Local figure
Alphonso J. McDade
Alphonso J. McDade put up the brick building at the southwest corner of Franklin and Columbia streets in Chapel Hill in 1880 and was the town's mayor in 1884. In 1894 he and his wife Anne bought the West Franklin Street house later called the McDade House, which they rented to their daughter Minnie and her husband, J. E. Merritt.
Orange County Indexed has not yet linked an indexed work directly to Alphonso J. McDade. The biography and the dated events on this page provide sources about Alphonso J. McDade’s life and work. If you know a useful source, tell us.
Life and Orange County connections
Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 9 dated events in the chronology →
- Alphonso J. McDade builds the first brick building in the business district McDade put up the first brick building in Chapel Hill's business district, on the southwest corner of Franklin and Columbia streets. F. P. Booth rented it for a dry goods store in 1883, and Junius D. Webb later kept a grocery there. People: Alphonso J. McDadeSearch the index · Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 143 · Also: The Chapel Hill Ledger, November 8, 1879, p. 3
- Alphonso J. McDade serves as mayor of Chapel Hill A. J. McDade was mayor of Chapel Hill in 1884, an office the town charter had created in 1879. John H. Watson held it the year before and the two years after. People: John H. WatsonSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 364
- Alphonso J. McDade returns as mayor of Chapel Hill McDade served a second stretch as mayor from 1888 through 1890, following W. N. Pritchard. John H. Watson succeeded him in 1891. People: John H. WatsonSearch the index · Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 365
- Alphonso and Anne McDade buy the house later called the McDade House The heirs of Isaac Hudson sold the western half of the original Lot 5 on West Franklin Street to Alphonso J. McDade and his wife Anne. The McDades never lived there and rented the house to their daughter Minnie and her husband, J. E. Merritt. People: Alphonso J. McDadeSearch the index · Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 169
- The old Nunn tavern building reopens as the Patterson Hotel Dr. Abner Benton Roberson bought from McDade the old building on the eastern half of Lot 5, once Nunn's tavern and inn and for some years the McDades' home. 'Bunn' Patterson remodeled it and added four or five rooms, and it opened as the Patterson Hotel, which did not last long as a hotel. People: Abner Benton Roberson, Alphonso J. McDadeSearch the index · Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 169
- Algernon S. Barbee serves as mayor of Chapel Hill The Chapel Hill commissioners chose Algernon S. Barbee mayor in November 1895, after the death of Mayor John H. Watson, and he was holding mayor's court by November 23. The voters elected him by a wide majority at the town election in May 1896. The town directory printed with the 1896 ordinances lists Barbee as mayor, with J. A. Holmes, J. A. London, W. N. Pritchard, H. H. Patterson and Thomas F. Lloyd as commissioners and A. J. McDade as clerk and treasurer. People: J. A. Holmes, Henry Houston Patterson, Thomas F. Lloyd (Carrboro mill builder), Alphonso J. McDade, John H. WatsonSearch the index · Commissioners of Chapel Hill, Ordinances and Charter for the Government of the Town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina (1896), scan p. 4 · Also: Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), November 30, 1895, p. 3; Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 16, 1896, p. 3
- Chapel Hill's commissioners ratify a revised code of 72 ordinances Acting on a board resolution of December 2, 1895, Mayor Algernon S. Barbee and Alphonso J. McDade rewrote the town's rules in 72 sections, which the commissioners ratified and printed with the charter and its amendments. The new code repealed any earlier ordinance that conflicted with it. People: Alphonso J. McDadeSearch the index · Commissioners of Chapel Hill, Ordinances and Charter for the Government of the Town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina (1896), scan p. 28
- County commissioners call a graded-school tax vote for the Chapel Hill school district Acting under a new act of the legislature, the county commissioners ordered an election for May 3 in Chapel Hill School District No. 24 on a special property and poll tax to support graded schools for white and Black children. They named W. E. Lindsay, W. F. Lloyd and A. J. McDade registrars. People: William E. Lindsay, Alphonso J. McDadeSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), April 8, 1897, p. 3
- Alphonso McDade sells the McDade House to his daughter and son-in-law McDade sold J. E. Merritt and his wife Minnie, McDade's daughter, the West Franklin Street house they had been renting for years. People: Alphonso J. McDadeSearch the index · Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 197
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.
- Chapel Hill and Carrboro city schools Schools and academies · Chapel Hill · 1 event here
Named with them in the chronology
People named in the same dated entries as Alphonso J. McDade, 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.
- John H. Watson 3 entries, including Alphonso J. McDade serves as mayor of Chapel Hill (1884)
- Abner Benton Roberson 1 entry: The old Nunn tavern building reopens as the Patterson Hotel (late 1894)
- Henry Houston Patterson 1 entry: Algernon S. Barbee serves as mayor of Chapel Hill (November 1895 to 1896)
- J. A. Holmes 1 entry: Algernon S. Barbee serves as mayor of Chapel Hill (November 1895 to 1896)
- Thomas F. Lloyd (Carrboro mill builder) 1 entry: Algernon S. Barbee serves as mayor of Chapel Hill (November 1895 to 1896)
- William E. Lindsay 1 entry: County commissioners call a graded-school tax vote for the Chapel Hill school district (April 5, 1897)
Research sources
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Collections and databases
- NC LIVE: prepared search for Alphonso J. McDade Library card An advanced search of the state’s shared databases already scoped to Orange County’s places and this subject; edit it freely, and sign in through your North Carolina library to read
- Ancestry Library Edition In the libraryOrange County Public Library Census, birth, death and marriage records, and more, free on the public computers at OCPL libraries
Local help
- Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection, Orange County Public Library The county library’s local-history room at the Main Library in Hillsborough: books, journals, maps, and microfilm of county records from 1752
- Local History Help Hours and request formOCPL Local History Liaison The library’s Local History Liaison helps in person most Mondays, 12 to 3, at the Main Library, or by the online request form
Search further
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Books about Alphonso J. McDade
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- Chapel Hill Public Library (opens in a new tab) Public library in Chapel Hill
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Photographs, papers, and newspapers
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Historical records and collections
- Chronicling America (opens in a new tab) Historical newspapers from across the country, through 1963
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