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Local figure

Archie Royal Davis

Archie Royal Davis (1907–1980), a Durham architect, became architect for the University of North Carolina in 1940 and designed Colonial Revival store buildings on Chapel Hill's Franklin Street, painting watercolors to persuade owners to rebuild in that style. In 1948 he became architect for the Orange County schools.

Source: NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), pp. 17-18

Orange County Indexed has not yet linked an indexed work directly to Archie Royal Davis. The biography and the dated events on this page provide sources about Archie Royal Davis’ life and work.

Browse all 40 works on The Navy Pre-Flight School at Chapel Hill, 1942–1945 Research sources View background reading ↓

Life and Orange County connections

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

StorylineWilliamsburging Franklin Street, 1940–19421940–1942 · 4 events · Durham attorney J. L. Morehead urged Chapel Hill to make its Franklin Street business block as handsome as the campus, pointing to the business street of Colonial Williamsburg. Louis Graves's Chapel Hill Weekly reported the plan favorably in March 1940, and later accounts credit his paper with the campaign. In 1941 a Town Meeting committee under John M. Booker asked the aldermen for a Town Planning Commission and a consulting architect to pass on building designs. By November the commission was at work, and architect Archie Davis gave owners watercolors showing how to remodel. One building in its block followed the plan: the new Carolina Theatre, with a Colonial front from Davis's sketches, which opened on October 15, 1942. StorylineThe new Carolina Theatre, 1941–19421941–1942 · 6 events · A federal order halting construction of theatres stopped work on Chapel Hill's new Carolina Theatre on June 6, 1942, with the building about 85 percent complete. In 1941 Wilby-Kincey, which ran the Carolina and Pick theatres, had bought a Franklin Street lot for a fireproof theatre with 1,200 seats. At the urging of its local manager, E. Carrington Smith, the chain agreed to follow a Colonial front approved by the town's new planning commission, and ground was broken in December 1941. Smith applied for permission to finish, and the theatre at 108 East Franklin Street opened on October 15, 1942. The older house became The Village, showing the Navy Pre-Flight School's free movies for cadets. StorylineThe Chapel Hill Fire Department, 1951–19641951–1964 · 11 events · In 1951 the Chapel Hill aldermen stopped the town fire department from answering calls outside the town limits unless a fire endangered property in town, and in 1956 the town agreed to protect the suburban Greater Chapel Hill Fire District in return for its 10-cent fire tax. A reorganization had made J. S. Boone full-time chief by 1955. A 100-foot aerial ladder truck arrived in 1959, and a second station opened in Glen Lennox. In 1962 James Stewart was promoted to chief, and Boone, a town fireman for 34 years, became assistant chief at his own request. In 1963 the department moved into a new $80,000 central fire station, and Boone retired in January 1964. StorylineCameron Park School, 1952–19591952–1959 · 17 events · In January 1952 the county boards offered to buy part of Cameron Park, Rebecca Wall's land between St. Matthew's Church and her home, Burnside, for a new Hillsboro elementary school. She turned the offer down, and on September 15, 1952, the deadline the board had set before condemnation, she signed a deed for the land for $18,000. At the Garden Club's request the board named committees to fit the school to the town and protect the site's trees. Architect Archie Royal Davis drew a 16-classroom plan, and the school opened in 1956, taking the lower grades out of the crowded Hillsboro High School building. A second wing with an auditorium and a library went up in 1959. StorylineCedar Grove School’s road to accreditation, 1956–19611956–1961 · 8 events · Cedar Grove School won state accreditation in 1961 after five years of requests to the county board for classrooms, land and a lunchroom. In 1956 Wayne Compton and four other men asked for four more classrooms, a larger lunchroom and playground land; the board did not act, though it later approved a cafeteria. In 1958 Ruth Lawrence Woodson, state supervisor of the Black elementary schools, refused accreditation because the school had too few classrooms and was using its library as a fourth-grade room. In 1959 the five men, now the school's advisory committee, asked for a two-classroom addition, which was finished by September 1960, and in 1961 the state added Cedar Grove Elementary to its accredited list. StorylineCentral High School’s crowding, fire and rebuilding, 1956–19601956–1960 · 19 events · In the fall of 1956 Central School, Hillsborough's twelve-grade school for Black pupils, had 937 pupils, many of them children who had gone to Durham schools until Durham began charging out-of-county tuition. The county board adopted a plan for a classroom addition and a gymtorium, a combined gymnasium and auditorium, and until it was built put Central classes in an old lodge building on Wake Street, which a delegation of Black parents protested in 1957. On February 14, 1958 fire destroyed Central's main building. Within three weeks students were in the new classroom building, and the board accepted a new main building in June 1959. A vocational building and an elementary wing followed from 1960.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 61 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Alexander H. Graham acquires the Hasell-Nash House on West Queen Street After more than ninety years with the Nash family, the house passed in 1921 to lawyer Alexander H. Graham, later lieutenant governor and a grandson of Governor William A. Graham. The Grahams sold it on August 20, 1935, to Dr. H. W. Moore, who had it restored with architect Archie Royal Davis. People: Alexander H. "Sandy" Graham, Archie Royal Davis Place: Hasell-Nash House, 116 West Queen Street, Hillsborough · Also named: Annie S. Nash, H. W. Moore, William A. GrahamSearch the index · National Register: Hazel-Nash House nomination (1971), pdf p. 3 · Also: Hillsborough Historic District National Register Additional Documentation (2014)
