Chronology

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1. Civil rights era · 1945–1975

2. 1967-68 to 1971-72
   Statistic or record · downtown Chapel Hill Revenue from Chapel Hill's street parking meters falls steadily from 1967 to

   Town records showed street meter income dropping from $21,358 in 1967-68 to $18,437 in 1971-72, or from about $91 to $78 a meter a year. Town lot revenue rose until 1970-71 and then fell, and parking fines dropped 13 percent the next year.

3. 1972
   Statistic or record · Orange County Orange County residents spend about $10 million a year on shopping outside the county

   Consultants put Orange County's 1972 spending on clothing, furniture and other shoppers' goods at $40.4 million, with a net outflow of just over $10.1 million to stores outside the county. They expected the new University Mall to need $13.65 million in such sales.

4. March 9, 1972
   Publication, speech or performance · downtown Chapel Hill Chapel Hill's Community Appearance Commission reports on how downtown should grow

   After several years of study, the Community Appearance Commission sent the Planning Board and Board of Aldermen a set of policies for the central business district: keep its small village scale, protect views, step down to the neighborhoods and allow taller buildings only where they would not stand out. The aldermen referred it to the CBD Study Committee, which approved most of it.

5. December 1972
   Closing or ending · downtown Chapel Hill The Burger Chef in downtown Chapel Hill closes

   The downtown Burger Chef shut in December 1972, one of several eating places the 1973 merchants survey found changing hands or going out of business.

6. spring 1973
   Statistic or record · Chapel Hill UNC counts nearly 17,800 students: 7,131 on campus, 7,526 single students off campus and 3,107 married

   University figures gathered for the downtown study showed 7,131 students living on campus (fraternities and sororities included), 7,526 unmarried students living off campus, about 1,400 of them in Granville Towers, and 3,107 married students. Just over half of the students who answered the survey owned a car.

7. January 1973
   Statistic or record · downtown Chapel Hill A town field survey measures 816,030 square feet of commercial space in downtown Chapel Hill

   A January 1973 survey of every building along Franklin and Rosemary streets between Hillsborough Street and Merritt Mill Road counted 816,030 square feet of commercial space. Retail took 387,900 square feet and offices 265,790; about 56,000 square feet stood empty, most of it new office space in the NCNB and University Square buildings or old upstairs walk-ups.

8. January 1973
   Statistic or record · downtown Chapel Hill Downtown Chapel Hill counts 155 retail establishments and 37 places to eat or drink

   The January 1973 survey found 155 retail businesses downtown: 90 selling clothing, furniture, jewelry and other comparison goods, 54 convenience stores including 37 restaurants, bars and carry-outs, two car dealers and nine service stations. Belk-Leggett-Horton on West Franklin was the largest store; there were also two movie theaters.

9. June 1, 1973
   Publication, speech or performance · Municipal Building, Chapel Hill Robert M. Leary and Associates delivers its study of downtown Chapel Hill to the town committee

   The Raleigh planning firm Robert M. Leary and Associates, working with Hammer, Greene, Siler Associates of Washington and Bair, Abernathy and Associates of Florida, sent its finished Central Business District study to Chapel Hill's CBD Study Committee. The committee had commissioned it as new shopping centers threatened downtown trade and as the town reconsidered its thoroughfare plan.

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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 4, 2026.