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Peter L. Burch

Peter L. Burch sat on Chapel Hill's board of aldermen for 28 consecutive years and was the town's mayor pro tem when he announced in April 1955 that he would not run again. He was then manager of Victory Village, the University's housing development.

Source: DigitalNC: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 14, 1955, p. 8

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Chapel Hill's town elections under Mayor Roberson, 1915–19271915–1927 · From 1915 to 1925 Chapel Hill's town elections returned W. S. Roberson as mayor, usually with a citizens' ticket. He defeated W. H. Boger in 1915 and was elected again in 1917 and 1919. In 1923 he beat Carl Wiegand, a young lawyer, 314 to 76, in what the Weekly called the heaviest vote ever cast in the town. Under a 1925 charter amendment the town elected six aldermen instead of five, and only 76 voters came to re-elect Roberson. He refused to run again in 1927, and in a light vote Zeb P. Council of the University printery was elected mayor. The Weekly said none of the men elected had sought the office. Chapel Hill’s first town manager and its improvements, 1922–19311922–1931 · 16 events · Chapel Hill hired E. M. Knox as its first town manager in 1922, and the Weekly later credited him with paved streets, sewer extensions, a disposal plant, a health department and better fire protection, all without a higher tax rate. In June 1928 the aldermen adopted the town's first zoning ordinance, and Knox resigned to become city manager of High Point; his engineering assistant, John Foushee, succeeded him. In 1931 the aldermen sought a charter amendment letting them choose the mayor as town manager, amid talk of saving the manager's salary, but said they had no plan to drop the manager system. Fire protection after the Pickard Hotel fire, inside and beyond the town limits, 1928–19441928–1944 · 15 events · Chapel Hill's fire protection stopped at the town limits, and for years houses just outside them burned with too little water to fight the fires. In 1929 the town truck stopped at the limits while the house tennis coach J. F. Kenfield rented burned, and in 1932 the aldermen ruled that it could not answer fires outside. In 1934 four children of Tom and Bertha Miller died when their house beyond the village burned with no water line near, and in 1938 Howard W. Odum's house burned outside the limits. In May 1944 a new pumper gave the town two trucks, and the town manager said a plan for protection outside the limits might follow. Chapel Hill’s milk supply in wartime, 1942–19451942–1945 · 8 events · Chapel Hill's milk supply ran into trouble in August 1942, when the health department degraded the milk of dairies supplying Harward's Durham Road Dairy from grade B to C. An aldermen majority suspended enforcement of the milk ordinance, a vote Louis Graves criticized in the Weekly, and the Naval Pre-Flight School ordered its cadets to stay out of places that sold Harward's milk. In February 1943 Durham Dairy Products said it would stop rather than label its mixed, partly imported milk Grade C, and health officer William P. Richardson declared a milk emergency. Refused a pasteurized label, the company made its last deliveries in March, and by April Richardson reported all milk sold in Chapel Hill strictly Grade A.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 46 dated events in the chronology →

  1. The University's building department moves into the old laundry behind Phillips Hall P. L. Burch, the University's superintendent of buildings, brought his force, until then split between the basements of the Alumni and South buildings, together in the former laundry building behind Phillips Hall. It held offices, storerooms and a carpentry and cabinet shop.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 23, 1926, p. 1 (Burch's New Quarters)
  2. Chapel Hill elects Zeb P. Council mayor and three new councilmen In a light vote on May 3, 1927, Zeb P. Council of the University printery was elected mayor over J. T. Harris, 155 to 21, succeeding W. S. Roberson, who had refused to run again after many years as mayor. P. L. Burch with 127 votes, R. D. W. Connor with 121 and contractor Brodie Thompson with 117 were chosen councilmen. A petition filed in April had made Thompson, for a time, the only candidate for alderman, and the Weekly said none of the men elected had sought the office. People: R. D. W. Connor, W. S. Roberson, Peter L. Burch, Zeb P. CouncilSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 6, 1927, p. 1 (Light Voting in Town Elections) · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, April 22, 1927, p. 1
