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Local figure

John Sprunt Hill

John Sprunt Hill, a Durham banker and 1889 graduate, endowed the university's North Carolina Collection in 1906 and built the Carolina Inn in 1924. As a trustee he chaired the committee on university buildings from 1923 to 1931, and the old Carnegie Library became Hill Music Hall.

Source: NCpedia: Hill, John Sprunt (Roger N. Kirkman, 1988)

1869–1961 · Dates from the Library of Congress · Library of Congress authority record ↗

8 works about John Sprunt Hill are indexed here, as are 4 works by Hill.

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John Sprunt Hill, 1919
John Sprunt Hill, 1919

Life and Orange County connections

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

StorylineStudent loan funds at the University, 1879–19321879–1932 · 5 events · When the state's budget cut threatened to drive students out of the University in January 1932, town and campus groups gave to a student loan fund whose beginnings went back to 1879. That year Charles F. Deems sent $300 to start a loan fund in memory of his son Theodore, killed at Gettysburg, and William H. Vanderbilt later added $10,000 through him. In 1906 Dr. Martin's will left more than $7,000 for loans to poor students. In 1932 Mayor Zeb Council named a citizens' committee, the sponsors of a concert by Amelita Galli-Curci gave their share of the receipts, and the campus Janitors' Association, facing a wage cut, gave five dollars. By early February about $7,000 had been raised. StorylineHighways through Orange County, 1911–19241911–1924 · 17 events · Hillsboro fought to be on the Central Highway, and between 1911 and 1924 hard roads were built across Orange County. In 1911 Hillsboro, joined by delegations from Durham and Mebane, pressed its claim, and the trustees chose the route by way of Hillsboro and Mebane. In 1919 the commissioners let the national highway across the county. The 1921 Highway Act, championed by Harriet Morehead Berry of Hillsborough, paid for a state network whose Central Highway ran through the town. The state bridged the Eno at Hillsboro in 1922, and the Durham-Hillsboro highway opened in 1924, after paving had sent traffic through Chapel Hill and onto a private detour whose owner charged drivers. StorylinePaving the Chapel Hill to Durham road, 1913–19211913–1921 · 4 events · Chapel Hill's road to Durham became a state test of paving surfaces and gave the University a hard-surface road. Superintendent Brown's surveyors laid out a new route close to the old road in 1913, and in 1916 the county commissioners placed it under the U.S. government engineer. By 1919 the State Highway Commission had approved chairman Frank Page's plan to build the four miles to the Durham County line as a test, in half-mile sections of concrete, asphalt, brick and other surfaces, while Durham County paved its own side. The road opened on Thanksgiving Day 1921, and the News reported heavy traffic. Franklin Street merchants declined to pay for paving its edges, so mud borders remained. StorylineThe Central Highway route fight, 1921–19221921–1922 · 8 events · The route of the Central Highway, the trunk road of the state network paid for by the 1921 Highway Act that Harriet Morehead Berry of Hillsborough championed, set off a fight in Orange County. In August 1921 the county commissioners weighed eastern and western 'Frog Pond' routes, and eastern Chapel Hill township residents demanded County Attorney A. H. Graham's discharge. In November a Hillsborough mass meeting resolved to fight the State Highway Commission's plan to carry the highway north of the courthouse. A Hillsborough group protested in Raleigh on March 1, 1922, Commissioner John Sprunt Hill was burned in effigy the next day, and the town board vowed to keep fighting in the state courts. StorylineKenan Memorial Stadium, 1926–19881926–1988 · 12 events · William R. Kenan Jr.'s 1926 gift of $275,000 built Kenan Memorial Stadium in the ravine southwest of the Tin Can, but blasting on the site drew protests. Residents of the south side of the village said the blasts were breaking windows and throwing stones as far as 1,600 feet, and in April 1927 the aldermen authorized the town manager to get expert advice and act to protect the community. Concrete seats went in at 500 a day toward 24,000, and Kenan added $28,000, bringing his gift to $303,000. After a first game against Davidson on November 12, the governor accepted the stadium for the state at the Thanksgiving Day game with Virginia, when the Weekly put the crowd at 28,000. Later work added women's restrooms and student seats in 1979, new lower-section seats in 1986 and, in 1988, a south-side renovation with about 2,100 seats, a press box and lights. StorylineThe short route to Raleigh: the old Raleigh road, the Nelson road and Route 54, 1925–19291925–1929 · 15 events · Chapel Hill's push for a paved road east toward Raleigh set it against the county commissioners and ended with Route 54. In October 1926 the commissioners voted to borrow $25,000 to surface the old Raleigh road, then rescinded the vote; the Weekly reported that a group of Hillsboro citizens opposed the borrowing. When the State Highway Commission left the road east to Nelson off the state map, Chapel Hill Democrats wrote in Republican John T. Fowler against commissioner McCauley in protest. In 1927, at John Sprunt Hill's request, the commission put the Chapel Hill to Nelson road on the map as a short cut to Raleigh. In July 1929 Route 54 opened west to Graham and east to Nelson.
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StorylineThe failure of the Chapel Hill Insurance and Realty Company, 1927–19301927–1930 · 12 events · When the Chapel Hill Insurance and Realty Company failed on November 2, 1927, with liabilities of $634,000, its receivers set about selling its Chapel Hill and Carrboro properties as land values slumped. They held a first auction that December and sold the insurance department in 1928. Spring auction bids in 1928 were too low to recommend to the court, and later bids for the Strowd farm and four brick stores on Franklin Street also fell short. Sales in 1929 brought prices the Weekly put at about half those of three or four years earlier. By October 1929 the liabilities were down to $121,000 and the stockholders' equity was gone, and in 1930 the receivers expected to be discharged. StorylineOld Memorial Hall condemned and replaced, 1929–19311929–1931 · 9 events · In 1929 University architect Thomas C. Atwood found the bases of Memorial Hall's wooden roof arches rotted to powder and warned that the building could fall at any minute. President Harry Woodburn Chase had closed it that fall over a bulge in its slate roof. In January 1930 the trustees voted to replace it on the same site, and the old hall was torn down in February. The new Colonial Revival hall stood by early 1931. Chase had found the money within University accounts, helped by a gift from John Sprunt Hill, but none was left to furnish it, and guests at the October 1931 dedication sat on scarred benches saved from the old hall.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 55 dated events in the chronology →