  2. Archie Royal Davis becomes architect for the University of North Carolina The Durham architect Archie Royal Davis took the post of university architect at Chapel Hill in 1940. He then helped give Franklin Street's business district its Colonial Revival look, designing several store buildings and painting watercolor views to persuade owners to rebuild in that style, with backing from George Watts Hill and town leaders. People: George Watts Hill, Archie Royal Davis Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 18
  3. Louis Graves's Weekly takes up J. L. Morehead's call to give Franklin Street a Williamsburg look Durham attorney J. L. Morehead, for years the attorney and financial adviser of the town government, urged the mayor, the aldermen and other citizens to make the Franklin Street business block as handsome as the campus and residential streets, pointing to the business street of Colonial Williamsburg as proof it could be done, and Louis Graves's Chapel Hill Weekly reported his plan favorably on March 22, 1940. Later accounts credit Graves's paper with the campaign. Joseph Hyde Pratt, John M. Booker, W. D. Carmichael Jr., Collier Cobb Jr. and George Watts Hill backed the plan, and architect Archie Davis gave the planning commission watercolors showing owners how to remodel. People: Louis Graves, Joseph Hyde Pratt, William D. Carmichael Jr., George Watts Hill, Archie Royal Davis, John M. Booker, Collier Cobb Jr., John Lindsay Morehead Place: Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: Archie Davis, W. D. Carmichael Jr. · Also mentions: Franklin Street business blockSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 68 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, March 22, 1940, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, March 22, 1940, p. 2
  4. The planning commission persuades a theatre chain to give the new Carolina Theatre a Colonial front Chapel Hill's new planning commission, chaired by H. G. Baity, approved sketches by Durham architect Archie Davis for a Colonial front on the new Carolina Theatre to be built beside the Texaco station on Franklin Street, and the chain building it agreed to follow them at the urging of its local manager, E. Carrington Smith. Construction was to begin in December and end the next summer; the company had bought its steel that summer to stay ahead of federal priorities. People: Herman G. Baity, Archie Royal Davis, E. Carrington Smith Place: Franklin Street beside the Texaco station, Chapel Hill · Also named: Archie Davis · Also mentions: Carolina Theatre, Franklin StreetSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 28, 1941, p. 1
  5. The Navy begins a temporary office building for the Pre-Flight School beside the campus tennis courts Excavation began for a one-story Colonial-style office building for the Naval Pre-Flight School, 135 by 38 feet with a four-column portico and brick-veneer walls, set back from the Country Club road across from the Forest Theatre. T. W. Poe & Son held the general contract and Archie Davis drew the design; the Weekly listed it with renovated dormitories, a new infirmary, an outdoor pool and a cleared athletic field in the Navy's building program. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Country Club Road opposite the Forest Theatre, UNC campus, Chapel Hill · Also named: Archie Davis · Also mentions: Country ClubThe Chapel Hill Weekly, July 24, 1942, p. 1
  6. Archie Royal Davis's plans for the Naval Armory are settled and building begins After weeks of argument with consulting architect Arthur C. Nash, Durham architect Archie Royal Davis had his design for a Georgian Revival armory approved in mid-September 1942; R. K. Stewart and Son built it for about $41,000, meant as a temporary building to be replaced after the war. The Weekly had already described Davis's design, in the colonial style of the Carolina Inn, when bids were being opened on August 20, 1942, and on December 11 it reported the armory nearly finished, to be occupied when the University opened for the winter term on January 6, 1943. People: Arthur Cleveland Nash, Archie Royal Davis Place: NROTC Naval Armory, 221 South Columbia Street, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Carolina InnSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Naval Armory at UNC-Chapel Hill, National Register nomination (OR1541), p. 32 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, August 21, 1942, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, December 11, 1942, p. 1
  7. The Carolina Theatre is built on East Franklin Street to a Williamsburg design by Archie Davis The new two-story brick theatre at 108 East Franklin Street, with a steep roof, dormers and brick pediments and arches, was the one building in the 100 block of East Franklin to follow the Williamsburg plan. It opened with dedication ceremonies on Thursday evening, October 15, 1942. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: 108 East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: Archie Davis · Also mentions: East Franklin StreetSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 68 · Also: Cloudbuster (Navy Pre-Flight School, Chapel Hill), October 17, 1942, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, October 16, 1942, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, September 4, 1942, p. 1
  8. The Navy Pre-Flight School's armory is completed near the campus tennis courts A semi-prefabricated armory and rifle range designed by Archie Royal Davis for the Pre-Flight School was finished near the tennis courts, a short walk from Navy Hall. It was a separate building from the NROTC Armory. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Navy Pre-Flight Armory, near the tennis courts, UNC campus, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Navy HallNC State Historic Preservation Office: Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Naval Armory at UNC-Chapel Hill, National Register nomination (OR1541), p. 44
  9. Dr. H. W. Moore restores the Hasell-Nash House with architect Archie Royal Davis Dr. H. W. Moore restored the Federal-style Hasell-Nash House on West Queen Street with the help of architect Archie Royal Davis, who extended the rear of the two side wings around 1943. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Hasell-Nash House, 116 West Queen Street, Hillsborough · Also named: H. W. MooreSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 116 W. Queen Street, Hasell-Nash House
