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Local figure

Harvey Bennett

Harvey Bennett was a part owner of Bennett and Blocksidge, Chapel Hill's leading coal, fuel and appliance dealers. Elected to the Orange County Board of Commissioners in 1960, he served into the 1970s and was chairman in 1964, when he cast the deciding vote on the Walker Milling building, and again in 1972. In 1969 he backed the campaign to bring a Fiber Industries plant to the county.

Source: The News of Orange County, April 7, 1960

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Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

Chapel Hill’s first public housing, 1961–19681961–1968 · 13 events · Chapel Hill created a housing authority in 1962 to seek federally financed low-rent housing, and the choice of sites drew objections in which race was a factor. The aldermen acted after testimony about substandard housing before the Mayor's Committee on Human Relations in 1961 and a hearing of about 100 people, all in favor. In 1964 Vivian Foushee of the Citizens Committee for Progress led a Black delegation against placing most of a 60-unit project in the all-Black Gomains Avenue area, neighbors of a North Columbia Street tract petitioned against housing there, and two commissioners said 21 businessmen opposed the project. Craig-Gomains and Lindsay Street were built in 1967, and North Columbia Street in 1968. The Walker Milling building on Court Square, 1963–19641963–1964 · 4 events · Hillsborough's historical groups pressed the county to halt the demolition of the Walker Milling building, a three-story landmark on Court Square, but in December 1964 it was razed to clear the lot for parking. Charles M. Walker Jr., who had bought the business his father and uncle ran for decades, closed it in 1963, pointing to changes in the farm economy. That August the county commissioners bought the mill and its lot for $25,000 to protect the county's future land needs around the courthouse. They declined to halt the demolition but, on Chairman Harvey Bennett's tie-breaking vote, agreed to buy the building's estimated 180,000 handmade bricks for resale.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 14 dated events in the chronology →