  1. John Sprunt Hill endows a fellowship in history In his 1903 alumni address John Sprunt Hill gave the interest on $4,000 to set up a fellowship in the department of history. The first year's interest was to go toward a YMCA building. Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: YMCA buildingSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 624
  2. John Sprunt Hill endows the North Carolina Collection John Sprunt Hill gave the university library money for collecting historical and literary material about North Carolina, the start of what became the North Carolina Collection. Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: North Carolina CollectionSearch the index · NCpedia: Hill, John Sprunt (Roger N. Kirkman, 1988)
  3. Branson's University News Letter publishes its first issue E. C. Branson's University News Letter, a weekly one-page sheet packed with facts about North Carolina gathered by him and his students, first appeared in mid-November 1914 with a run of four thousand copies. Its items were widely reprinted by the state's papers, and circulation grew to fifteen thousand. People: John Sprunt Hill, Eugene Cunningham Branson Place: UNC, Chapel HillSearch the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., Fire and Stone: The Making of the University of North Carolina under Presidents Edward Kidder Graham and Harry Woodburn Chase (2018), p. 101
  4. Horace Williams's war remarks bring a trustee inquiry that clears the faculty After the Charlotte Observer quoted philosophy professor Horace Williams in May 1917 calling the war a clash of national interests, critics questioned his loyalty, and trustee John Sprunt Hill pressed the matter. The trustees' visiting committee investigated and in June 1918 cleared Williams and the faculty of disloyalty. People: Henry Horace Williams, John Sprunt Hill, Edward Kidder Graham Place: UNC, Chapel HillSearch the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., Fire and Stone: The Making of the University of North Carolina under Presidents Edward Kidder Graham and Harry Woodburn Chase (2018), p. 155
  5. Eugene C. Branson proposes calling the planned social science school the School of Public Welfare Branson had urged a school of social science on Graham in 1916. In 1919, worried that "social science" sounded like socialism to North Carolinians, he proposed the name School of Public Welfare, which John Sprunt Hill endorsed, and suggested Hill endow it. People: Eugene Cunningham Branson, John Sprunt Hill, Harry Woodburn Chase, Edward Kidder Graham Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., Fire and Stone: The Making of the University of North Carolina under Presidents Edward Kidder Graham and Harry Woodburn Chase (2018), p. 215
  6. UNC trustees turn the campus's growth southward and call for a landscape plan Planning for 1,500 students the next year, the trustees combined their committees on buying land and on buildings, authorized them to hire a landscape engineer to draft a development plan, and decided that new building should move toward the south end of the campus rather than into four dormitories proposed for the north end. They also voted a monument over the graves of President and Mrs. Graham. People: Harry Woodburn Chase, Charles T. Woollen, John Sprunt Hill, J. Bryan (John Bryan) Grimes, James Alexander Gray Place: UNC, Chapel HillSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), June 26, 1919, p. 1
  7. County commissioners take up the fight over the route of the Chapel Hill to Hillsboro hard-surfaced road The county commissioners took up the location of the hard-surfaced road from Chapel Hill to Hillsboro as a special order on Monday, August 1, before a full delegation for an eastern route, argued for by Solicitor S. M. Gattis, against backers of the western 'Frog Pond' route by Harvey Clark's and the Big Meadows to Carrboro. On the advice of County Attorney A. H. Graham the board referred the matter to J. S. Hill and withdrew its promise of a sand-clay road on the eastern route; the account, signed 'Observer,' says the eastern side meant to take its case to the State Highway Commission. People: Samuel Mallett Gattis, Alexander H. "Sandy" Graham, John Sprunt Hill Place: Court house, HillsboroSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), August 4, 1921, p. 1
  8. A Hillsborough mass meeting resolves to fight the State Highway Commission's route north of the courthouse Citizens of Hillsborough and the surrounding country met at the courthouse, with county commissioners' chairman Ralph Ward presiding, to fight the State Highway Commission's plan to carry the Central Highway along the old pre-Revolutionary route north of the courthouse instead of the road running due west from it. The county commissioners threatened an injunction, and Republican leader N. W. Brown, whose account the News reprinted, said the new route would make a dangerous curve and serve fewer than twenty-five taxpayers in four miles. People: N. W. Brown, John Sprunt Hill, Ralph H. Ward Place: Courthouse, HillsboroughSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), December 1, 1921, p. 1
  9. The new hard-surface road between Chapel Hill and Durham opens to traffic The new boulevard between Chapel Hill and Durham opened to the public on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1921. The News reported heavy traffic over its asphalt and hard-surface stretches that day with only a few minor accidents, from fast driving and cars running off the pavement into soft dirt. Covington describes an eighteen-foot concrete road from the center of Chapel Hill to Durham, new when Albert Coates returned in 1923, and credits trustee John Sprunt Hill as a state highway commissioner. Franklin Street merchants declined to pay for paving its edges, so mud borders remained. Place: Chapel Hill to Durham · Also named: Albert Coates · Also mentions: Franklin StreetSearch the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., The Good Government Man: Albert Coates and the Early Years of the Institute of Government (2018), p. 58 · Also: The News (Chapel Hill), December 1, 1921, p. 8; The News (Chapel Hill), June 22, 1922, p. 1
