Local figure
Eben G. Merritt
Eben G. Merritt and his wife, Ruby, opened an Esso filling station on the Pittsboro Road south of Chapel Hill in 1929 and ran it for nearly fifty years; it is the business now known as Merritt's Store and Grill. Also a contractor and cattle grower, he went to court in 1952 when the new bypass cut through his pasture and threatened to leave his station off the main road.
Source: The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 3, 1941
Orange County Indexed has not yet linked an indexed work directly to Eben G. Merritt. The biography and the dated events on this page provide sources about Eben G. Merritt’s life and work. Suggest a source.
Life and Orange County connections
Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 4 dated events in the chronology →
- Eben and Ruby Merritt open a gas station on the Pittsboro Road Eben and Ruby Merritt began running an Esso gas station on the Pittsboro Road south of Chapel Hill in 1929 and kept it for nearly fifty years. It is the business that became Merritt's Store and Grill. People: Eben G. MerrittSearch the index · Chapelboro.com: Claire Mackman, Merritt's Store & Grill: Serving Since 1929 (August 10, 2018)
- Eben G. Merritt opens a new filling station on the Pittsboro Road E. G. Merritt opened a new filling station on the Pittsboro Road, just above his old stand, with a tiled roof and a large parking lot. It later ran as Merritt's Service Station and store. People: Eben G. MerrittSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 3, 1941, p. 3 · Also: Chapel Hill Historic Sites Survey: Final Report
- Eben Merritt stops highway crews with an injunction over land taken for the new bypass Filling station owner Eben G. Merritt got an injunction that briefly halted State Highway Commission work near Morgan Creek, arguing that the new bypass and the rerouted Pittsboro road would cut through his pasture, isolate his new house and pull his station off the main highway for far less than they were worth. A court-appointed commission set his damages at $6,000 in March 1953, and he appealed. People: Eben G. MerrittSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 9, 1952, p. 3 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, March 20, 1953, p. 9
- Judge Susie Sharp orders damages for the Chapel Hill bypass land assessed as a full taking In Mr. and Mrs. E. G. Merritt's damage suit against the State Highway and Public Works Commission and Burton Construction Company over the new bypass east and south of Chapel Hill, Judge Susie Sharp ordered the damages assessed as for an entire taking of the property. The Merritts objected to that method and appealed to the state Supreme Court. People: Eben G. MerrittSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 25, 1954, p. 8
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 them all.
Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS and OpenStreetMap; town and community pins show approximate locations.
- Merritt's Store and Grill Businesses, mills and venues · Chapel Hill · 2 events here
Research sources
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Background
- Claire Mackman, Merritt's Store & Grill: Serving Since 1929 (August 10, 2018)Chapelboro (97.9 WCHL) Local news coverage, interviews, and anniversary features
Collections and databases
- NC LIVE: prepared search for Eben G. Merritt Library card Search NC LIVE for this subject and Orange County. You can change the search terms. Sign in through your North Carolina library to access the materials.
- 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 Meet with the Local History Liaison at the Main Library, usually Mondays from noon to 3 p.m., or send a question using the online request form
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