  3. The Mary Ann Smith building is remodeled as quarters for the graduate club After unmarried graduate students petitioned for quarters of their own, the trustees' building committee in June 1927 let the University remodel the Mary Ann Smith building for them. By late October P. L. Burch's building department had fitted it with a lounge, a dining room for sixty, a house mother's quarters and twenty-five study bedrooms, and the graduate men had moved in, planning a housewarming after the Thanksgiving game. People: Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 28, 1927, p. 3
  4. Chapel Hill aldermen pass the town's first zoning ordinance on first reading The board took up a zoning ordinance and zone map drafted over almost a year by its zoning commission, aldermen M. E. Hogan, G. M. Braune and P. L. Burch, and passed it on first reading. It was to be published for fifteen days before a public hearing; the board adopted it in June. People: Milton E. Hogan, Peter L. Burch, Edward M. KnoxSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 18, 1928, p. 1
  5. The Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education meets in Chapel Hill More than 300 engineering educators from across the country met in Chapel Hill June 26-29, 1928, for the 36th annual meeting of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, hosted by the University's engineering school. The Weekly called it perhaps the largest convention ever held in the village; guests overflowed the Carolina Inn into private homes, the Kenan Stadium field house and Durham. People: Harry Woodburn Chase, Gustave M. Braune, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 29, 1928, p. 1
  6. Orange County delegation studies the Vance County hospital as a model County Commissioner J. C. Lloyd and a group from Chapel Hill and Hillsboro visited the 22-bed Vance County hospital at Henderson, which the Duke Foundation helped support. An account in the Weekly argued that a similar hospital would cost Orange little more than building and running a new county home. People: George H. Lawrence, Houston J. Walker, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 5, 1929, p. 5
  7. The university remodels the President's House In the summer of 1929 the university's building service department under P. L. Burch remodeled the President's House, building a new paneled staircase, joining the library and music room into one large living room, laying hardwood floors and replacing the clogged drains, with the work to be done by September 1. People: Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 2, 1929, p. 1
  8. The Kenfield house burns after the Chapel Hill fire truck turns back at the town limits When fire broke out in the basement of the house tennis coach J. F. Kenfield rented from W. G. Fields on the Pittsboro highway, the town truck stopped at the corporate limits, a few hundred yards away, because the fire company had a rule against leaving town; alderman P. L. Burch then ordered it out on his own responsibility, but too late, and the loss came to about $12,000. A bucket brigade, off-duty firemen on the roof and a Black neighbor, John Johnson, with a hose saved the Sawyer house next door, and the fire set off talk of extending the town limits. People: Peter L. Burch, Zeb P. CouncilSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 22, 1929, p. 1
  9. Aldermen make Franklin Street a through street with Stop signs and speed limits On a committee report by G. M. Braune and P. L. Burch, the Chapel Hill aldermen designated Franklin Street a through street, ordered Stop signs at the cross streets, and set a 20-mile limit in the business block and 30 miles elsewhere on the street. The plan copied one used in Greensboro. People: Gustave M. Braune, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 17, 1930, p. 1
  10. Aldermen set up a citizens' committee and job bureau for the unemployed After P. L. Burch told of earnest men seeking work at his University office, the aldermen authorized Mayor Zeb Council to name an emergency committee on unemployment. Howard W. Odum chaired it, and Bruce Strowd ran a free employment list at his garage; by early January 109 men had registered and 84 had been placed in jobs. People: Howard W. Odum, Bruce Strowd, Peter L. Burch, Zeb P. CouncilThe Chapel Hill Weekly, November 14, 1930, p. 5