  10. John Sprunt Hill offers the Graves lot and $10,000 for an alumni hotel Hill offered the Graves property across from the west entrance plus $10,000 if 1,000 to 1,500 alumni would each give $100 toward a hotel whose profits would go to the University. The investors did not come, so he built the Carolina Inn himself. People: Harry Woodburn Chase Place: Graves property, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Carolina InnSearch the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., Fire and Stone: The Making of the University of North Carolina under Presidents Edward Kidder Graham and Harry Woodburn Chase (2018), p. 246
  11. John Sprunt Hill is burned in effigy at the Hillsborough depot over the highway route In the fight over the route of the Central Highway through Hillsborough, State Highway Commissioner John Sprunt Hill of the fourth district was burned in effigy at the railroad station, just outside the town limits, as a crowd gathered for the afternoon trains. Newspapers across the state reported a large crowd of townspeople, but the town board said only two or three people did it, and many citizens did not learn of it until they read the morning papers. Place: Railroad station, HillsboroughSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), March 9, 1922, p. 1
  12. Hillsborough's town commissioners deplore the effigy burning but vow to keep fighting the highway route in court At a called meeting the Hillsborough board of commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution deploring the burning of John Sprunt Hill in effigy as an indecent attack, saying the newspaper reports were grossly exaggerated and that the town regretted it. The board made no apology for disagreeing with Hill and said it would continue its fight in the state courts over the location of the Central Highway. People: John Sprunt Hill Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), March 9, 1922, p. 1
Show all 55 dated events
  1. John Sprunt Hill chairs the trustees' buildings committee As a university trustee, John Sprunt Hill chaired the committee on university buildings during the campus building program of 1923 to 1931. Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · NCpedia: Hill, John Sprunt (Roger N. Kirkman, 1988)
  2. Trustees ask $350,000 to start a four-year medical college, and the legislature ignores it With the joint plan dead, the trustees heard delegations from Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro and Durham, chose no site, and voted to ask the General Assembly for $350,000 toward a four-year medical college. The legislature did not act; in June 1923 the trustees voted for a four-year program at Chapel Hill. People: Harry Woodburn Chase, John Sprunt Hill Place: UNC, Chapel HillSearch the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., Fire and Stone: The Making of the University of North Carolina under Presidents Edward Kidder Graham and Harry Woodburn Chase (2018), pp. 256-257
  3. John Sprunt Hill lets the building contract for the Carolina Inn John Sprunt Hill, for the incorporators of the Carolina Club, let the contract for the Carolina Inn to H. L. Smith of Durham. The old Graves house on the site, at the west gate of the campus, was to be moved south of the inn and joined to it for use as a student boarding house. Place: Carolina Inn site, West Cameron Avenue at the west gate of the campus, Chapel Hill · Also named: H. L. SmithSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 29, 1923, p. 1 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, March 29, 1923, p. 4
  4. Three donors start a Campus Fund to beautify the University grounds James Sprunt of Wilmington, John Sprunt Hill of Durham and W. C. Coker of Chapel Hill each gave $1,000 to start a Campus Fund for beautifying the University campus, announced in an alumni pamphlet titled 'The Campus Beautiful'. People: James Sprunt, John Sprunt Hill, William Chambers Coker Place: UNC campus, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 11, 1923, p. 2
  5. The Carolina Inn is built John Sprunt Hill built the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, near the west gate of the campus. The general contractor, H. L. Smith of Durham, finished his work in November 1924, and the inn took in its first guests early in December before any official opening. People: John Sprunt Hill Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: H. L. Smith · Also mentions: Carolina InnSearch the index · NCpedia · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, November 20, 1924, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, December 4, 1924, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, April 23, 1981, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, April 29, 1982, p. 5
  6. Trustees adopt higher law school standards over Governor Morrison's objection At a four-hour meeting in the governor's office, attended by about half the trustees, 45 of them lawyers, Morrison argued against stiffer entrance rules, but a voice vote approved Chase's plans. The board put off naming a dean rather than accept Chase's out-of-state choice. People: Harry Woodburn Chase, William H. S. Burgwyn, John Sprunt Hill, Cameron Morrison Place: Governor's office, Raleigh (for UNC, Chapel Hill)Search the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., Fire and Stone: The Making of the University of North Carolina under Presidents Edward Kidder Graham and Harry Woodburn Chase (2018), pp. 275-276
