Chronology

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1. Antebellum and Civil War · 1800–1865

2. November 1833
   Law, policy or court · Steward's Hall Students win the use of Steward's Hall for the commencement ball

   A committee chosen by a mass meeting of students, with Christopher C. Battle as its writer, petitioned the trustees on November 6, 1833 for a room in Steward's Hall for the commencement ball, and the trustees agreed. The ball managers then invited leading men of the state, among them Governor Swain.

3. December 1857
   Chapel Hill John H. Watson sits on Chapel Hill's board of town commissioners

   A business directory of Chapel Hill dated Christmas 1857 listed John H. Watson among the town's commissioners, with H. B. Guthrie, P. H. McDade and Calvin Scott.

4. November 1862
   Health or relief action · Chapel Hill Thirty Chapel Hill families pool money to buy corn

   Amid wartime scarcity, thirty heads of families sent Andrew Mickle to buy corn in a better-supplied district; he brought back about 1,921 bushels by rail to Durham and wagon from there, at $6.75 a barrel delivered. The livery keeper John H. Watson took ninety barrels, President Swain 33 and Judge Battle 24.

5. Reconstruction and the New South · 1866–1899

6. March 30–April 1, 1870
   Law, policy or court · Chapel Hill Rival claimants to Chapel Hill's town offices are told to stand down

   On March 30, 1870, the Chapel Hill commissioners recorded that a group of residents claimed to be the village's officers, had taken some of the town's books and papers and had named A. Mickle magistrate of police. On April 1, Solomon Pool reported that their election had been held without any law authorizing it, on informal notice from T. M. Argo, and the board adopted his advice to take no action if they gave up the books.

7. 1872; again 1876 to 1878
   Chapel Hill John H. Watson serves as Chapel Hill's magistrate of police

   Watson headed the town government as magistrate of police in 1872 and again from 1876 to 1878, before the amended charter of 1879 created the office of mayor.

8. 1878
   Property or economic transaction · Chapel Hill Hotel, Franklin Street, Chapel Hill John H. Watson buys the Chapel Hill Hotel from David McCauley

   John H. Watson, a brother of Jones Watson, bought the Chapel Hill Hotel from McCauley. By 1891 he had taken W. W. Pickard as a partner.

9. 1882
   Chapel Hill Jones Watson serves as mayor of Chapel Hill

   Jones Watson, one of the five commissioners named in the town's 1851 charter, was mayor of Chapel Hill in 1882, an office the town's charter had created in 1879. His brother John H. Watson followed him in 1883.

10. 1884
    Chapel Hill Alphonso J. McDade serves as mayor of Chapel Hill

    A. J. McDade was mayor of Chapel Hill in 1884, an office the town charter had created in 1879. John H. Watson held it the year before and the two years after.

11. 1888 to 1890
    Chapel Hill Alphonso J. McDade returns as mayor of Chapel Hill

    McDade served a second stretch as mayor from 1888 through 1890, following W. N. Pritchard. John H. Watson succeeded him in 1891.

12. 1891 to 1894
    Chapel Hill John H. Watson serves four years as mayor of Chapel Hill

    Watson, who had been mayor in 1883 and again in 1885 and 1886, held the office from 1891 through 1894, his longest run. A. S. Barbee followed him.

13. 1892
    Construction or physical change · Chapel Hill Hotel, Franklin Street, Chapel Hill Watson and Pickard rebuild the Chapel Hill Hotel and add the University Inn Annex

    With money from W. G. Peckham, a New York lawyer, John H. Watson and his partner W. W. Pickard tore down the old hotel except for the Polk apartment, rebuilt it, and added a large new section called the University Inn Annex.

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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.