Chronology

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1. Antebellum and Civil War · 1800–1865

2. between 1809 and 1813
   Founding or opening · Taylor's shoe store, west half of Lot #14, Franklin Street, Chapel Hill Thomas H. Taylor builds and runs a shoe store on Franklin Street

   Tom Taylor, son of John Taylor Sr., put up a shoe store on the western half of Lot #14, which his father bought in 1812. The building later housed Dr. Walter Norwood's medicine shop.

3. 1814
   Construction or physical change · Tom Taylor house, Lot #17, East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill Thomas H. Taylor buys Lot #17 and builds the Tom Taylor house

   Taylor bought Lot #17 from Frances Benton, enlarged the log cabin on it, and later built a much larger house around it, moving in about 1817. The university acquired the house in 1835, and it became President Swain's home and then housing for faculty.

4. before 1816
   Founding or opening · Robson's store, east half of Lot #10, Franklin Street, Chapel Hill Edward Robson keeps a store and the post office on Franklin Street

   Before selling the property to Thomas H. Taylor in 1816, Edward Robson ran a store on the eastern half of Lot #10 and kept the village post office in it.

5. June 1825
   Law, policy or court · Chapel Hill Trustees adopt by-laws creating a resident superintendent and a student uniform

   On Bartlett Yancey's motion the trustees created a superintendent of university property living at Chapel Hill, who was to receive and pay out all student money, and they prescribed a plain uniform dress and forbade boots. Chapel Hill merchant Thomas H. Taylor was appointed; in January 1829 the office passed to the faculty, who chose Elisha Mitchell.

6. about 1828
   Founding or opening · Norwood's medicine shop, west half of Lot #14, Franklin Street, Chapel Hill Dr. Walter A. Norwood opens a medicine shop opposite Alsobrook's hotel

   Dr. Norwood's medicine shop stood on Thomas H. Taylor's half of Lot #14, probably in Taylor's old store building, which Norwood later bought. From 1841 the shop housed the practice of Drs. Jones and Moore.

7. 1835
   Property or economic transaction · Tom Taylor house, Lot #17, East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill Thomas H. Taylor trades his Franklin Street house to the university

   Taylor exchanged Lot #17 and his house for university land in Tennessee and left Chapel Hill. The university gave the Tom Taylor house to its new president, David L. Swain, whose wife disliked the old Caldwell house.

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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.