  7. The trustees' building committee keeps the women's building on the lot next to the Episcopal church Meeting in Chapel Hill, the trustees' building committee voted, reportedly unanimously, to put the University's first building for women students on the lot beside the Episcopal church, as the trustees had decided a year earlier, rather than in the grove before the Booker home near the new men's dormitories. The first step was to remove the old house on the lot, home in turn to John de B. Hooper, Eben Alexander, H. V. Wilson, C. W. Bain, J. B. Bullitt and W. E. Caldwell. People: Harry Woodburn Chase, John Sprunt Hill, William Chambers Coker Place: Lot next to the Chapel of the Cross, East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: Eben Alexander, J. B. Bullitt, W. E. Caldwell, H. V. WilsonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 10, 1924, p. 1
  8. Manning Hall is dedicated as the law school's new home Supreme court justices, superior court judges, lawyers and alumni, 200 or more, came for the dedication and lunched at the new Carolina Inn with John Sprunt Hill as host. People: John Sprunt Hill Place: Manning Hall, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Carolina InnSearch the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., Fire and Stone: The Making of the University of North Carolina under Presidents Edward Kidder Graham and Harry Woodburn Chase (2018), p. 281 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, January 29, 1925, p. 3
  9. A 30-mile short cut from Chapel Hill to Raleigh by way of Lowe's Grove opens After the Orange commissioners on September 7 voted unanimously to put a road gang on the old Raleigh road out of Chapel Hill, including Blake's hill, and Durham County's road forces worked their end, the Weekly announced the short cut open. Travelers went by the old Raleigh and New Hope Valley roads to Evergreen farm and through Lowe's Grove to Nelson, 30 miles instead of 38 through Durham. People: W. S. Roberson, John Sprunt Hill, Junius D. Webb Place: Old Raleigh road and New Hope Valley road, Chapel Hill to the Durham lineSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 30, 1925, p. 1
  10. John Sprunt Hill buys the Noble property beside the Carolina Inn John Sprunt Hill of Durham, owner of the Carolina Inn, bought M. C. S. Noble's property at Cameron Avenue and Pittsboro Street for $35,000. He reserved a strip next to the Inn for a proposed faculty club and planned to sell the rest as two fraternity lots, saying he wanted to protect the Inn's surroundings. People: M. C. S. Noble Place: Cameron Avenue and Pittsboro Street, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Carolina Inn, Cameron Avenue, Pittsboro StreetSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 8, 1926, p. 1
  11. The state highway commission backs a numbered national route through Chapel Hill Meeting in Raleigh, the state highway commission unanimously asked other states to join in having a highway from the North through Durham, Chapel Hill, Pittsboro, Sanford, Pinehurst and Rockingham to Jacksonville, Florida, designated a single numbered national route. John Sprunt Hill and W. P. Budd of the Durham chamber of commerce led the effort. People: John Sprunt Hill Place: State highway commission, Raleigh; route through Chapel Hill · Also named: W. P. BuddSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 12, 1926, p. 3
  12. State highway commission takes over the Calvander-to-Alamance road District highway commissioner John Sprunt Hill told the Weekly that the state highway commission had decided to take over the county road from Calvander to the Alamance line and oil it later, and had ordered oil treatment for the road from the Carrboro school to Hillsboro. The $38,000 contract to pave from Chapel Hill to the Carrboro school had been let in December 1926. People: John Sprunt Hill Place: Calvander to the Alamance County line, Orange County · Also mentions: Carrboro schoolSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 25, 1927, p. 1
  13. State highway commission takes over the Chapel Hill-Nelson road On John Sprunt Hill's request the commission put the road from Chapel Hill to Nelson, on the Durham-Raleigh highway, on the state map, making an eight-mile short cut to Raleigh. At the University's request the route was to follow the road south of the campus and a new link south of the cemetery; by May state surveyors had laid out a line that would bring Raleigh within about 28 1/2 miles. People: John Sprunt Hill Place: South Road, Chapel Hill, to Nelson, Durham CountySearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 15, 1927, p. 1
  14. University trustees divide the $1,220,000 building appropriation At their commencement meeting the trustees unanimously adopted John Sprunt Hill's building committee report dividing the legislature's $1,220,000: $625,000 for the library, $90,000 to rebuild New West, $55,000 for a wing on Phillips Hall, $75,000 for Memorial Hall, $160,000 for a classroom building or dormitory, and the rest for equipment, utilities, grounds and furniture. People: John Sprunt Hill Place: Pharmacy Hall, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Memorial Hall, Phillips HallSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 10, 1927, p. 1
  15. Kenan Memorial Stadium opens Kenan Memorial Stadium, the gift of William Rand Kenan Jr., hosted its first event on November 12, 1927, when Carolina beat Davidson 27 to 0. It was formally dedicated before the Thanksgiving Day game against Virginia on November 24, when Governor Angus McLean accepted it for the state and the University. People: William Rand Kenan, William Rand Kenan Jr., John Sprunt Hill Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Angus McLean · Also mentions: Kenan Memorial StadiumSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 18, 1927, p. 1: First Game in the New Stadium
  16. John Sprunt Hill buys the block of stores beside the campus at the realty company auction At the receivers' auction of Chapel Hill Insurance and Realty Company property on November 22, John Sprunt Hill, a University trustee, bid $63,650 for the four Franklin Street stores next to the Methodist churchyard and the campus, a purchase the Weekly said was made to protect the University; the company had paid $22,000 for them about ten years before. Lueco Lloyd bid $23,000 for the Peoples Bank building and L. P. McLendon $22,500 for the Chapel Hill Hardware store, all subject to the court's approval. People: Lueco Lloyd, Milton E. Hogan Place: Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: L. P. McLendon · Also mentions: Chapel Hill Hardware store, Peoples Bank buildingSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 25, 1927, p. 1
