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John S. Bennett

J. S. Bennett held the title of superintendent of the University Consolidated Service Plants, electric and water division, in 1926, and was probably the first superintendent of the utilities through which the University supplied Chapel Hill with water, electricity and telephone service.

Source: UNC Libraries: Office of the Director of Utilities of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records, 1926-1994 (40105), finding aid

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Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Select a title to open its page or chronology entry.

The Orange County Building and Loan Association, 1916–19611916–1961 · Lending to members to buy or improve real estate, a Chapel Hill building and loan association grew from a 1916 subscription drive into a savings and loan with record assets of $7.3 million. Its own later reports gave March 1, 1920 as the date of its organization. By 1928 it had lent $375,075 for 97 homes without a single foreclosure, and by 1932 it had lent $710,000 on 199 homes, most of them in Chapel Hill, while its president said it had foreclosed only one mortgage. Its assets grew elevenfold after 1950, and in 1959 it bought the Goldston property for a new office. In 1961 it took the name Orange County Savings and Loan Association. Building University Lake, 1930–19321930–1932 · 13 events · In October 1930 the creeks supplying the University and Chapel Hill ran low, and J. S. Bennett warned of rationing. A year later laborers began clearing the site of the University's dam on Morgan Creek, a concrete dam designed by T. C. Atwood, 380 feet long and 30 feet high, to flood about 200 acres. H. D. Carter wrote that the work would end the last remains of the mill dam built on the creek by Matthew McCauley. About May 1932 the lake began supplying the University and Chapel Hill, and after a weekend deluge in October it filled for the first time and spilled over the dam. Carter put the dam's cost at $180,000. Chapel Hill's most valuable citizen award, 1935–19421935–1942 · From 1935 the Carolina Theatre gave an annual trophy to Chapel Hill's most valuable citizen, chosen by a committee. The first winner, Mrs. R. B. Lawson, was cited for years of aid to the poor through the King's Daughters and volunteer relief work. Automobile dealer Bruce Strowd won in 1937 for his work for the town's schoolchildren, and on unemployment and the county welfare board. Harry F. Comer of the University YMCA won for 1938, and R. M. Grumman of the University extension division and Mrs. Grumman, until recently a librarian and teacher at the Carrboro school, in 1939. In January 1942 the trophy, then given by the Carolina and Pick theatres, went to Mrs. Robert H. Wettach. The drought and forest fires of fall 19411941 · 3 events · The dry fall of 1941 left Chapel Hill short of water and put its electric supply in question. From August 1 to October 15 the town had 1.98 inches of rain against a normal 10.41, and with only half a day's water in storage, University officials asked people to stop sprinkling until rain came on October 27. When the Office of Production Management ordered cuts in electric use, the University promised to cut its coal-fired plant loose from Duke Power's lines, and State Utilities Commissioner Winborne ruled the order did not apply in Chapel Hill. In November eight men from the nearby Civilian Conservation Corps camp, whose enrollees were all Black, put out a forest fire below the Gimghoul castle.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 34 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Violent thunderstorm knocks out 97 Chapel Hill telephones An hour-long thunderstorm before dawn struck an oak in a village yard, put 97 telephones out of service, wrecked radio connections, blew fuses everywhere and tore down Southern Power Company cables between Chapel Hill and University Station. The Weekly said nobody could recall its equal; a repair crew restored the cables within hours. People: John S. BennettSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 8, 1927, p. 1
  2. A fireproof central office for Chapel Hill's dial telephones is finished on Rosemary Lane The telephone system run by the University's Consolidated Service Plants finished a small fireproof brick central office on Rosemary Lane behind the Presbyterian church, where an Automatic Electric Company crew installed dial switching equipment. Wires crossing the campus were put underground and the main street was to be cleared of telephone wires, and the Weekly reported that the dial system would end operator calls for local service and let party lines be discontinued. People: John S. BennettSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 25, 1927, p. 1
  3. Chapel Hill's telephones change over to an automatic dial system The Chapel Hill Telephone Company, part of the University Consolidated Service Plants, replaced operator service with an automatic dial exchange, with new numbers and higher rates set by the state corporation commission. The Weekly reported general satisfaction a week later; Durham was the only nearby place with dial service. People: John S. BennettSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 13, 1928, p. 1
  4. Drought forces a weir at the Morgan's Creek water intake With only 1.86 inches of rain in September and none in the first nine days of October, J. S. Bennett of the University's service plants built a weir at the pumping station where Morgan's and Price's creeks meet. It raised the water 11 inches and held a reserve of about 600,000 gallons, roughly one day's use. People: John S. BennettThe Chapel Hill Weekly, October 10, 1930, p. 1