  11. County names township tax assessors for the 1931 revaluation Gilbert Ray, Orange County auditor and tax supervisor, appointed assessors in every township for the revaluation of all property required in 1931: P. L. Burch, W. H. Ray and George Howe for Chapel Hill, and others for Hillsboro, Bingham, Cheeks, Eno, Cedar Grove and Little River. Assessments three years earlier had been set at about 55 to 60 per cent of value. People: George Howe, Gilbert W. Ray, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 12, 1930, p. 1
  12. Chapel Hill aldermen ask the legislature to let them name the mayor town manager The board of aldermen voted to ask the legislature for a charter amendment allowing it to choose the mayor as town manager, after a report on economies by Alderman P. L. Burch and town attorney Bonner Sawyer. The Weekly reported talk that the aim was to save on the $2,700 manager's salary; at the next meeting, on February 11, about a dozen citizens questioned the change and the aldermen said they had no plan to drop the manager system. People: R. D. W. Connor, Bonner D. Sawyer, Peter L. Burch, John M. FousheeThe Chapel Hill Weekly, January 30, 1931, p. 1
Show all 46 dated events
  1. University Lodge buys Chapel Hill's old Baptist church for its hall University Lodge No. 408 bought the old Baptist church building at Franklin and Church streets, which had stood empty for several years, and had P. L. Burch renovate the interior as its lodge hall. The Weekly reported the purchase on January 16, 1931; in February it said the Masons had decided to buy two or three months earlier, so the deal may date from late 1930. People: Peter L. BurchSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 320 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, January 16, 1931, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, February 6, 1931, p. 1
  2. University Lodge No. 408 dedicates its new hall in the old Baptist church The Masons of University Lodge No. 408 held their first meeting and dedication in the former Baptist church at Franklin and Church streets, renovated inside under P. L. Burch, with more than 100 present and visiting Masons from Raleigh, Durham, Hillsboro, Sanford and Burlington. The lodge left the rooms it had used for 30 years in S. J. Brockwell's building at Columbia and Franklin streets. People: Samuel Jackson Brockwell, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 6, 1931, p. 1
  3. Chapel Hill re-elects its aldermen in a record town vote Chapel Hill voters returned the sitting board of aldermen and Mayor Zeb P. Council, and chose C. P. Hinshaw over L. J. Phipps by 37 votes for judge of the Recorder's Court. The 730 ballots, cast in the school athletic building known as the "tin can," were far more than in any earlier town election, the Weekly said. People: Brodie Thompson, R. D. W. Connor, Ralph M. Trimble, Peter L. Burch, Zeb P. Council, Clarence P. HinshawSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 8, 1931, p. 1
  4. The University's Black janitors take up a collection for the town's relief fund Though they had been out of work over the summer and had their pay cut along with all University employees, the Black janitors on the campus told P. L. Burch, superintendent of buildings, that they wanted to help when they heard of the relief plans. They chipped in, and one of them brought Burch $7 for the citizens' relief committee. People: Peter L. BurchThe Chapel Hill Weekly, October 23, 1931, p. 1
  5. The Home Owners' Loan Corporation names Orange County agents and takes local applications The federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation completed its North Carolina organization, placing Orange County in its Raleigh district with Chapel Hill attorney Henry A. Whitfield as county attorney and P. L. Burch as appraiser. By early August about 25 Chapel Hill householders facing foreclosure had applied, 15 of them through Whitfield. People: Henry A. Whitfield, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 28, 1933, p. 5
  6. 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
  7. The park below the University Lake dam opens as a public recreation ground The state board of health had closed the picnic ground below the dam for want of sanitary facilities. With $250 from the Chapel Hill Movie Guild, private gifts and Emergency Relief labor, the town built two bath-houses and a septic tank and hired a caretaker-lifeguard, and the University turned the three-acre park over to the town for Chapel Hill and Carrboro. People: Brodie Thompson, George H. Lawrence, Peter L. Burch, Carl T. DurhamThe Chapel Hill Weekly, June 22, 1934, p. 1