  17. Kenan Memorial Stadium is dedicated at the Thanksgiving Day game Before the Thanksgiving Day game with Virginia on November 24 the stadium was presented on behalf of William R. Kenan Jr. and accepted for the state and the University by Governor McLean, with the governor of Virginia and John Sprunt Hill also speaking. The Weekly put the crowd at 28,000, the largest it believed Chapel Hill had ever held, though few could hear the speeches; Carolina won 14 to 13. People: William Rand Kenan Jr., Angus W. McLean, John Sprunt Hill Place: Kenan Memorial Stadium, Chapel Hill · Also named: William R. Kenan Jr.Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 25, 1927, p. 1
  18. The state highway commission lets contracts for the Chapel Hill-Nelson short cut to Raleigh The state highway commission let contracts for a new road from Chapel Hill to Nelson on the Central Highway, a short cut that would save about 8 1/3 miles on the trip to Raleigh. J. K. Cecil took the 2.61 miles in Orange County for $20,584; the road was to open with a temporary sand-clay or gravel surface. People: John Sprunt Hill Place: Old Raleigh road, east of Chapel Hill · Also named: J. K. CecilSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 16, 1927, p. 1
  19. Receivers deed the Franklin Street stores and Ledbetter house to John Sprunt Hill Having paid about $16,000 in back town and county taxes, the receivers of the Chapel Hill Insurance and Realty Company delivered to John Sprunt Hill deeds for the four store properties near the Methodist church on the south side of Franklin Street and for the Ledbetter house. People: Milton E. Hogan Place: South side of Franklin Street near the Methodist church, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Franklin StreetSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 9, 1928, p. 1
  20. Highway commission routes the Graham road straight from Carrboro to White Cross On June 7, 1928, district highway commissioner John Sprunt Hill announced that the new state road from Chapel Hill to Graham would run straight from the end of the pavement at the Carrboro school to White Cross, cutting out the bend by Calvander and saving 1.6 miles. The contract for the four-mile section was to be let in August, and the Chapel Hill to Nelson short cut to Raleigh was expected to open in September. People: John Sprunt Hill Place: Between the Carrboro school and White Cross, Orange CountySearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 8, 1928, p. 1
  21. Construction begins on a classroom building south of Murphey Hall By July 20, 1928, excavation was nearly finished and concrete foundations were being laid for a $160,000 University classroom building just south of Murphey Hall, matching Steele dormitory across the lower campus. The trustees' building committee had approved the plans on May 14, paying for it from the building funds voted by the 1927 legislature. People: John Sprunt Hill, Harry Woodburn Chase Place: South of Murphey Hall, UNC campus, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 20, 1928, p. 1
  22. State highway commission agrees to pave the full width of the road behind the campus John Sprunt Hill, highway commissioner for the district, announced that the state would gravel the new Chapel Hill to Nelson road, the short route to Raleigh, and would pay for paving the full 30-foot width of the half-mile stretch along the campus if the University built concrete curbs and gutters at once. The University and town were to share curbing and graveling of the link past Emerson Field. People: John Sprunt Hill Place: Road along the south edge of the UNC campus, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Emerson FieldSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 21, 1928, p. 1
  23. Annie Martin leases the Carolina Inn from John Sprunt Hill Mrs. Annie Martin, who had run several mountain hotels, took a lease of the Carolina Inn for a term of years from its owner, John Sprunt Hill, succeeding I. N. Gattman as manager. The Weekly reported she had already changed the kitchen and dining room staff and refurbished the inn. People: John Sprunt Hill Place: Carolina Inn, Chapel Hill · Also named: Annie Martin, I. N. GattmanSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 10, 1930, p. 1
  24. UNC trustees' building committee approves the recital hall for the new music building Meeting in President Chase's office, the trustees' building committee approved final plans for the recital hall to be built onto the music building made from the old library. By April 11 the main building was in use, excavation for the roughly 900-seat auditorium had begun with completion promised by September, and its organ was under construction. People: Harry Woodburn Chase, John Sprunt Hill Place: Music building (former Carnegie library), UNC campus, Chapel HillThe Chapel Hill Weekly, March 7, 1930, p. 5
  25. Farmers of Durham and nearby counties organize the Farmers Exchange cooperative About 400 farmers and farm leaders formed the Farmers Exchange in March 1930 to market farm products and buy supplies at cost. John Sprunt Hill of Durham backed it, and by 1952 it served about 4,100 members in five counties including Orange. People: John Sprunt Hill Place: Orange CountySearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 245-246
  26. The old Carnegie Library is dedicated as the music building After the library moved to its new building, the Carnegie Library was remodeled for the music department with an auditorium and a Reuter organ, most of the cost given by the Hill family. It was dedicated on November 14, 1930, and named Hill Music Hall by trustee resolution in the summer of 1931. People: Harold S. Dyer Place: Hill Hall, UNC campusSearch the index · Names in Brick and Stone: Hill Hall · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, November 14, 1930, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, November 21, 1930, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, October 12, 1993, p. 5
