Chronology

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1. Early twentieth century · 1900–1944

2. about 1913
   Founding or opening · Chapel Hill Strowd's Garage opens in Chapel Hill as the first garage in Orange County

   A plate caption identifies Strowd's Garage in Chapel Hill, pictured about 1913, as the county's first garage.

3. February 7, 1925
   Construction or physical change · 100 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill Bruce Strowd opens his new Ford dealership at Franklin and Columbia streets

   Strowd Motor Company formally opened its new Ford sales and service building at 100 West Franklin Street, on the corner of Columbia, with a dance and contests. Chapel Hill's first automobile dealer had outgrown his quarters; the two-story brick building, one of the largest downtown, went up in 1924 on the old Carr place, with the showroom and service area below and a paint and body shop above.

4. July 1937
   Founding or opening · Hillsborough The county welfare department is reorganized under Social Security

   A new three-member welfare board of O. L. Crabtree, Bruce Strowd and Charlie McDade, a Black member, took charge, and W. T. Mattox became superintendent in July 1937. The office moved to Hillsborough that year and kept a branch in Chapel Hill.

5. December 20, 1937
   Chapel Hill Bruce Strowd is named Chapel Hill's most valuable citizen

   The Carolina Theatre's yearly trophy for the town's most valuable citizen went to automobile dealer Bruce Strowd, chosen by Dr. S. A. Nathan, Mrs. Isaac Manning and W. M. Pugh. The committee cited his work for the town's schoolchildren, the free rides he gave rural children coming to school, his help with unemployment and his work on the county welfare board.

6. Civil rights era · 1945–1975

7. February 1950
   Property or economic transaction · 100 East Main Street, Carrboro Andrews and Riggsbee sell their Carrboro grocery to two other men named Andrews and Riggsbee

   The partners Andrews and Riggsbee sold their Carrboro grocery to two men also named Andrews and Riggsbee, who kept the store's name. The sellers kept the tractor business they had bought from Bruce Strowd, which was moving into a new building on Greensboro Street.

8. 1953
   Property or economic transaction · 100 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill Bruce Strowd sells his car business to Crowell Little and Grady Pritchard

   After thirty years at 100 West Franklin Street, Strowd sold the dealership in 1953. The new owners kept it in the same building for two more years.

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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 October 2, 2026.