  8. Black homeowners on West Franklin Street turn to federal loans to pay their paving assessments The Weekly reported in November 1934 that Black property owners on West Franklin Street, assessed $7.70 a running foot for the paving and curb-and-gutter laid several years before, still owed the town about $30,000, with 60 owners behind on a ten-year payment plan. Town officials gathered the figures and the Home Owners' Loan Corporation agent, H. A. Whitfield, helped owners apply for fifteen-year federal loans; by the end of November three of them had settled with the town that way. People: Henry A. Whitfield, Peter L. BurchThe Chapel Hill Weekly, November 16, 1934, p. 1
  9. 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
  10. Chapel Hill re-elects Mayor Foushee and elects R. H. Wettach alderman In the town election Mayor John M. Foushee was returned without opposition, P. L. Burch (268 votes) and R. J. M. Hobbs (207) were re-elected aldermen, and law professor R. H. Wettach (236) won the third seat from Brodie S. Thompson (174). L. J. Phipps kept the recorder's court judgeship with 201 votes to 169 for C. P. Hinshaw and 102 for Roy W. McGinnis. People: Richard Junius Mendenhall Hobbs, Brodie Thompson, Luther James Phipps, Robert H. Wettach, Peter L. Burch, Clarence P. Hinshaw, John M. FousheeSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 10, 1935, p. 1
  11. Chapel Hill sets a two-hour parking limit on the business block After weeks of complaints that merchants and clerks stored their cars all day on the Franklin Street business block, the aldermen passed an ordinance limiting parking there to two hours between 8 A.M. and 7 P.M., Sundays excepted. People: Clyde Eubanks, Peter L. Burch, John M. FousheeSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 7, 1935, p. 6
  12. Chapel Hill aldermen ask the Carolina Coach Company to move its bus station off Franklin Street To relieve congestion on the business block, the aldermen adopted a resolution asking the Carolina Coach Company to find another place for its Franklin Street station and named Aldermen P. L. Burch and Clyde Eubanks to negotiate. A site on Columbia Street between Franklin Street and the fire station was suggested; the station handled 36 bus arrivals and departures a day. People: Clyde Eubanks, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 20, 1935, p. 1
  13. 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
  14. The Chapel Hill Movie Guild reports $1,773 given to relief and town causes Treasurer P. L. Burch reported that in the year ended July 11 the Guild, which drew a share of the Carolina Theatre's Sunday receipts, gave out $1,773: $560 to county welfare superintendent George H. Lawrence for relief in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, $379.94 for hospital care, and money for the University Lake picnic ground, the Boy Scouts, street trees, and lunches for white and Black school children. People: George H. Lawrence, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 17, 1936, p. 1
  15. Chapel Hill aldermen vote down relief from West Franklin Street paving assessments The aldermen voted down a proposal to ask the legislature for a special act letting them remit paving and curb-and-gutter assessments on West Franklin Street, where many of the owners were Black families threatened with the loss of their homes. Fearing refund claims and charges of discrimination from other owners, they asked the town attorney instead to study extending the time for payment. People: Luther James Phipps, Bonner D. Sawyer, Peter L. BurchThe Chapel Hill Weekly, March 12, 1937, p. 1
  16. Louis Graves organizes the Ada Edwards League to rebuild a Black widow's burned farmhouse When the house of Ada Edwards, a Black widow farming near Bethel church about five miles from Chapel Hill with seven dependent children, burned with nearly everything in it, Louis Graves organized an Ada Edwards League in the Weekly to raise money, food and clothing. With P. L. Burch and George Lawrence as a committee, the fund bought groceries, clothes and roofing for the log house she was rebuilding with a grown son and white and Black neighbors; Pi Beta Phi, the Red Cross and the Movie Guild were among the donors. People: Louis Graves, George H. Lawrence, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 25, 1938, p. 1
  17. YMCA secretary Harry Comer is named Chapel Hill's Most Valuable Citizen The Carolina Theatre's annual trophy for Chapel Hill's Most Valuable Citizen of 1938 went to Harry F. Comer, secretary of the University YMCA, at a presentation in the theatre. He was chosen by a committee of Mrs. Isaac Manning (chairman), Mrs. Irene Lee, Dr. S. A. Nathan, P. L. Burch and F. O. Bowman. People: Frederick O. Bowman, Peter L. Burch, Harry F. ComerSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 6, 1939, p. 1