  27. Phi Beta Kappa initiates ten alumni who graduated before the chapter existed Under a new by-law admitting alumni whose records met its standard, the University's Phi Beta Kappa chapter initiated ten graduates of 1879 to 1893, among them John Sprunt Hill and J. Crawford Biggs, at the Episcopal parish house. People: John Sprunt Hill Place: Episcopal parish house, Chapel Hill · Also named: J. Crawford BiggsSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 12, 1930, p. 6
  28. UNC trustees name the music building Hill Music Hall The University trustees voted to name the new music building Hill Music Hall, making public what the Weekly called an open secret: John Sprunt Hill and his wife had given the pipe organ and the funds for the recital hall. The resolution also thanked Hill for ten years on the trustees' building committee. People: John Sprunt Hill Place: Hill Music Hall, UNC campus, Chapel HillThe Chapel Hill Weekly, June 12, 1931, p. 1
  29. John Sprunt Hill gives the University the lot between the Episcopal church and the Barbee place At the exercises dedicating the new Memorial Hall, President Frank Graham announced that John Sprunt Hill had given the University the plot of land between the Episcopal church and the Algernon Barbee place. People: Frank Porter Graham, Algernon S. Barbee Place: between the Episcopal church and the Algernon Barbee place, Chapel Hill · Also named: Algernon Barbee, Frank Graham · Also mentions: Memorial HallSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 16, 1931, p. 1
  30. The new Memorial Hall is dedicated On October 12, 1931, the University's 138th birthday, Governor O. Max Gardner presented the new hall on behalf of the state and John Sprunt Hill accepted it for the trustees' building committee. Chase had found the money for the replacement auditorium within university accounts, helped by $5,000 from John Sprunt Hill, but none was left to furnish it. Guests at the dedication sat on the scarred heart-pine benches saved from the old hall, along with its marble tablets to the Civil War dead. People: John Sprunt Hill, O. Max Gardner Place: Memorial Hall, UNC, Chapel HillSearch the index · Howard E. Covington Jr., Fire and Stone: The Making of the University of North Carolina under Presidents Edward Kidder Graham and Harry Woodburn Chase (2018), p. 410 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, October 9, 1931, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, October 16, 1931, p. 2
  31. Chapel Hill rallies behind a drive to enlarge the University student loan fund With the state's budget cut threatening to drive students out, Mayor Zeb Council named a citizens' committee and town and campus groups gave to the University student loan fund. By early February about $7,000 had been raised, including $1,000 from John Sprunt Hill, and the trustees backed the drive. People: John Sprunt Hill, Frank Porter Graham, Zeb P. Council Place: Chapel Hill and the UniversitySearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 29, 1932, p. 1
  32. Friends of the Library is organized at a dinner at the Carolina Inn Men and women interested in the University library formed the association with John Sprunt Hill of Durham as chairman and Dr. Fred M. Hanes of Winston-Salem as vice-chairman, praised the departing librarian Louis R. Wilson, and made him an honorary life member. Bishop Joseph Blount Cheshire recalled the library of fifty years before. People: John Sprunt Hill, Louis Round Wilson, J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, Joseph Blount Cheshire Jr. Place: Carolina Inn, Chapel Hill · Also named: Fred M. Hanes · Also mentions: University librarySearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 3, 1932, p. 3
  33. Orange County Democrats renominate Sheriff Sloan and back Owen Robertson for the state senate In the June 2 primary Owen S. Robertson of Hillsboro led the state senate race in Orange with 1,872 votes to 1,329 for John Sprunt Hill and 1,310 for T. S. Neal; Hill and Robertson won the district nominations. Sheriff W. T. Sloan beat Frank Cole 1,531 to 1,149, B. J. Howard was nominated for the House over L. J. Phipps 1,219 to 1,132, and W. P. Berry, Carl T. Durham and John H. Hanner were nominated for county commissioner. Register of Deeds S. W. Andrews fell short of a majority, and a runoff with A. S. Cheek was expected on June 30. People: John Sprunt Hill, Carl T. Durham, Samuel Weldon Andrews, William T. Sloan, W. P. Berry, B. J. Howard, Owen S. Robertson Place: Orange County precincts · Also named: A. S. Cheek, John H. Hanner, L. J. PhippsSearch the index · The News (Chapel Hill), June 7, 1934, p. 1
  34. Democrats sweep Orange County in the 1934 general election Orange County voters returned the full Democratic ticket on November 6, 1934: W. T. Sloan as sheriff, A. W. Kenion as clerk, S. W. Andrews as register of deeds, G. G. Bivens as treasurer, B. J. Howard to the state House, and Carl Durham, John Hanner and W. P. Berry as commissioners, while Owen Robertson (2,099) and John Sprunt Hill (1,962) beat the Republican R. P. Hackney (1,189) for the district's two Senate seats. In the Chapel Hill precinct the Democrats ran about 570 votes to the Republicans' 100. People: John Sprunt Hill, Samuel Weldon Andrews, Owen S. Robertson, William T. Sloan, W. P. Berry, John Hodge Hanner, B. J. Howard, Alonzo W. Kenion, Carl T. Durham Place: Orange County precincts · Also named: G. G. Bivens, Owen Robertson · Also mentions: Chapel Hill precinctSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 9, 1934, p. 1