  5. Drought threatens Chapel Hill's water supply After weeks of light rain, the two creeks supplying the University and the village were flowing only about 700,000 gallons a day in early October 1930, down 200,000 in four days and only 100,000 above normal use of 600,000. J. S. Bennett of the University's Consolidated Service Plants asked people to stop leaks and stop watering lawns and warned of rationing; the Weekly noted that the legislature had appropriated $100,000 for a dam and reservoir on Morgan Creek. People: John S. BennettThe Chapel Hill Weekly, October 3, 1930, p. 1
  6. University Consolidated Service Plants cut Chapel Hill's electric rates and offer a combination rate The University Consolidated Service Plants announced lower light rates, about 11 percent off all bills, and a combination rate putting lights, range and appliances on one meter, both from January 1, 1932. By February 1932, 189 of the 285 families with electric ranges had changed over. People: John S. BennettSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 13, 1931, p. 1
  7. Chapel Hill merchants form a credit association Chapel Hill merchants formed a credit association with P. S. Randolph as president, J. S. Bennett as vice-president and L. J. Phipps as secretary-treasurer. It pooled credit ratings and took over from the University the handling of students' bad checks, nearly 600 of them in two months. People: Luther James Phipps, John S. BennettSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 4, 1931, p. 1
  8. Chapel Hill and the University utility agree to lay a six-inch water main under Pittsboro Street After the fire of February 23 that destroyed the former Umstead home on Vance Street showed the southwest section's 4-inch main could not give the firemen enough pressure, the University Consolidated Service Plants told the aldermen they would lay about 1,300 feet of 6-inch main from Cameron Avenue to Vance Street. The town agreed to haul and place the pipe, resurface the street and supply the labor of people working out recorder's court fines. People: John S. Bennett, John M. FousheeThe Chapel Hill Weekly, March 11, 1932, p. 1
  9. Chapel Hill reaches 106 degrees, an August record, in a summer of drought The weather bureau station in Chapel Hill recorded 106 degrees on August 31, 1932, which its chief, C. E. Ray Jr., called a new record for August. Rainfall had run 49 percent below normal in July and 55 percent below in August, and the new University reservoir dropped several inches, though J. S. Bennett said it still held weeks of supply. People: John S. BennettThe Chapel Hill Weekly, September 2, 1932, p. 1
  10. University Lake is stocked with bass and bream A state hatchery truck from Fayetteville brought 1,200 black bass and bream to the University's new lake west of the village in late September, and in October about 15,000 more fish were hauled in two truckloads from Lake Mattamuskeet, which the state was draining. Water superintendent J. S. Bennett expected fishing, from boats only to protect the water supply, to begin in about a year and a half. People: John S. Bennett, Moody W. DurhamThe Chapel Hill Weekly, October 7, 1932, p. 1
  11. Franklin Street is lit for Christmas with displays built under J. S. Bennett Chapel Hill's main street was decorated for Christmas with lighted stars, wreaths, trees, Santa Claus and reindeer figures and cedar borders strung with red and green bulbs. Tom Rosemond and his helpers spent two or three weeks building and hanging the displays under the direction of J. S. Bennett of the University's service plants.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly: "Street Is Gaily Lighted for the Holiday Season,", December 16, 1932, p. 1
  12. Federal relief workers clear a public picnic ground below the University Lake dam Men paid from federal relief funds cleared two or three acres of thick woods along the stream below the University Lake dam, about two miles west of Chapel Hill, into a free picnic ground with tables, benches from the old Memorial Hall, a playground and a footbridge laid on rails discarded from the railroad at Carrboro. The Battle Park Association, newly in charge of the lake grounds, ran motorboat rides at 10 cents to pay for more improvements. People: William Chambers Coker, John S. BennettThe Chapel Hill Weekly, June 2, 1933, p. 1
Show all 34 dated events
  1. Chapel Hill's aldermen order a stop-and-go light for the corner by the Carolina Inn On P. L. Burch's motion the aldermen voted unanimously to spend $220 on an overhead stop-and-go signal at Cameron Avenue and Columbia Street, by the Carolina Inn and the west gate of the campus, a corner where shrubbery blocked the view and fast cars coming in from the south had caused many collisions. The light was ordered from Schenectady to be working in early September. People: John S. Bennett, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 18, 1933, p. 1
  2. The University's service plants cut Chapel Hill electric rates A lower schedule of electric rates from the University Consolidated Service Plants took effect on October 1, 1934, after a summer study by J. S. Bennett ordered by comptroller C. T. Woollen. The combination rate for households cooking with electricity gave way to one domestic schedule; a family's first 10 kilowatt hours fell from $1 to 75 cents and 100 kilowatt hours from $7.75 to $3.98. People: Charles T. Woollen, John S. BennettSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 21, 1934, p. 1
