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Orange County Indexed

Chronology

Key events from Orange County history: 100 highlights to start, then the full chronology of 6,171 dated events and 63 storylines, each connected to the index. A storyline gathers many dated events into one history, such as the Regulator crisis.

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Chapel Hill Town Hall (1938)
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8 dated events match your filters.

Searched the full chronology of 6,171 dated events and 63 storylines, not only the highlights. Showing 1–8.Back to highlights

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8 dated events
1938Early twentieth century
  1. Early twentieth century · 1900–1944

  2. Chapel Hill builds a new town hall with WPA help

    Construction or physical change · 100 West Rosemary Street, Chapel Hill

    The Works Progress Administration paid about half the cost of the town hall at 100 West Rosemary Street, on the site of the town's first town hall; it went into use in late March 1939. University architects Atwood and Weeks designed the two-story brick building in a Williamsburg-inspired Colonial style with a hipped slate roof, cupola and swan's-neck pediment.

    Subject: Chapel Hill Town Hall (1938)

  3. Chapel Hill voters approve bonds for the new town hall

    Law, policy or court · Chapel Hill Town Hall, Rosemary and Columbia streets, Chapel Hill

    The bond issue for the town's share of the town hall went to the voters in July 1938 and passed 211 to 27. The campaign drew the Weekly's first calls for more citizen part in town affairs.

    Subject: Chapel Hill Town Hall (1938)

  4. John M. Booker offers to buy a Franklin Street lot for the new town hall

    Protest or organizing · Franklin Street, Chapel Hill

    In a letter to the Chapel Hill Weekly, professor John M. Booker objected to the hurried choice of the old site and offered to buy and give a lot on Franklin Street, hoping it would start a civic center. Editor Louis Graves backed the idea and called for town planning.

    People: Louis Graves

    Subject: Chapel Hill Town Hall (1938)

  5. Chapel Hill auctions off its old town hall to clear the site for a new one

    Construction or physical change · Chapel Hill Town Hall, Rosemary and Columbia streets, Chapel Hill

    With WPA money available for 45 percent of a new building, the town decided to rebuild on its own lot at Rosemary and Columbia streets. The old town hall, whose courtroom the Weekly called filthy, was sold at auction and hauled away.

    Subject: Chapel Hill Town Hall (1938)

  6. Civil rights era · 1945–1975

  7. Chapel Hill Town Hall is remodeled with a mezzanine over the old fire bays

    Construction or physical change · Chapel Hill Town Hall, Rosemary and Columbia streets, Chapel Hill

    A general remodeling added a mezzanine over the first-floor fire engine garage and a new stair, and the engine doors on Columbia Street were later filled with windows.

    Subject: Chapel Hill Town Hall (1938)

  8. Recent decades · 1976–2026

  9. The state adds Rocky Ridge Farm and Chapel Hill Town Hall to the Study List

    Naming or commemoration · Laurel Hill neighborhood and Chapel Hill Town Hall, Chapel Hill

    Acting on requests from owners and sponsors, the State Professional Review Committee on April 14, 1988 placed the Rocky Ridge Farm Development Historic District, the Laurel Hill neighborhood, and Chapel Hill Town Hall on the Study List. Robert Stipe abstained on the two Chapel Hill votes.

    Subject: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District (Laurel Hill) · Chapel Hill Town Hall (1938)

  10. The Interfaith Council begins turning the old town hall into a homeless shelter

    Health or relief action · Chapel Hill Town Hall, Rosemary and Columbia streets, Chapel Hill

    In 1989 the building was leased to the Interfaith Council, which was rehabilitating it as a shelter for homeless people with donations and a town grant.

    Subject: Inter-Faith Council for Social Service · Chapel Hill Town Hall (1938)

  11. Chapel Hill Town Hall is listed in the National Register

    Naming or commemoration · Chapel Hill Town Hall, Chapel Hill

    On March 20, 1990 the National Park Service listed Chapel Hill Town Hall in Chapel Hill in the National Register of Historic Places.

    Subject: Chapel Hill Town Hall (1938)

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A dated event is a fact, filed on the page of the subject it belongs to: a person, a place, a theme, or a named event or history. Pages are subjects, with their own works and sources; the Place, community, or institution filter also gathers the institutions that recur in the entries without a page of their own. The page opens on the highlights; a search or any filter looks through every dated event and storyline, and each filter’s counts say how many entries choosing it would show alongside the others. A storyline is a longer history that gathers related dated events, and each storyline’s page lists its own. Counts give dated events and storylines separately. Dates come from the sources named on the cards and from the index’s event pages; where sources disagree, the card follows the county records. Entries marked approximate or needing research say so on the card; the rest were checked against the source named on it. The correction link under the entries opens the contact form; name the entry and its date and the Friends will check the source. Suggest an event →

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.

Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library
Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026