned that stretching periods of significance into recent decades weakened the National Register, naming Rocky Ridge with two other nominations. Another member suggested the neighbors also claim significance for notable residents. The objecting member then moved approval of Rocky Ridge with the other routine nominations, and it passed.
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The Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District is enlarged in the National Register
On January 30, 2008 the National Park Service listed a boundary increase for the Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, enlarging the district in the National Register of Historic Places.
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Jay Miller buys the empty Murphey School and begins restoring it
Jay Miller bought the school, vacant since 1986, in March 2008 and began restoring it with the State Historic Preservation Office for use as a retreat center for nonprofit groups and a rental site for events.
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Reviewers reject the Reverend Archibald Currie House
Staff recommended against the Orange County house because of alterations and a lack of architectural significance, and on October 16, 2008 the committee voted unanimously to follow staff on the central and southeastern requests.
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North Carolina Cancer Hospital opens
The North Carolina Cancer Hospital opened as the clinical home of UNC Lineberger.
- 2010s
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The Cameron coachman's quarters on South Cameron Street are restored
The one-room brick coachman's quarters built about 1830 for Paul Cameron's Burnside estate, which had lost its roof and chimney, is carefully restored around 2010 at 209 South Cameron Street.
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Orange County Main Library opens on Margaret Lane
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.
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The Chapel Hill Museum closes its physical site
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.
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Brick memorial holding three recovered gravestones is dedicated at Margaret Lane Cemetery
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.
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John S. Pope Farm is listed in the National Register
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.
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Mary E. Grant buys the Efland Home cottage at the Graham estate sale
After an auction held to settle James Barnard Graham's estate, Mary E. Grant bought the cottage and its 2.4 acres on November 13, 2013; the building was nominated to the National Register four years later.
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Additional documentation for the Hillsborough Historic District is accepted by the National Register
On January 22, 2014 the National Park Service accepted a new survey and history of the Hillsborough Historic District, the first full update of the 1973 listing, documenting the town's buildings from the colonial period to the 1960s.
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Saunders Hall is renamed Carolina Hall
UNC trustees approved the name change in May 2015; the building received its new name that August.
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The Chapel Hill Historic District grows, but the university asks to stay out
When the committee reviewed the boundary increase and added documentation for the Chapel Hill Historic District on February 12, 2015, a member asked why the campus portion was not enlarged. Staff explained that UNC's administration had specifically asked not to be included. The committee approved the nomination with eight others.
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The Chapel Hill Historic District is enlarged in the National Register
On April 16, 2015 the National Park Service listed a boundary increase for the Chapel Hill Historic District, enlarging the district in the National Register of Historic Places.
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Hillsborough hires hmwPreservation to survey buildings outside its historic district
With a Historic Preservation Fund grant from the state preservation office, the town contracted in 2016 for a survey of older buildings inside the town limits but outside the National Register district, where only eleven had been recorded. Heather Slane and Megan Privett did the fieldwork in February and March 2017, fully recording about fifty properties and five mid-century neighborhoods.
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The Nash house is rehabilitated to its 1926 appearance from Arthur Nash's own blueprints
The work reopened the front porch, restored a window, rebuilt the studio mantel, added a balustrade over the carport copied from the old sleeping-porch rail and uncovered part of the rear fanlight. The kitchen and two upstairs baths were modernized.
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Arthur Nash's house joins the Study List
The National Register Advisory Committee placed the house the university architect Arthur C. Nash built for his family in Chapel Hill on North Carolina's Study List, its list of properties likely to qualify for the National Register.
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The state finds the Ira Ellis House and Hall's Mill site not eligible for the National Register
Reviewing a survey for replacing the Hall's Mill Road bridge over the Eno, the State Historic Preservation Office agreed that the Ellis House, the Hall's Mill site and a proposed rural district around them did not qualify for the National Register, while the David Faucette House across the road remained eligible.
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The Hillsborough survey proposes the Ja-Max Motor Lodge for the state Study List
The survey report recommended the 1952 motel on US 70 for North Carolina's National Register Study List as one of the town's few surviving mid-century motels. It cited the eleven rooms, each with its own bath and parking at the door, the lamp-lined drive, and Ranch-house features rarely used on a commercial building, and proposed a 2.87-acre boundary. The National Register Advisory Committee added the motel to the Study List on October 12, 2017.
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The Rocks in Chapel Hill and Cedar Grove School join the Study List
Among nine central and southeastern public requests approved on October 12, 2017 were William C. Coker's house, The Rocks, in Chapel Hill and the Cedar Grove School north of Hillsborough. The same meeting placed the Hillsborough survey's Ja-Max Motor Lodge and Military Academy dining hall site on the list.
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The Arthur C. and Mary S.A. Nash House is listed in the National Register
On October 26, 2017 the National Park Service listed the Arthur C. and Mary S.A. Nash House in Chapel Hill in the National Register of Historic Places.
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Silent Sam is toppled
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.
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Schley Grange Hall near Hurdle Mills joins the Study List
Staff proposed the grange hall as eligible for its place in the social history of the area. With no questions from members or the audience, the committee approved it by a 7-0 roll call vote on October 11, 2018.
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UNC moves Kenan Stadium's honor from William R. Kenan Sr. to his son
Chancellor Carol Folt announced that, after talking with the family, the university would change the stadium plaques to remove the honor to William R. Kenan Sr., who led a white supremacist unit in the 1898 Wilmington massacre, and focus instead on the donor, William R. Kenan Jr.
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The West Chapel Hill Historic District is enlarged in the National Register
On May 9, 2019 the National Park Service listed a boundary increase for the West Chapel Hill Historic District, enlarging the district in the National Register of Historic Places.
- 2020s
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Sartin School, a 1930s school for Black children, is taken apart and removed
The frame Sartin School, built as a one-room school by R. J. Forrest in 1932 and given a second room in 1935, was dismantled and carried off its site in 2021, leaving Ridge Road among the very few such schools still standing in the county.
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IFC Commons opens in 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.
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Reconstructed Occaneechi Village is rededicated
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.
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The ArtsCenter moves to Roberson Street
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.
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Occoneechee Speedway joins Eno River State Park
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.
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Drakeford Library Complex opens
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.
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