  3. Chapel Hill delegation asks the highway commission to keep U.S. 15 through the town Mayor John M. Foushee led a delegation to the state highway commission in Raleigh to protest a federal map change that sent U.S. 15 from Durham through Raleigh and Fayetteville, cutting off Chapel Hill, Pittsboro, Sanford and Rockingham. Chairman Capus Waynick said the state could only recommend but favored the old route; the federal government was to rule on such protests in June. People: John S. Bennett, Roland P. McClamroch, Peter L. Burch, John M. FousheeSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 8, 1935, p. 1
  4. Farmers along the Antioch road pledge $3,500 toward a rural power line Farmers south of highway 54 between Chapel Hill and Antioch Church met on April 6 and within days had pledged $3,500 toward a ten-mile electric line out the Antioch road to near White Cross, to be built with Emergency Relief Administration money. The Weekly named Paul Lloyd and his sons among the leaders. People: John S. BennettThe Chapel Hill Weekly, April 12, 1935, p. 1
  5. University Lake opens to fishermen for the first time After two years of stocking with 40,000 to 50,000 bream, bass, crappie and other fish, University Lake was opened for a two-week trial season that drew about 200 anglers, under rules on permits, boats and catch limits enforced by a lake warden. The best bass weighed about four pounds. People: John S. BennettThe Chapel Hill Weekly, June 28, 1935, p. 6 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, July 12, 1935, p. 1
  6. University Lake opens to anglers for a season-long fishing year On Monday, May 11, 1936 University Lake opened for fishing every day but Sunday through the summer and fall, under rules set on May 1 by the new Izaak Walton Club of Chapel Hill with J. S. Bennett of the Consolidated Service Plants: fishing only from boats, permits at 50 cents a half-day, catch and size limits, and a warden at the dock. After two visitors from Greensboro landed seven large bass on opening day, the club's executive committee cut the daily bass limit from four to two. People: John S. BennettThe Chapel Hill Weekly, May 15, 1936, p. 1
  7. The picnic ground and swimming pool below the University Lake dam are rebuilt By May 22, 1936 the Consolidated Service Plants had readied the picnic ground below the University Lake dam: the footbridge was propped with an iron column and given rock abutments, a rock wall was built against the eroded bank of the swimming pool, and a dressing room for swimmers was finished. To build the wall a temporary barrier was set on the spillway and the pool pumped dry, with a crew working all one night; the walkway over the dam was closed as unsafe for small children. People: John S. Bennett, Peter L. BurchThe Chapel Hill Weekly, May 22, 1936, p. 1
  8. University business offices move into old Swain Hall With the new dining hall in use, old Swain Hall was taken over by the University's duplicating, accounting, purchasing and stores, and physical plant departments, with J. S. Bennett's self-supporting enterprises and engineer A. R. Hollett, while the medical school's departure from Caldwell Hall let in radio, political science, public speaking and sculpture. The Weekly called it more shifting of quarters than the University had ever crowded into so short a time. People: John S. Bennett, Peter L. Burch, Arthur R. HollettThe Chapel Hill Weekly, January 12, 1940, p. 3
  9. The Methodist church annex on Franklin Street becomes a recreation center The former Methodist church, kept as an annex when the new church went up in 1926, was converted into a community recreation center. The church offered the annex to the town Recreation Commission in October 1940, and after renovation it was open six days a week, with the commission's office, by December 1940. From June 1942 it also housed a Service Center for men in the armed forces, the use Bryant dates to 1942. People: John S. BennettSearch the index · Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 267 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, October 11, 1940, p. 5; Chapel Hill Weekly, November 15, 1940, p. 3; Chapel Hill Weekly, December 13, 1940, p. 5; Chapel Hill Weekly, May 15, 1942, p. 6
  10. A long drought and record October heat strain Chapel Hill's water supply From August 1 to October 15 Chapel Hill had 1.98 inches of rain against a normal 10.41, and the first half of October averaged 74.2 degrees against a normal 60.6, with a high of 97 on October 6. Lawn watering pushed the single pipeline from University Lake to its limit of a million gallons a day, and with only half a day's water in storage the University's utilities officials asked people to stop sprinkling lest a fire find the reserve empty, until rain on October 27 eased the danger. People: John S. BennettThe Chapel Hill Weekly, October 17, 1941, p. 1
  11. The University power plant cuts loose from Duke Power to escape the drought power curtailment When the Office of Production Management ordered cuts in electric use because the drought had shrunk water power, University utilities superintendent J. S. Bennett promised State Utilities Commissioner Winborne to disconnect the coal-fired University plant from the Duke Power Company lines, and Winborne ruled that the order did not apply in Chapel Hill. The plant made all the town's power, and Franklin Street merchants kept their sign and window lights burning. People: John S. BennettSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 7, 1941, p. 1