  10. Navy Hall opens as the Pre-Flight School's visitors' entrance and cadet lounge Designed by Archie Royal Davis and first drawn as a temporary office and hostess building, Navy Hall opened on March 13, 1943 with offices for the Pre-Flight School and recreation rooms for cadets; the public was invited in on March 21. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Navy Hall (later Jackson Hall), UNC campus, Chapel HillNC State Historic Preservation Office: Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Naval Armory at UNC-Chapel Hill, National Register nomination (OR1541), p. 43 · Also: Cloudbuster (Navy Pre-Flight School, Chapel Hill), April 17, 1943, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, March 19, 1943, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, March 26, 1943, p. 1
  11. A row of Colonial-style stores fills the 300 and 400 blocks of West Franklin Street As downtown pushed west after the war, an unbroken row of Williamsburg-inspired shops went up along West Franklin Street, many designed by Archie Davis. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: 300 and 400 blocks of West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: Archie DavisSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 69
  12. Archie Royal Davis becomes architect for the Orange County schools In 1948 the Durham architect Archie Royal Davis became architect for the Orange County school system. His work for the county included Cedar Grove and Efland-Cheeks schools for Black children, the first Cameron Park School building, Central High's 1959-60 main building and Central Elementary. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Orange County · Also mentions: Cameron Park SchoolSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 18
Show all 61 dated events
  1. The county school board signs Archie Davis to design a new school for Black students in Chapel Hill The Orange County Board of Education signed an agreement with architect Archie Davis for plans and supervision of construction of the new school for Black students to be built in Chapel Hill. The same day the county commissioners asked the State Highway Commission to stabilize the Merritt Mill road from the town limits to the proposed school site. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Orange County Board of Education, Hillsboro · Also named: Archie DavisThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 9, 1950, p. 1
  2. County commissioners hire Archie Royal Davis to design the new courthouse The county commissioners approved a contract with Chapel Hill architect Archie Royal Davis, for 5 percent of construction cost, to design the courthouse to be built with the $250,000 voted in 1949. His preliminary Colonial plan put the courtroom and the main county offices on the floor facing Margaret Lane and the health and welfare offices on the ground floor, and the board declined the school board's request to buy the old Latta dairy building for offices. People: Archie Royal Davis, Collier Cobb Jr. Place: Orange County Courthouse, Hillsboro · Also mentions: Margaret LaneThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 6, 1950, p. 1
  3. Archie Davis shows the commissioners his plans for a new Black high school on Merritt Mill Road Architect Archie R. Davis reviewed with the county commissioners his plans for the new high school for Black students at Chapel Hill, a fireproof building on Merritt Mill Road with 12 classrooms, a laboratory, a cafeteria, and home economics and library rooms, set into the slope to leave level ground for playing fields. The News said all interested groups in Chapel Hill and the commissioners had approved the plans and that bids would be taken in about six weeks. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Merritt Mill Road, Chapel HillThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 4, 1950, p. 8
  4. Archie Royal Davis replaces H. Raymond Weeks as architect of the Cedar Grove school When state school planners faulted H. Raymond Weeks's design in April 1950, the board sent him to W. F. Credle and Edward Waugh of the Division of Schoolhouse Planning, but Weeks would not rework it on short notice. By May the job had gone to Archie Royal Davis, who was also designing Lincoln High School in Chapel Hill; the board approved his preliminary plans in June. People: Archie Royal Davis, Edward W. Waugh, Howard Raymond Weeks Place: Cedar Grove School, 5800 NC 86 North, Cedar Grove · Also named: W. F. Credle, Edward Waugh · Also mentions: Lincoln High SchoolNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 17
  5. Commissioners cut the auditorium-gymnasium from Chapel Hill's new Black high school With low bids of about $330,800 against $235,000 set aside, the commissioners voted to let contracts at once for the new high school for Black pupils in Chapel Hill, leaving out the auditorium-gymnasium, site work, paved parking and some finishes. Black spokesmen, among them the Rev. J. R. Manley and Dr. C. W. Thompson III, opposed the cuts to the end and asked that bond money set aside for white schools make up the difference, which the board said it could not consider. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: New Lincoln High School site, Chapel Hill · Also named: J. R. Manley, Charles W. ThompsonThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 27, 1950, p. 1
  6. Commissioners let a contract to heat the old courthouse The commissioners awarded a $13,200 contract to Alliance Plumbing and Heating Company of Durham, low among five bidders, to heat the century-old courthouse from boilers in the jail building, and $960 to a Durham firm to weatherstrip and repair its windows. At the same meeting they set uniform office hours for the courthouse. People: Collier Cobb Jr., Archie Royal Davis Place: Old Orange County Courthouse, HillsboroThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 7, 1950, p. 1
  7. Bids for an addition to Central School come in far over budget Bids opened September 14 for an eight-classroom addition and lunchroom at Central School, Hillsboro's consolidated school for Black pupils, came to $129,423.90 with the architect's fee, against $100,000 set aside from the bond issue and state school funds. No contracts were let, and the school board turned to the commissioners for help. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Central School, HillsboroThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 21, 1950, p. 1