  35. Chapel Hill citizens petition Senator John Sprunt Hill in support of state liquor stores Several score Chapel Hill men and women from the University and the town's business community signed a message to State Senator John Sprunt Hill approving his effort for a liquor-control plan like Virginia's state-run stores, to be put to a popular vote. The petition was mailed before the canvass was complete, and a duplicate was left at Gooch's restaurant for more signatures. People: John Sprunt Hill Place: Gooch's restaurant, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 8, 1935, p. 1
  36. The Hill family gives the Carolina Inn to the university John Sprunt Hill and his family gave the Carolina Inn, which he had built in 1924, to the university on the condition that its income support the North Carolina Collection. Hill presented the Inn at a meeting of the trustees' executive committee in Raleigh, which the Chapel Hill Weekly put on Wednesday, June 5, 1935; Names in Brick and Stone gives June 4. Place: Carolina Inn, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: North Carolina CollectionSearch the index · Names in Brick and Stone: Hill Hall · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, June 7, 1935, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, August 2, 1935, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, November 22, 1935, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, April 23, 1981, p. 1
  37. UNC trustees vote to move the engineering school from Chapel Hill to State College Meeting in Chapel Hill, the trustees voted 58 to 11 for President Graham's plan to combine the engineering schools at State College in Raleigh within three years, move State College's science and business work to Chapel Hill, stop admitting women to the freshman and sophomore classes at Chapel Hill and Raleigh, and center graduate work in Chapel Hill. John Sprunt Hill and Walter Murphy had led the opposition in the executive committee. People: Frank Porter Graham, John Sprunt Hill Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Walter MurphyThe Chapel Hill Weekly, June 14, 1935, p. 1
  38. John Sprunt Hill issues a pamphlet against moving the engineering school to Raleigh Trustee John Sprunt Hill published a 24-page study calling on the University trustees to rescind their June 1935 decision to move the engineering school from Chapel Hill to State College, and said he would offer the motion at their January meeting. In his account the move went against the consolidation law and the experts' report and would cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Place: Chapel Hill (Hill lived in Durham)Search the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 10, 1936, p. 1
  39. Alumni Association makes the Carolina Inn its official headquarters At its annual assembly the University Alumni Association gave a dinner at the Carolina Inn for Mr. and Mrs. John Sprunt Hill, who had given the Inn to the University, and marked the Inn's inauguration as official alumni headquarters, with the association's offices moving there from the South Building. People: John Sprunt Hill Place: Carolina Inn, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 14, 1936, p. 1
  40. University trustees refuse to keep the engineering school in Chapel Hill Meeting in Greensboro, the trustees of the consolidated University voted down John Sprunt Hill's motion to reconsider their 1935 decision to move the engineering school from Chapel Hill to State College in Raleigh. A committee of Chapel Hill professors argued that other departments, public health among them, depended on the school; President Frank Graham spoke for the consolidation plan. People: John Sprunt Hill, Frank Porter Graham Place: Trustees' meeting in Greensboro; School of Engineering, Chapel Hill · Also named: Frank GrahamThe Chapel Hill Weekly, June 5, 1936, p. 4
  41. Person Hall shows Frances Benjamin Johnston's photographs of early North Carolina architecture The University's art gallery opened a show of works acquired in 1937, led by seventy photographs of North Carolina buildings from before 1850 by Frances Benjamin Johnston, given by John Sprunt Hill to the Southern Historical Collection, with Carnegie Corporation facsimiles of modern paintings and reproductions of Pueblo Indian paintings. Art department head Russell T. Smith gave the opening gallery talk. People: Frances Benjamin Johnston, John Sprunt Hill Place: Person Hall Art Gallery, University of North Carolina · Also named: Russell T. Smith · Also mentions: Southern Historical CollectionSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 24, 1937, p. 1
  42. The Order of Gimghouls marks its fiftieth anniversary at Hippol Castle Old and current members of the Order of Gimghouls gathered at Hippol Castle on November 30 and December 1, 1939, for the fiftieth anniversary of the society founded in 1889 by Edward Wray Martin, Andrew H. Patterson, Robert Worth Bingham, John Sprunt Hill and six others. Among their business was whether to hire a full-time caretaker after repeated break-ins and damage at the castle that fall. People: John Sprunt Hill Place: Hippol Castle (Gimghoul Castle), Battle Park, Chapel Hill · Also named: Robert Worth Bingham, Andrew H. PattersonSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 1, 1939, p. 1
  43. The Carolina Inn completes the first of its rear additions The Carolina Inn, which Arthur Nash designed for John Sprunt Hill, gained a rear addition in 1940, the first of three (later ones in 1970 and 1995) that tracked the university's growth. Designed by Watts Carr and built with the help of a PWA grant for about $290,000, the addition passed its final government inspection on January 22, 1940 and was turned over to the University; with its new cafeteria opening on February 2, the enlarged Inn had 92 rooms and 18 apartments. People: John Sprunt Hill, Arthur Cleveland Nash Place: Carolina Inn, Chapel Hill · Also named: Watts Carr, Arthur NashSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 60 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, December 2, 1938, p. 6; Chapel Hill Weekly, December 8, 1939, p. 6; Chapel Hill Weekly, January 26, 1940, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, February 2, 1940, p. 1