  12. Mrs. Robert H. Wettach receives the theatres' trophy as Chapel Hill's most valuable citizen The trophy given each year by the management of the Carolina and Pick theatres to the town's most valuable citizen was presented to Mrs. Robert H. Wettach on January 8 at the Carolina theatre. She was chosen by a committee of Mrs. I. H. Manning, Mayor John Foushee, J. S. Bennett and Dr. S. A. Nathan. People: John S. Bennett, John M. FousheeSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 9, 1942, p. 2
  13. A fuel oil rationing committee is named for Chapel Hill and Carrboro Collier Cobb Jr. as chairman, J. S. Bennett and Brodie S. Thompson were appointed to ration fuel oil and kerosene for Chapel Hill and Carrboro under an OPA plan allowing enough oil to keep a house at 65 degrees, working alongside Moody Durham's rationing board. The committee urged householders with oil furnaces to change to coal where they could. People: Collier Cobb Jr., Brodie Thompson, John S. Bennett, Moody W. DurhamThe Chapel Hill Weekly, October 16, 1942, p. 1
  14. The grand jury and Judge Nimocks call the courthouse the worst in the state The grand jury's report at the March term denounced crowded county offices and poor school conditions and urged adoption of the fact-finding committee's plan, saying the county could not afford not to carry it out. Judge Q. K. Nimocks called the courthouse facilities the worst in North Carolina and completely inadequate. People: John S. BennettSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 31, 1949, p. 1
  15. Chapel Hill's new zoning ordinance takes effect A new zoning ordinance went into effect in Chapel Hill on June 1, and the aldermen named J. S. Bennett, B. W. Clark, J. T. Dobbins, Roland P. McClamroch and F. E. Strowd to a new Board of Adjustment to carry it out. People: John S. Bennett, Roland P. McClamrochSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 23, 1949, p. 1
  16. The University's telephone service begins extending lines into rural southern Orange The University Consolidated Service, managed by J. S. Bennett, built a telephone line to Calvander, about four miles from Chapel Hill, and began building lines west on the Antioch Road and south toward the Chatham County line. People: John S. BennettSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 3, 1949, p. 1
  17. Chapel Hill's aldermen adopt an ordinance setting separate sections for Black burials in the new town cemetery The ordinance for the new Chapel Hill Memorial Cemetery on the Durham road reserved some sections for Black burials and others for other races, as the old cemetery had done. The Rev. Charles Jones of the Community Church called it illiberal in a September sermon, and the citizens' committee had urged the town to rid itself of the new Black cemetery north of town. People: Charles M. Jones, John S. BennettSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 24, 1954, p. 6 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, July 16, 1954, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, July 16, 1954, p. 7
  18. Someone tries to set fire to University Methodist Church, and the church begins locking its sanctuary at night A fire set on the wooden stairway to the balcony, beneath the steeple tower of University Methodist Church in Chapel Hill, burned a hole in one step before it went out; the janitor found the embers the next morning. Police and firemen called it an obvious case of arson, using church magazines from the lobby, and church officials decided to keep the sanctuary locked at night. People: John S. BennettSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 28, 1955, p. 8
  19. The Orange County Building and Loan Association buys the Goldston property in Chapel Hill for a new office The Chapel Hill association bought the Goldston property at North Columbia and Rosemary streets, which held the Railway Express office, a beauty shop and ten apartments, for an estimated $50,000 or more and planned to build a new office there. President J. S. Bennett said the association, whose assets had grown elevenfold since 1950 to $5.4 million, was outgrowing its quarters. People: John S. BennettSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 2, 1959, p. 8
  20. Orange County Building and Loan renames itself Orange County Savings and Loan At its annual meeting the Chapel Hill association changed its name to Orange County Savings and Loan Association, reported record assets of $7.3 million, and showed plans for a three-story colonial brick office at East Rosemary and Columbia Streets by architect F. Carter Williams. People: John S. BennettSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 26, 1961, p. 9
  21. Orange Savings and Loan clears its lot and starts a new office building in Chapel Hill Houses were being cleared from the Orange Savings and Loan Association's new lot at East Rosemary and North Columbia streets for a $175,000 two-story office building with a drive-in window, rental offices and a parking lot, to be built by C. C. Woods Construction Company of Durham in six to eight months. People: John S. BennettSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 27, 1961, p. 4
  22. Orange Savings and Loan moves into a new colonial-style building at Rosemary and Columbia streets The Orange Savings and Loan Association, chartered in Chapel Hill 43 years earlier, opened its new downtown office at East Rosemary and North Columbia streets and set a grand opening for July 2 through 20. The paper put its resources near $10 million, against $725,000 when it first took its own quarters on West Franklin Street in 1951. People: Ira Ward, John S. BennettSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 28, 1962, p. 4

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