  8. County commissioners accept bids for an eight-classroom addition to Central School Calling it the county's most urgent school need, the commissioners accepted the low bids for an eight-classroom and lunchroom addition to the Central School for Black students at Hillsboro, though the bids ran $29,425.90 over the money set aside. To cover the gap they voted to issue up to $16,000 in bonds without a public vote and to use money saved by cancelling an order for six new school buses, and they pledged to keep the promises made in the 1949 bond campaign. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Central High School, HillsboroughThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 12, 1950, p. 1
  9. The county board accepts Archie Royal Davis's plans for Cedar Grove School The Orange County Board of Education approved Davis's final design for the Cedar Grove school for Black children: a low, flat-roofed brick building with long bands of classroom windows. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Cedar Grove School, 5800 NC 86 North, Cedar GroveNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 18 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), November 9, 1950, p. 1
  10. The board cuts the north wing and kitchen from the Cedar Grove School plans To lower costs, the county board struck the six-classroom north wing, the kitchen, floor tile, clocks, bells, sidewalks and other items from Davis's design. The gymnasium was to serve as a multipurpose room partitioned into four classrooms until money for more space could be found. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Cedar Grove School, 5800 NC 86 North, Cedar GroveNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 19
  11. School board moves to condemn the Ruffin-Roulhac land for a Hillsboro school The county Board of Education decided on March 5 to start condemnation proceedings, if needed, to get the Roulhac property at the north end of Churton Street, long known as the Ruffin property after Judge Thomas Ruffin, for a new elementary school. A committee had picked it the fall before, and owner W. S. Roulhac of Mount Vernon, N.Y., had ignored every letter about a sale. People: Thomas Ruffin, Archie Royal Davis Place: Ruffin-Roulhac property, north end of Churton Street, Hillsborough · Also named: W. S. Roulhac · Also mentions: Churton StreetSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 8, 1951, p. 1
  12. School board lets contracts for the new Efland school for Black children On June 4 the Board of Education awarded contracts totaling $72,725.10 with the architect's fee for the Efland Negro School, the first bids in the bond building program to come within the money set aside, $74,000. Cole and Crumpacker of Durham got the general contract at $55,735; the board also let contracts for a cafeteria at the Efland school for white children. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Efland · Also mentions: Efland schoolThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 7, 1951, p. 1
  13. The county accepts a low bid for steel for the new courthouse Architect Archie Davis advised the county to order steel early because mills were booking six months ahead, and the commissioners accepted the low bid of Carolina Steel and Iron Company of Greensboro. The step named the steel supplier for future general contract bidders but did not commit the county to start building. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Courthouse, Hillsboro · Also named: Archie DavisThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 5, 1951, p. 8
  14. The National Production Authority refuses to let the county start its new courthouse The National Production Authority denied the county's application for permission and scarce materials to begin the new courthouse, saying only the most essential building could go ahead under defense controls. The denial came just as the Local Government Commission advised that courthouse bonds could now be sold; architect Archie Davis planned to reapply for the first quarter of 1952. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Courthouse, Hillsboro · Also named: Archie DavisThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 30, 1951, p. 1
  15. The National Production Authority clears construction of the new Orange County courthouse The federal agency that allotted steel and other materials needed for defense had held the county's application since November 10, 1951; its notice granting priorities and authorizing construction 'to start immediately' reached architect Archie Royal Davis on April 15, leaving the next move to the county commissioners. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: HillsboroughThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 17, 1952, p. 1
  16. Bids for the new courthouse come in about $61,000 over the bond money The county commissioners opened bids for the ground and second floors of the new courthouse, leaving the basement unfinished for the time being; the low bids came to $311,355.46 with the architect's fees, against the $250,000 in bonds the voters had approved, and Coltrain-Graham Company of High Point was low on the general contract at $274,560. People: Collier Cobb Jr., Archie Royal Davis Place: Orange County Courthouse, HillsboroughThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 29, 1952, p. 1
  17. A school committee approves plans for the new Hillsboro elementary school at Cameron Park A local committee gave the county school board and architect Archie Royal Davis the go-ahead to finish plans for a modern elementary school on the Cameron Park property, facing St. Mary's Road between the Episcopal church and the A. H. Graham estate. The first stage was to be the basic plant and six classrooms, with room to add up to 24. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Cameron Park property, St. Mary's Road, Hillsborough · Also named: A. H. Graham · Also mentions: St. Mary's RoadSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 14, 1953, p. 1
  18. The school board orders plans drawn for Cameron Park School The county Board of Education directed architect Archie R. Davis to draw plans for the new Cameron Park School in Hillsborough, a 16-classroom building with lunchroom, offices and heating plant estimated at $235,000. It approved spending the $170,000 then on hand and put off $65,000 of the work until more money came. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Cameron Park School site, HillsboroughSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 10, 1953, p. 1