  18. Chapel Hill re-elects John M. Foushee mayor over Clarence Pickard In the town election John M. Foushee won another term as mayor, beating A. Clarence Pickard 411 to 369, and aldermen R. W. Madry, R. J. M. Hobbs and P. L. Burch were returned. The Weekly said Madry's 657 votes were more than any candidate had ever received in a Chapel Hill town election; Andrew McIntosh, unopposed, polled 663 for judge of the recorder's court. People: Robert W. Madry, Richard Junius Mendenhall Hobbs, Clarence Pickard, Peter L. Burch, John M. FousheeSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 5, 1939, p. 1
  19. Durham Hosiery Mills gives its Carrboro playground equipment to the University Lake picnic ground William F. Carr, for the Durham Hosiery Mills, gave the playground equipment the company had in Carrboro to the picnic ground below the University Lake dam. The aldermen's committee for the ground, E. C. Smith and P. L. Burch, asked Chapel Hill and Carrboro for money to hire a custodian; the University had walled the pool and the Movie Guild and others had paid for dressing rooms. People: Peter L. Burch, E. Carrington SmithSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 2, 1939, p. 1
  20. 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
  21. The Royal Marine Band of HMS Formidable plays at the University The Royal Marine Band from the British warship Formidable, which the Weekly said had served in the action against the Graf Spee, the evacuation of Greece and the battle of Crete, played at the University Day exercises in Memorial Hall and again at the Graham Memorial after the Fordham game. Its bandmaster later wrote to thank P. L. Burch, who had been the band's guide. People: Peter L. BurchThe Chapel Hill Weekly, October 10, 1941, p. 1
  22. Chapel Hill aldermen suspend the town's milk ordinance for 45 days After the health department degraded the milk of four dairies supplying Harward's Durham Road Dairy pasteurizing plant from grade B to C for high bacteria counts and other violations, a board majority of P. L. Burch, Obie Davis and Bernice Fitch voted to suspend enforcement of the ordinance for 45 days to give the dairymen time to comply. Louis Graves criticized the vote in the Weekly, and Harward's kept its grade A rating by dropping the four dairies' milk. People: Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 28, 1942, p. 1
  23. Chapel Hill aldermen order an inquiry into charges that police mistreated Black prisoners After the Daily Tar Heel printed affidavits from three Black residents charging Chapel Hill police with mistreating them during and after arrest, the board of aldermen voted unanimously at a special meeting to investigate, and Mayor R. W. Madry named Aldermen P. L. Burch and R. H. Wettach to make a preliminary inquiry, with a public hearing to follow. People: Robert W. Madry, Robert H. Wettach, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 20, 1942, p. 1
  24. No one files against Chapel Hill's mayor, aldermen and recorder in the 1943 town election When nominations closed for the May 4 town election, no one had filed against Mayor R. W. Madry, aldermen R. J. M. Hobbs, R. H. Wettach and P. L. Burch, or recorder's court judge H. A. Whitfield, so their reelection was automatic. People: Robert W. Madry, Richard Junius Mendenhall Hobbs, Robert H. Wettach, Henry A. Whitfield, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 30, 1943, p. 1
  25. Chapel Hill's aldermen decide to enlarge the town sewage plant At their November 8 meeting the Chapel Hill aldermen decided to go ahead with enlarging the long-inadequate sewage disposal plant and asked Gilbert, White and Company of Durham for a survey and cost estimates. A committee under R. J. M. Hobbs was also studying a plan to extend the town limits to Morgan Creek on the south and Bolin Creek on the north. People: Richard Junius Mendenhall Hobbs, Robert H. Wettach, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 16, 1944, p. 1
  26. Chapel Hill re-elects Mayor R. W. Madry and Recorder's Court Judge Henry Whitfield A near-record off-year turnout in Chapel Hill re-elected Mayor R. W. Madry over insurance man Paul H. Robertson, 419 to 261, and Recorder's Court Judge Henry Whitfield over John T. Manning, 385 to 304. P. L. Burch, R. J. M. Hobbs and Obie Davis won four-year seats as aldermen and E. B. Patterson a two-year seat, all unopposed. People: Paul H. Robertson, Henry A. Whitfield, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 8, 1947, p. 1
