Skip to content
Orange County Public Library (opens the library’s website in a new tab)

Neighborhood in Orange County

Laurel Hill

The index holds 2 works for Laurel Hill so far. If you know a source, tell us.

2 works about Laurel Hill are indexed here.

Search these 2 works Research sources View indexed works ↓

In the chronology

Dated events connected with this place, in date order. See these 71 dated events in the chronology →

  1. William C. Coker gives the Chapel Hill Country Club land for a clubhouse and golf course About a year before May 1923, the Weekly reported, Coker turned over to the new Chapel Hill Country Club its grounds off the Raleigh road beyond the cemetery. The clubhouse went up in the spring of 1923 and the golf course over the next two years. The land later passed to the university and is used for tennis courts and a greenway park; the Laurel Hill subdivision was laid out along the course. People: William Chambers Coker Also mentions: Chapel Hill Country ClubSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 1, 1923, p. 1 · Also: NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975; Chapel Hill Weekly, May 24, 1923, p. 4
  2. William C. Coker plats the Laurel Hill subdivision On his land southeast of the campus, Coker had T. Felix Hickerson lay out Laurel Hill Road along a ridge beside the golf course, with short cul-de-sacs and large lots. Coker approved every house plan and seems to have sent builders to Atwood and Nash; seven houses were built before the 1929 crash. People: Thomas Felix Hickerson, William Chambers CokerSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 64
  3. William C. Coker's Rocky Ridge lot deeds restrict the race of residents In selling the lots of his Rocky Ridge Farm development, Coker wrote covenants into the deeds that set the number of buildings, the cost of houses and, in the early deeds, the race of the residents. These private restrictions governed the neighborhood before Chapel Hill had residential zoning. People: William Chambers CokerNC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, National Register nomination (OR0303), p. 13
  4. Black stonemasons build the stone walls of Rocky Ridge Farm The curving walls of random-coursed stone that line Country Club Road, Laurel Hill Road and Laurel Hill Circle were built alongside the houses by local Black masons, among them James Blackwell and Jesse Jones. Also named: James Blackwell, Jesse JonesSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, National Register nomination (OR0303), p. 15
  5. Botanist Henry Roland Totten builds a Tudor Revival house on Laurel Hill Road Botanist Henry Roland Totten, a protege of W. C. Coker, and his wife built a stuccoed Tudor Revival house at 110 Laurel Hill Road, with one wing in stone. Plans were drawn in June 1928, the excavation was finished by early August, and the house was finished about 1929. People: Henry Roland Totten Also named: W. C. CokerSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 64 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, August 3, 1928, p. 1
  6. Botanist John Couch builds an Elizabethan Revival house on Ridge Road Botanist John Couch, a colleague of Coker, built a dormered two-story frame house at 5 Ridge Road in Laurel Hill, its front wing lit by a broad bay window. The 1989 nomination credits the design to the Durham architect George Watts Carr. People: John N. Couch Also named: John Couch, George Watts CarrSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 65 · Also: NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase
  7. Gustav Harrer builds a shingled house on Laurel Hill Road The Harrer house, a two-story, L-shaped Colonial Revival dwelling with shingle siding, is one of the first houses of Rocky Ridge Farm's opening building period, 1928-30. Also named: Gustav HarrerSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, National Register nomination (OR0303), p. 8
  8. Latin professor George Howe builds a Tudor Revival house on Buttons Road George Howe's stuccoed house at 2 Buttons Road in Laurel Hill takes its medieval character from a steep hipped roof, dormers, front wings and casement windows. People: George HoweSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 65 · Also: Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II, p. 626
  9. W. C. Coker lays off the Buttons residence colony, named for Button Norwood W. C. Coker laid off eleven lots beyond the Country Club on the way to Laurel Hill for a colony to be called Button's, after Button Battle Norwood, an aged Black man who had lived on the tract for many years and had been enslaved by the Battle family. George Howe bought the lot where Norwood's home stood, and Norwood was to move to the Mason farm near his married daughter. People: William Chambers Coker, George Howe Also named: Button Norwood · Also mentions: Country Club, Mason farmSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 2, 1928, p. 1
  10. Cornelia Spencer Love designs and builds her own house in Laurel Hill Cornelia Spencer Love, granddaughter of Cornelia Phillips Spencer, planned her own one-story frame house in Laurel Hill; the architect Arthur Nash contributed the flared roof ends and a little porch. People: Cornelia Spencer Love, Arthur Cleveland Nash Also named: Arthur Nash, Cornelia Phillips SpencerSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 65