  19. Cedar Grove School's six-classroom north wing is finished The north wing Archie Royal Davis had drawn in 1951, a $60,000 addition of six classrooms closely matching the original classroom wing, was accepted from the builder by the county board on January 4, 1954 and occupied that week, bringing the school to 14 classrooms and moving six classes out of the auditorium and halls. With the new rooms the multipurpose room became the gymnasium and auditorium. Davis and board members Harry Breeze and C. W. Stanford inspected the wing that January. People: Archie Royal Davis, Charles W. Stanford Place: Cedar Grove School, 5800 NC 86 North, Cedar Grove · Also named: Harry BreezeNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 20 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 7, 1954, p. 1
  20. Commissioners inspect the finished new courthouse for acceptance With the original construction contract for the new Orange County courthouse complete, the commissioners met architect Archie Royal Davis and the main contractors for a formal acceptance inspection; acceptance was expected once a few items, among them the front sidewalk, were redone. Bids were being sought for furnishings, and the basement, left out of the first plans, was still to be finished. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Orange County Courthouse, HillsboroThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 15, 1954, p. 1
  21. Bids are opened for Hillsboro's new Cameron Park School A record 22 firms sought the general contract when bids were opened in the old courthouse; Charles C. Hayes Construction Company of Durham was low at $187,740, and the four low bids came to $255,999 against $235,000 on hand, a gap officials expected to close by dropping items. Architect Archie R. Davis said the school, the last to be built from the 1949 bond issue, could be finished by the next September. People: Archie Royal Davis, G. Paul Carr Place: Old Orange County Courthouse, HillsboroughSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 16, 1954, p. 1
  22. Work begins on the Cameron Park Elementary School in Hillsborough Excavation for the new Cameron Park Elementary School began after school officials signed about $235,000 in contracts, with Charles C. Haynes Construction Company as general contractor and Archie R. Davis as architect. The plan called for fourteen classrooms and a lunchroom in a building 350 feet long, set 100 feet back from St. Mary's Road. The school board had already trimmed the specifications and asked for $65,000 in state school building money for the job. People: Archie Royal Davis, G. Paul Carr Place: St. Mary's Road, HillsboroughSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 20, 1955, p. 1
  23. Carrboro's school committee asks the county board to drop Archie Davis as architect for its schools The Carrboro district school committee asked the county Board of Education to remove Archie R. Davis, who had designed every school built in the county system in the past five years, as architect for all future school building in the Carrboro district. The board took the request under advisement without acting; a new school for Carrboro was expected to be the county's next major building project. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Orange County Board of Education, HillsboroughSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 5, 1955, p. 1
  24. County school board names its first projects under the new bond issue The Orange County Board of Education gave first priority to a new 16-room Carrboro school, allotted $376,000, a lunchroom, library and commercial department at Aycock School, and renovation of Hillsboro High School. It kept Archie Royal Davis as architect for the county projects except Carrboro. People: G. Paul Carr, Archie Royal Davis Place: Orange County Board of Education, Hillsboro · Also mentions: Aycock School, Carrboro school, Hillsboro High SchoolSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 12, 1956, p. 1
  25. Dr. Sidney and Christine Chipman move into their new house on Dogwood Drive Dr. Sidney S. Chipman, who headed UNC's Department of Maternal and Child Health, and his wife Christine moved into a new house at 515 Dogwood Drive in May 1956. Archie Davis of Durham drew the plan and Parker and Elliot of Chapel Hill built it. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: 515 Dogwood Drive, Chapel Hill · Also named: Sidney S. Chipman, Christine F. Chipman, Archie DavisSearch the index · DigitalNC: Chapel Hill News Leader, May 28, 1956, p. 4 · Also: West Chapel Hill Historic District
  26. The county board approves a cafeteria for Cedar Grove School After voting in September to study the need, the board approved a cafeteria for 150 pupils at Cedar Grove at no more than $40,000, while again putting off new classrooms. Archie Royal Davis's plans for it were approved and sent to the state in October 1957. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Cedar Grove School, 5800 NC 86 North, Cedar GroveNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 21
  27. The school board approves plans for new Central School buildings The county Board of Education tentatively approved architect Archie R. Davis's plans for a 14-classroom elementary building and a gymtorium at Central School, Hillsborough's school for Black pupils, enlarging the gymtorium to seat about 800 and adding public toilets, and told him to seek state approval. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Central School, HillsboroughThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 13, 1956, p. 1
  28. The county takes bids for a gymtorium and twelve classrooms at Central High School H. F. Mitchell Construction Company was low bidder for two buildings at Central High, a twelve-classroom addition and a gymtorium seating about 1,200, designed by Archie Royal Davis. The whole project came to $266,094, and the gymtorium was nearly finished in February 1958. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: West Union and North Nash streets, HillsboroughThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 1, 1957, p. 1 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 20, 1958, p. 1