  27. Chapel Hill adopts a new building code At a special meeting the Chapel Hill town board adopted a new building code modeled mostly on Durham's, recommended by a committee including the building inspector and Town Manager Gilbert Ray. One change let the inspector issue permits for small new houses in residence zones without architect's plans, where the old code had required plans regardless of cost. People: Gilbert W. Ray, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 3, 1949, p. 1
  28. Chapel Hill aldermen adopt nine new traffic rules to ease downtown congestion Meeting in special session on its Safety Committee's report, the Chapel Hill board made Henderson Street between Franklin and Rosemary one-way and Pickard Lane one-way south, kept trucks to Franklin, West Cameron and Columbia streets, and ordered stop lights at West Franklin and Roberson, North Columbia and Rosemary, and Mallette and West Cameron. It also banned bicycles on sidewalks, gave taxi companies 90 days to find off-street parking and turned down parking meters for the time being. People: Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 8, 1949, p. 1
  29. Chapel Hill elects William S. Stewart judge as Fred Edwards runs for alderman Mayor Edwin S. Lanier was reelected without opposition. William S. Stewart beat Paul H. Robertson 829 to 286 for recorder's court judge, and Oliver K. Cornwell, P. L. Burch and G. Obie Davis won the three aldermen's seats. Fred Edwards, a 57-year-old Black builder whom the News called the second Black candidate for the town board, polled 493 votes, ahead of Giles Horney and James R. Farlow. People: Edwin Sidney Lanier, Oliver K. Cornwell, Paul H. Robertson, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 10, 1951, p. 1
  30. Chapel Hill opens its second century with Mayor Lanier's seventeen-point program At the May 14 meeting marking a hundred years since the town's charter, Clerk of Court Edwin M. Lynch swore in Mayor Edwin S. Lanier and aldermen P. L. Burch, G. Obie Davis and Oliver K. Cornwell. Lanier then laid out seventeen goals, among them sidewalk paving, a tax map, a new white cemetery, a printed code of ordinances, Social Security for town workers, zoning along the Durham highway and more playgrounds. People: Richard Junius Mendenhall Hobbs, Edwin M. Lynch, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 17, 1951, p. 1
  31. Chapel Hill aldermen revoke the Curve Inn building permit after Strowd Hill residents protest After a heated hearing at which Strowd Hill residents and their lawyer called the expanding Curve Inn and Dance Patio a nuisance in a residential zone, the aldermen voted 5-0 to have the building inspector revoke the alteration permit. The order was served the next morning on owner Dr. S. A. Nathan, but work went on and an attorney spoke of a court suit. People: S. A. Nathan, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 12, 1951, p. 1
  32. Chapel Hill aldermen ask for a new, smaller perimeter zoning act On February 9, 1953, the Chapel Hill aldermen voted 4 to 2 to ask Representative John W. Umstead Jr. to introduce a new enabling act, replacing the 1949 and 1951 laws, to let the town zone a much smaller area of about a mile on each side of the new Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard, with planning and adjustment boards of five town and five outside members. The vote shelved the zoning ordinance that rural residents had fought for more than a year. People: Oliver K. Cornwell, John W. Umstead Jr., Peter L. Burch, Robert Lee FowlerSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 12, 1953, p. 1
  33. Chapel Hill aldermen give fraternities and sororities a fire-escape deadline The Board of Aldermen resolved that fraternity and sorority houses must have fire escapes built or under contract by June 5, or the town would take legal steps to stop their use as dormitories after June 10. The houses had been posted as condemned in January under a state law requiring fire escapes where people slept on upper floors. People: Oliver K. Cornwell, Peter L. BurchSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 14, 1953, p. 1
  34. Peter L. Burch says he will leave the Chapel Hill board of aldermen after 28 years Mayor pro tem P. L. Burch, then manager of the University's Victory Village, announced that he would not seek re-election when his term ran out in May, ending 28 consecutive years as a Chapel Hill alderman.Search the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 14, 1955, p. 8

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