  11. Drama professor Preston Farrar builds a house with an outdoor stage on Laurel Hill Road UNC drama professor Preston Farrar built a two-story stucco house in the manner of an English cottage. It had indoor and outdoor stages for rehearsals and small productions, including a stone terrace used as a theatre, and a specimen garden. Also named: Preston FarrarSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, National Register nomination (OR0303), p. 6
  12. Russell Gruman builds a Dutch Colonial house on Laurel Hill Circle A gambrel-roofed Dutch Colonial Revival house of rough brick and shingle, with a matching garage, went up for Russell Gruman at the close of the district's first building period. Also named: Russell GrumanSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, National Register nomination (OR0303), p. 10
Show all 71 dated events
  1. J. G. Williams opens a flagstone quarry on Morgan Creek near Chapel Hill A flagstone quarry on the near bank of Morgan Creek opposite Laurel Hill, near the site of the old King's Mill, began supplying the slabs that Chapel Hill people had long hauled over from Hillsboro for garden walks. J. G. Williams ran the quarry and made deliveries, and Collier Cobb called the stone "Monroe slate." Also named: J. G. Williams, Collier CobbSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 22, 1931, p. 1
  2. A Colonial Revival cottage with an attached garage is built on Country Club Road for Robert B. Voitle The story-and-a-half weatherboarded cottage has an original garage on one side. The 2008 documentation redates it to about 1935 and makes it contributing; the 1989 district nomination had dated it 1955. Also named: Robert B. VoitleSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 18
  3. Daniel Huston Buchanan builds a two-story house with a gallery on Laurel Hill Road The Buchanan house, of stone and weatherboard with a two-story pedimented gallery, is one of the Colonial Revival houses of Rocky Ridge Farm's second building period, 1936-40. Also named: Daniel Huston BuchananSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, National Register nomination (OR0303), p. 6
  4. Dudley Carroll builds a red brick house on Country Club Road A red brick Colonial Revival house with an asymmetrical front and a fanlighted entry went up for Dudley Carroll in Rocky Ridge Farm's second building period. People: Dudley Dewitt Carroll Also named: Dudley CarrollSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, National Register nomination (OR0303), p. 8
  5. William Van Sprinkle designs a brick Colonial Revival house on Pine Lane for Richmond and Marjorie Bond Contractors Ellington & Sparrow built the five-part brick house, a story-and-a-half main block with lower wings joined by hyphens. It is the oldest house in the Laurel Hill boundary increase, and the nomination ranks it the best of the neighborhood's later Colonial Revival houses. People: William Van Sprinkle Also named: Richmond Bond, Marjorie BondSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 14
  6. Botanist William L. Hunt buys Laurel Hill and keeps it open to walkers Hunt bought 304 acres at Laurel Hill, across Morgan Creek about two miles from the village, after long negotiations with several white and Black owners of small plots, to hold his plant collections. He said the woods, a favorite walk since the University's founding, would stay open to the public, but he barred hunting, target shooting and flower picking. People: William Lanier HuntSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 17, 1937, p. 1
  7. Dudley Cowden builds a galleried house with a specimen garden on Country Club Road The Cowden house is a two-story frame Colonial Revival dwelling with a two-story stone west wing, a front gallery, a stone terrace, a stone garage and a formal specimen garden. The Chapel Hill Weekly reported that the Cowdens bought the lot next to D. D. Carroll's on Country Club Road in February 1937 and that the house was going up in the summer of 1938, and H. D. Carter's review counted it among the dwellings built in 1938. Also named: Dudley Cowden, D. D. Carroll, H. D. Carter · Also mentions: Country Club RoadSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, National Register nomination (OR0303), p. 8 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, February 19, 1937, p. 5; Chapel Hill Weekly, July 22, 1938, p. 6; Chapel Hill Weekly, December 2, 1938, p. 1
  8. Durham architects Hackney and Knott design Carl Pegg's house on Laurel Hill Road A three-bay brick Colonial Revival house for Carl Pegg was designed by the Durham firm of Hackney and Knott in the district's second building period. Also named: Carl PeggSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, National Register nomination (OR0303), p. 7
  9. Professor Urban T. Holmes builds a painted-brick Colonial Revival house on Pine Lane The deck-on-hip house, with a basement garage set into the slope, was one of two Pine Lane houses built before the war. The nomination takes the two late-1930s houses as proof that Pine Lane was part of Coker's original plat. Also named: Urban T. HolmesSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 14