  29. A kitchen and cafeteria are added to Cedar Grove School A one-story brick kitchen and cafeteria, 78 by 49 feet, was finished behind the gymnasium late in 1958 to Archie Royal Davis's plans. One open dining room filled two-thirds of it, with the kitchen, dishwashing and storage along the north side. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Cedar Grove School, 5800 NC 86 North, Cedar GroveNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 21
  30. Central High's new gymnasium is finished Central High School's gymnasium, part of an addition already nearly finished when the main building burned in February 1958, was completed late that year. Archie Royal Davis designed the new main building that replaced the one lost in the fire. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Central High School (now Hillsborough Elementary), 402 North Nash Street, HillsboroughNC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), Education Context · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 20, 1958, p. 1
  31. Central High School burns Early on the morning of February 14, 1958, fire destroyed the main building of Central High School, Hillsborough's high school for Black students, a one-story brick-veneer building of fifteen classrooms that also held offices and an auditorium. Its library of more than 4,000 books was lost. Classes moved into a new twelve-classroom building nearly finished on the campus for the elementary grades, with a few in the lunchroom, shops and nearby buildings. The county board had Durham architect Archie Royal Davis design a new building on the same site; contracts were let in May 1958, and the two-story classroom building was finished in 1959-60. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Hillsborough · Also mentions: Central High SchoolThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 20, 1958, p. 1 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 27, 1958, p. 1; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 13, 1958, p. 1; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 22, 1958, p. 1; Hillsborough Historic District National Register Additional Documentation (2014); Open Orange: Central High School
  32. The school board orders a new main building for Central High on the day of the fire The night the old Central High building burned, the county board set aside $214,892 for a new 18-classroom building designed by Archie Royal Davis's firm. Construction went on through 1958. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: 402 North Nash Street, HillsboroughThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 20, 1958, p. 1 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 1, 1959, p. 1; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 11, 1958, p. 1
  33. The county school board lets contracts for additions at Cedar Grove, Efland and Efland-Cheeks schools The Board of Education let about $200,000 in contracts, with W. L. Jewell & Sons of Sanford as general contractor, for a kitchen and cafeteria at Cedar Grove School, classrooms and a boiler room at Efland School, and classrooms, offices, a boiler room and cold storage at Efland-Cheeks School. It also let an $11,600 contract to Odis Johnson for a principal's home at Aycock School. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Cedar Grove, Efland and Efland-Cheeks schools, northern Orange County · Also named: W. L. Jewell Jr., Odis Johnson · Also mentions: Aycock School, Cedar Grove SchoolSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 6, 1958, p. 1
  34. Archie Royal Davis's new main building for Central High goes up After the 1958 fire, Archie Royal Davis designed a two-story, flat-roofed brick main building and a barrel-roofed gymnasium for Central High School. The main building went up in 1959-60; the campus is now Hillsborough Elementary. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Central High School (now Hillsborough Elementary), 402 North Nash Street, HillsboroughNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 32
  35. Cameron Park School in Hillsborough gets its first addition Three years after it opened, the county enlarged Cameron Park School with a second section of building, raised under Superintendent G. Paul Carr to plans by the architect Archie Royal Davis. People: Archie Royal Davis, G. Paul Carr Place: Hillsborough · Also mentions: Cameron Park SchoolSearch the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 165
  36. Efland-Cheeks School gets its first addition An addition went up in 1959 on the north side of the 1952 Efland-Cheeks School, which Archie Royal Davis had designed for Black children in western Orange County. A modern wing larger than the original school followed around 1980. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Efland-Cheeks School, EflandSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 31
  37. Cedar Grove's advisory committee asks for two more classrooms Lonnie Thompson, Arthur Wells, Carter White, Wayne Compton and Oscar Beasley of the school's advisory committee asked the board for a two-classroom addition. The board agreed to consider it and in August approved Archie Royal Davis's plans with a $20,000 limit. People: Archie Royal Davis, Arthur Wells, Oscar Carver Beasley, Carter White Place: Cedar Grove School, 5800 NC 86 North, Cedar Grove · Also named: Lonnie Thompson, Wayne Compton, Oscar BeasleyNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 22
  38. Chapel Hill opens its Glen Lennox fire station The town's second fire station, on South Hamilton Road in Glen Lennox, opened without ceremony when two pumper trucks moved in from the main station on Columbia Street. The aldermen had let contracts in February for the building, designed by Archie Davis of Durham and paid for from 1957 bonds. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: South Hamilton Road, Glen Lennox, Chapel Hill · Also named: Archie Davis · Also mentions: Columbia StreetSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 16, 1959, p. 1 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, February 26, 1959, p. 6
  39. Mrs. Erle G. Hill restores the Patterson-Palmer House with architect Archie Royal Davis Owner Mrs. Erle G. Hill restored the Federal house on West Margaret Lane with architect Archie Royal Davis, replacing the roof, dormers, front portico, shutters and siding and returning the rooms to their first plan. By 1963 it was shown on Hillsborough's spring pilgrimage. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Mallett House (Patterson-Palmer House), 173 West Margaret Lane, Hillsborough · Also named: Mrs. Erle G. HillSearch the index · Hillsborough Historic District National Register Additional Documentation (2014), pdf p. 104 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 25, 1963, p. 30