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as John Sprunt Hill, 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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Indexed works

Works about or by John Sprunt Hill. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

By John Sprunt Hill

Against fluoridation of water at the university

Hill, John Sprunt, 1869-1961 · 1952

John Sprunt Hill, who lived from 1869 to 1961, argues against fluoridating the water at the University of North Carolina in this 1952 printing from Chapel Hill. The subjects are water fluoridation and water supply in Chapel Hill. A short statement from one side of a local public health argument of the early 1950s.

UNC

Fluoridation of water conceived in iniquity and born in sin

Hill, John Sprunt, 1869-1961 · 1960 · John Sprunt Hill

John Sprunt Hill (1869 to 1961) signed this typescript at Durham on 26 May 1960, and a manuscript note records that it appeared in the Chapel Hill Weekly four days later. The title states his view of adding fluoride to the town water supply plainly enough, and the piece deals with water fluoridation in Chapel Hill. Part of UNC's North Carolina Collection.

UNC

Address before the Alumni Association of the University of North Carolina, June 2, 1903

Hill, John Sprunt, 1869-1961 · 1903 · The University?

John Sprunt Hill's address to the Alumni Association of the University of North Carolina, delivered on 2 June 1903 and printed at Chapel Hill. Hill was a Durham banker and later a benefactor of the university. The pamphlet deals with American addresses given at Chapel Hill, and the text of the speech is what it carries.

UNC

John Sprunt Hill papers, 1679-1967.

Hill, John Sprunt, 1869-1961 · 1679

Four thousand five hundred items in five linear feet kept as the papers of John Sprunt Hill, 1869 to 1961, with material dated from 1679 to 1967, collection 3564 in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC. Genealogy, family histories and campaign literature appear among the genres. Topics include banking and business in North Carolina, the General Assembly, cooperative agriculture, Erwin Cotton Mills, the Carolina Inn, and Hill as a benefactor of the university.

UNC

About John Sprunt Hill

Oral history interview with George Watts Hill, January 30, 1986 interview C-0047, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).

Hill, George Watts · 2007 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

George Watts Hill (1901-1993), Durham banker and philanthropist, interviewed by James Leutze on January 30, 1986 for the Southern Oral History Program, over seven hours in all. Hill grew up in Durham, entered UNC in 1918 and describes student life in Chapel Hill in the early twentieth century before leaving in 1924 with two degrees. He also discusses banking, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, dairy farming, the Duke family, his father John Sprunt Hill, the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, and Research Triangle Park.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Hill, John Sprunt, 1869-1961.

NC Cardinal UNC

The Inn crowd : October 16, 1995.

1996

A half hour videocassette of the narrated slide show 'The Carolina Inn', presented when the inn reopened in October 1995 at an event hosted by the Chapel Hill Preservation Society. Bitty Holton, Linnie Green, Judy Kramer and Betty Cloutier narrate. Topics include John Sprunt Hill and the Hill family, whose name is attached to the inn's founding.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Hill, John Sprunt, 1869-1961.

UNC

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Wilson Library, North Carolina Collection

North Carolina ECHO (Project) · 2002

Exhibit in honor of John Sprunt Hill in the North Carolina Collection at UNC's Wilson Library, Chapel Hill, photographed on 6 May 2002 for the NC ECHO project.

Included because: Their name appears in the record.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

George Watts Hill Jr. papers, 1941-1999.

Hill, George Watts, Jr., 1926-2002 · 1941

Twenty eight linear feet and roughly 26,000 items of George Watts Hill Jr. (1926-2002) papers, 1941 to 1999, in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 5162. Topics include higher education governance: the Speaker Ban Law, the North Carolina Board of Higher Education, the General Assembly, the UNC System Board of Governors and the federal Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, with the Durham Committee on Community Relations also named.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Hill, John Sprunt, 1932-1991.

UNC

Honorary doctorate of law diploma awarded to John Sprunt Hill, 1933

1933

The University of North Carolina conferred this honorary doctor of laws on John Sprunt Hill of Durham, a banker and university benefactor, in 1933. The diploma is lettered in black on white parchment and framed in brown wood with a white mat; its text opens with a greeting from the president, professors and trustees.

Included because: Their name appears in the record.

DPLA

George Watts Hill papers, 1859-2000.

Hill, George Watts, 1901-1993 · 1859

George Watts Hill (1901-1993) left roughly 26,000 items in 28.5 linear feet, dated 1859 to 2000, in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 4202. Banking, hospital care and regional planning are represented through organizations including Central Carolina Bank and Trust, the Hospital Care Association, the Research Triangle Institute and the Health Planning Council. Hill sat on the university's Board of Trustees, and aerial photographs of campus are noted.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Hill, John Sprunt, 1932-1991.

UNC
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Hill, John Sprunt: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

Undated portrait of John Sprunt Hill, one print in the UNC Faculty and Administration binder of the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection, CHHS.002.

Included because: Its title names this person.

CH Historical Society

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this person. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 338.097 COV Favored by Fortune: George W. Watts & the Hills of Durham Covington, Howard E. · 2004

    Four generations of a Durham family in Howard E. Covington Jr.'s collective biography: George Washington Watts, John Sprunt Hill (his son-in-law), and the two George Watts Hills, father and son. Their interests ran from the American Tobacco Company to Central Carolina Bank, Watts Hospital and the Carolina Inn at Chapel Hill, and they pressed for credit unions, better highways and Research Triangle Park. Published by the UNC Library at Chapel Hill in 2004; 372 pages and 48 pages of plates.

Places in this person’s story

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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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  • Person Hall University buildings and grounds · Chapel Hill · 1 event here
  • University YMCA University schools and programs · Chapel Hill · 1 event here

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Picture: John Sprunt Hill, 1919. Public domain. History of North Carolina: North Carolina Biography, by Special Staff of Writers, Volume IV, 1919, pages 242–243; via Wikimedia Commons

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