  1. The University gives up its Service Plants appliance business to two employees The UNC Service Plants, which supplied water, power and laundry, had begun selling electrical goods. After the state barred the University from competing with private business, Harvey D. Bennett and Frank C. Blocksidge took over the shop in the same place. People: Harvey BennettSearch the index · Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 243
  2. The Chapel Hill Kiwanis Club elects Dr. J. P. Jones president and W. O. Sparrow vice-president The Kiwanis Club of Chapel Hill elected Dr. J. P. Jones president and W. O. Sparrow vice-president, with Harvey Bennett, W. M. Pugh, W. E. Thompson, C. W. Shields and E. J. Woodhouse as directors. People: Harvey Bennett, W. E. ThompsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 20, 1935, p. 1
  3. East Franklin Street merchants open a customer parking lot at Columbia and Rosemary streets An association of 28 businesses and individuals in the East Franklin Street section opened the lot at 25 cents an hour, with the first hour free on a member's validated ticket; the News called it Chapel Hill's first customer parking lot. Monthly parking went on a second lot on Rosemary Street, the former American Legion Hut site, owned by five of the members. People: Carl Smith (Chapel Hill businessman and county commissioner), Harvey Bennett, Collier Cobb Jr., Vic HugginsSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 7, 1956, p. 8
  4. Donald Stanford and Harvey Bennett win the Democratic primary for county commissioner In a turnout of about 8,000, incumbent Donald Stanford and Harvey Bennett, both of Chapel Hill, won the two Democratic nominations for county commissioner with 4,061 and 3,989 votes in the corrected count. Dairy farmer Hugh Wilson carried 13 rural precincts but ran third with 3,402, Phil Schinhan had 2,602, and the five Chapel Hill precincts cast about 45 per cent of the county's vote.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 9, 1960, p. 6
  5. Donald M. Stanford becomes chairman of the county commissioners as R. J. M. Hobbs retires At the first meeting of the new board, Donald M. Stanford took the oath for a second term and was elected chairman, succeeding R. J. M. Hobbs, whom the board honored with a gift as he left after 26 years of public service. Harvey D. Bennett was sworn in as a new commissioner. People: Harvey BennettSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 8, 1960, p. 1
  6. Workmen begin tearing down Dave Neville's old store at Main Street and the railroad Dismantling began on the frame store at Main Street and the University Railroad tracks, known over the years as Dave Neville's general store, Partin's grocery and the Carrboro Feed and Seed Store. Owner Harvey Bennett took it down at the town board's informal request, since Carrboro's fire code barred prolonging the life of frame buildings downtown. People: Harvey BennettSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 3, 1961, p. 6
  7. State highway commissioner refuses Orange's request to review its road plan The county commissioners had formally asked on November 6 for a review of the $258,000 secondary road program, which put about 40 percent into straightening curves and cut paving to about four miles. Highway Commissioner James G. W. MacLamroc told board chairman Donald Stanford the plan was already processed and would stand. People: Harvey BennettSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 30, 1961, p. 3
  8. Orange County commissioners reject county-wide zoning The county commissioners voted unanimously to disapprove the zoning ordinance the County Planning Board had drawn for the unzoned parts of the county, then tabled Clarence Jones's motion to zone most of Hillsboro Township and left the issue to the incoming board. Opposition leader C. R. Laws presented petitions he said carried 4,000 names against zoning, 1,067 of them from Hillsboro Township. People: Harvey BennettSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 8, 1962, p. 10
  9. County commissioners table a request to endorse Community Action, Inc. The Orange County commissioners put off endorsing and naming members to Community Action, Inc., a proposed privately financed biracial corporation meant to work on Chapel Hill's racial and economic problems. Every commissioner said he favored its aims, but objections to the makeup of its 18-member board, including two seats for the Chapel Hill Ministerial Association, stalled the vote. People: E. M (Elie Maynard) Adams, Carl Smith (Chapel Hill businessman and county commissioner), Harvey BennettThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 9, 1964, p. 5
  10. A businessmen's group comes forward against Chapel Hill's public housing project County commissioners Harvey Bennett and Carl Smith told Housing Authority chairman Sidney Chipman that a group of 21 businessmen opposed the planned 62-unit project and that race was a factor, particularly at the Abernethy site, according to Chipman's report to the Authority on December 7. The Authority went ahead with site plans for the $890,000 project and began condemnation of parcels it still needed. People: Harvey Bennett, Carl Smith (Chapel Hill businessman and county commissioner)Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 10, 1964, p. 4
  11. County commissioners agree to buy the historic bricks of the Walker Milling building Pressed by Hillsborough's historical groups to halt demolition of the old Walker Milling Co. building on courthouse square, the commissioners declined but agreed, on Chairman Harvey Bennett's tie-breaking vote, to buy the estimated 180,000 handmade bricks for resale within six months. Mrs. A. G. Engstrom told them the bricks came first from the old Hillsborough Academy, later the Bingham School. People: Harvey Bennett, Mary Claire EngstromSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 10, 1964, p. 8
  12. Harvey D. Bennett becomes chairman of the county commissioners At their organizational meeting the Orange County commissioners elected Chapel Hill's Harvey D. Bennett chairman by a four-to-one secret ballot, succeeding Donald M. Stanford, who left after eight years to enter the state House. Bennett and newly elected Cedar Grove farmer William C. Ray were sworn in for four-year terms, and Henry S. Walker was chosen vice-chairman.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 10, 1964, p. 3
Show all 14 dated events
  1. The old Walker Milling Co. building on courthouse square is torn down Orange County, which bought the mill property in August 1963 for $25,000, had a Wilmington contractor raze the building to clear the lot for parking. Historical groups asked the commissioners to save it, but they would only agree, by a split vote, to buy the old handmade bricks for resale. People: Mary Claire Engstrom, Harvey BennettSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 10, 1964, p. 8 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 10, 1964, p. 12; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 19, 1964, p. 3; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 8, 1963, p. 5
  2. County planning board recommends rezoning the Blackwood Station tract for Fiber Industries The Orange County Planning Board unanimously recommended rezoning the 450-acre Blackwood Station tract from residential to industrial for a $100 million Fiber Industries plant promising 1,500 jobs. Board member Mark Burnham pressed for stricter performance standards, and commissioners Carl Smith, Ira Ward and Harvey Bennett had backed the Chamber of Commerce's pro-Fiber campaign. People: Carl Smith (Chapel Hill businessman and county commissioner), Harvey BennettSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, July 24, 1969, p. 1

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