  40. Two classrooms are added to the south wing of Cedar Grove School The two classrooms at the south end of the original wing, built to Archie Royal Davis's plans on bids taken in fall 1959, were finished by September 6, 1960, when the board inspected them with Davis and contractor Lindsay Fogelman. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Cedar Grove School, 5800 NC 86 North, Cedar Grove · Also named: Lindsay FogelmanNC State Historic Preservation Office: Cedar Grove School, National Register nomination (OR3044), p. 22
  41. The county school board hires Archie Royal Davis to design the new Orange high school By a four-to-one vote the Orange County Board of Education chose Durham architect Archie Royal Davis for the planned $750,000 high school on the 100-acre site north of Hillsboro, after weeks of objections from Hillsboro citizens unhappy with schools he had designed. Board member Delmar Brown voted against him. People: G. Paul Carr Place: Hillsboro · Also named: Delmar BrownSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 1, 1961, p. 8
  42. Commissioners sign contracts for the county agricultural building The Orange County commissioners signed contracts totaling $76,649 with the low bidders for an addition to and renovation of the County Agricultural Building on the court square in Hillsboro, long awaited to house all the county's farm offices; architect Archie R. Davis of Durham said work would begin at once. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Court square, HillsboroughSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 8, 1962, p. 8
  43. Orange County completes a new Agricultural Building in Hillsborough The county's new Agricultural Building, designed by Archie Davis, passed final inspection and the county's agricultural offices moved in. A dedication and open house were set for April 1. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Archie Davis · Also mentions: Agricultural BuildingSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 6, 1963, p. 12 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, March 20, 1963, p. 5
  44. The county school board picks a site near Central High for a new Hillsborough elementary school On December 2 the Orange County Board of Education decided to build a new elementary school, with a 250-seat cafeteria and a library, on a 20-acre site near Central High School, after the commissioners agreed to add $200,000 on July 1, 1964, to the $200,000 already set aside. The Negro School Advisory Committee had approved the site and a faction of the PTA had opposed it; Durham architect Archie R. Davis was hired to design the school. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Near Central High School, Hillsborough · Also mentions: Central High SchoolThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 5, 1963, p. 4
  45. The county school board lets contracts for a new elementary school for Black pupils near Central After the commissioners added $68,800 to the $200,000 set aside a year earlier, the Orange County Board of Education let $271,415.63 in contracts for a ten-classroom elementary school for Black pupils across the road from Central School. Bids opened July 2 had run about $80,000 over the money on hand; the News recounted that the school had been delayed a year while a site acceptable to an integration-minded Black group was sought. People: G. Paul Carr, Carl Smith (Chapel Hill businessman and county commissioner), Archie Royal Davis Place: across from Central School, West HillsboroughThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 30, 1964, p. 12
  46. Central Elementary School is built north of West Hillsborough Planned as a segregated school for Black pupils next to Central High School, the flat-roofed brick and concrete building designed by Archie Royal Davis was finished a few years before desegregation and then served an integrated student body. Additions followed in 1975 and during the 1990s. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Central Elementary School, 154 Hayes Street, HillsboroughNC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 15
  47. Two wings designed by Archie Royal Davis are added to the Carolina Inn Construction was under way by early October 1968 on the third major addition to the Carolina Inn, a $2 million project to plans by Archie Royal Davis, and it was largely finished by commencement in May 1970. Two wings on the Pittsboro Street side held a new cafeteria, ballroom and larger kitchen and forty-five more guest rooms, and the main entrance moved from Cameron Avenue to Pittsboro Street. Place: Carolina Inn, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Cameron Avenue, Pittsboro StreetSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: The Carolina Inn, National Register nomination (OR0545) · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, October 5, 1968, p. 3; The Daily Tar Heel, May 15, 1969, p. 1
  48. Work begins on a $2 million addition to the Carolina Inn Construction was under way on a $2 million addition to the University-owned Carolina Inn, financed by revenue bonds, that was to add a 24-room wing, a cafeteria, a ballroom seating 450 for dinner and a larger kitchen, and to move the main entrance from Cameron Avenue to a copy of the old front porch facing Pittsboro Street. Durham architect Archie Royal Davis drew the plans to follow Arthur C. Nash's colonial design, and the work was to take two years. People: Archie Royal Davis Place: Carolina Inn, Cameron Avenue and Pittsboro Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: Arthur C. Nash · Also mentions: Cameron Avenue, Pittsboro StreetSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 5, 1968, p. 3
  49. Central Elementary School in Hillsborough gets a large addition Ten years after the first building went up, the county added about 18,700 square feet to Central Elementary under Superintendent George F. Williams, bringing the school to roughly 44,600 square feet. People: Archie Royal Davis, George F. Williams Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · DigitalNC: Irene Oliver Pender, A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 (1983), p. 166

Places in this person’s story

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows the 16 with a known location.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

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People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Archie Royal Davis, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

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Background on The Navy Pre-Flight School at Chapel Hill, 1942–1945

Background reading on The Navy Pre-Flight School at Chapel Hill, 1942–1945. These works cover the broader subject and may not discuss Archie Royal Davis. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.

The Cloudbuster Nine

Keene, Anne R. · 2018

Anne R. Keene's history of the Cloudbusters, the baseball team of the Navy Pre-Flight School at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill during the Second World War, on which Ted Williams played in 1943. The chapters move from a batboy's trunk of keepsakes through the pre-flight training program to the players' lives after the war, and Keene's own family is part of the story. Published by Sports Publishing in New York in 2018, 340 pages with sixteen pages of plates.

UNC Durham Chapel Hill PL NC Cardinal Library of Congress CH Historical Society

The Forgotten First

Albright, Alex · 2013 · R.A. Fountain

Alex Albright's history of the B-1 band, the group of Black musicians drawn largely from students and graduates of North Carolina A&T who became the first Black sailors of the modern Navy to serve above the rank of messman, and the first of more than a hundred Black Navy bands in wartime. The band was posted to the Navy Pre-Flight School at Chapel Hill, the book's Orange County link. Published by R.A. Fountain in 2013, 194 pages with illustrations and portraits.

NC Cardinal UNC Durham Library of Congress

Football goes to war : the Army and Navy have chosen a tough sport to help prepare our fighting men for combat

Woodward, Stanley · 1942 · Look Inc

Stanley Woodward's illustrated article from Look magazine of October 20, 1942, on football as training for combat, detached from the issue. It centers on the men training at the Navy Pre-Flight School in Chapel Hill, whose team was called the Cloud Busters. Pages 62 to 67, chiefly illustrations and portraits, published by Look in Des Moines.

UNC

A tide of dreams : the untold backstory of coaches Paul "Bear" Bryant, Carney Laslie and Frank Moseley

Keefe, Carey Henry · 2022 · KöehlerBooks

Carey Henry Keefe traces the friendship and football careers of Paul Bryant, Carney Laslie and Frank Moseley, coaches whose paths crossed at the Navy Pre-Flight School the service ran in Chapel Hill during the Second World War. The book also concerns Wallace Wade and the history of college sports in the United States. Published in 2022, 382 pages with illustrations, and recipes are included.

UNC

United States Navy Pre-Flight School : research materials

2004

Six items gathered in a portfolio in 2004 as research materials on the United States Navy Pre-Flight School at Chapel Hill, the wartime program that trained naval aviation cadets on the university campus. Topics include the school, the Navy, and the University of North Carolina during the Second World War. The portfolio measures 39 centimeters.

UNC

Training programs of the University of North Carolina for the U.S. Navy during World War II

Pendergraph, William L. · 1993

William L. Pendergraph compiled a list of the students who passed through the University of North Carolina's training programs for the Navy during the Second World War, including the V-12 college training unit and the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps. Directory in form and unpaged, published in 1993.

UNC
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Flight of the avenger : George Bush at war

Hyams, Joe · 1991 · Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

Joe Hyams tells the story of George Bush's Navy service in the Second World War, from his childhood and youth through his time as a young carrier pilot. The book makes scattered references to Bush's training at the naval air station in Chapel Hill, which is the Orange County connection. Published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1991, 178 pages with illustrations.

UNC Library of Congress

The sky's the limit : the University of North Carolina and the Chapel Hill communities' response to the establishment of the U.S. Naval Pre-Flight School during World War II

Baker, Mary Layne · 1980

Mary Layne Baker's 1980 study of how the university and the town of Chapel Hill received the United States Navy Pre-Flight School that opened there during the Second World War. It treats the relations between community and college alongside the wartime history of the university itself. A typescript of 133 leaves with illustrations and a map, closing with a bibliography.

UNC

This mark of commendation ...

1946 · Department of the Navy

A single printed sheet issued by the Department of the Navy in 1946, carrying a mark of commendation and signed in a manuscript hand by James Forrestal. The commendation concerns the Navy V-12 Program, the Pre-Flight School at Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina in the Second World War. One sheet, 36 by 28 centimeters.

UNC

Camp Davis vs. North Carolina Pre-Flight.

1943

Programs like this one came from the athletic associations of the five Navy pre-flight schools. This issue covers Camp Davis against North Carolina Pre-Flight at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill on October 16, 1943. Fifty-two pages carry portraits of commanders, coaching notes, line-ups and statistics, along with sections on the Georgia, Del Monte, Iowa and St. Mary's schools.

UNC DPLA

Camp Lejeune vs. No. Carolina Pre-Flight.

1943

Football program for the game between the cadets of Camp Lejeune and those of the Navy Pre-Flight School at Chapel Hill, set for November 13, 1943, at Kenan Stadium. Sixty-three pages with portraits of commanders, notes on the two coaching staffs, line-ups and statistics, plus pages on the Georgia, Del Monte, Iowa and St. Mary's pre-flight schools.

UNC DPLA

Judy was dynamite

Troy, Elizabeth (Fiction writer) · 1943 · The Crowell-Collier Publishing Company

A wartime magazine romance by Elizabeth Troy, set in Chapel Hill during the years when the United States Navy Pre-Flight School was operating on the university campus. An editorial note on page 30 says the magazine sent Troy to North Carolina to observe the school before writing. The story runs across seven pages of the 1943 issue with a color illustration.

UNC

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