  10. Harold W. Brown of the public health faculty builds a red brick house on Laurel Hill Road Dr. Harold W. Brown, the parasitologist who joined the public health faculty in 1937 and was dean of the School of Public Health from 1941 to 1943, built a two-story red brick house, designed by Watts Carr, that mixes Colonial Revival and Cotswold features. His two-year-old son Bill laid the cornerstone on November 14, 1938, and the Weekly spoke of the Browns' new home by March 1939. The Fletcher M. Greens bought it in 1943, when Brown left for Columbia. People: Harold W. Brown Also named: Watts Carr · Also mentions: School of Public HealthSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, National Register nomination (OR0303), p. 7 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, December 8, 1939, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, July 22, 1938, p. 6; Chapel Hill Weekly, November 18, 1938, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, December 2, 1938, p. 6
  11. Architect Bradford Eddy designs James Clarence Andrews's house on Buttons Road A two-story shingled Colonial Revival house for James Clarence Andrews was designed by Bradford Eddy, an architect who practiced outside North Carolina. Also named: James Clarence Andrews, Bradford EddySearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, National Register nomination (OR0303), p. 9
  12. William Lanier Hunt opens trails and stone quarries on his Laurel Hill tract along Morgan Creek By December 1939 horticulturist William Lanier Hunt had assembled from many owners the Laurel Hill tract of about 350 acres on both sides of Morgan Creek, taking in the site of King's mill, meaning to make it a botanical garden. He had cut miles of trails and was quarrying flagstone there; Laurel Hill stone paved the plaza before the Town Hall, the terrace and walks at the Playmakers Theatre and walks on the campus. People: William Lanier Hunt Also mentions: Playmakers TheatreSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 15, 1939, p. 1
  13. Architect Eugene Stroud designs physician John J. Wright's house on Laurel Hill Circle A two-story, three-bay shingled Colonial Revival house was built for physician John J. Wright to a design by Eugene Stroud. Also named: John J. Wright, Eugene StroudSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, National Register nomination (OR0303), p. 9
  14. Music department chair Glen Haydon builds a brick house on Laurel Hill Road Glen Haydon, chair of the UNC music department, built a two-story brick and weatherboard Colonial Revival house with a stone retaining wall. The Weekly listed it among houses in prospect in December 1939, reported on March 1, 1940 that he had broken ground, and by July counted it among new homes being lived in. Also named: Glen HaydonSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, National Register nomination (OR0303), p. 7 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, December 8, 1939, p. 6; Chapel Hill Weekly, March 1, 1940, p. 2; Chapel Hill Weekly, July 19, 1940, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, December 20, 1940, p. 6
  15. University controller William D. Carmichael Jr. builds a large brick house in Laurel Hill William Carmichael and his wife had one of the biggest Colonial Revival houses in town built at 106 Laurel Hill Circle, a red brick house with a classical entrance and flanking wings. People: William D. Carmichael Jr. Also named: William CarmichaelSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 65
  16. William Sprinkle designs Frances Gardham's house on Country Club Road Frances Gardham's Colonial Revival house with vernacular details is one of three Rocky Ridge Farm houses the nomination credits to architect William Sprinkle. People: William Van Sprinkle Also named: Frances Gardham, William SprinkleSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, National Register nomination (OR0303), p. 9
  17. William Van Sprinkle designs a Colonial Revival house for Horace Crockford on Country Club Road For professor Horace D. Crockford and his wife, William Van Sprinkle designed a modest two-story Colonial Revival house of brick and weatherboard at 305 Country Club Road, with a garage wing and a cupola, as building in Laurel Hill picked up again at the end of the 1930s. People: William Van Sprinkle Also named: Horace D. Crockford · Also mentions: Country Club RoadSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 65
  18. UNC Press editor William Couch builds a brick and stone house on Laurel Hill Road William Couch, editor of the University of North Carolina Press and brother of botanist John N. Couch, built a two-story brick and stone Colonial Revival house with a two-story gallery, designed by William Sprinkle. The Weekly reported in March 1940 that his excavation was done and building about to begin on a lot he had bought from Howard Mumford Jones, and in July 1940 that the Couches had moved in. People: William T. Couch, William Van Sprinkle Also named: William Sprinkle, John N. Couch, William Couch, Howard Mumford JonesSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, National Register nomination (OR0303), p. 8 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, March 1, 1940, p. 2; Chapel Hill Weekly, July 19, 1940, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, December 20, 1940, p. 6
  19. Forest fire burns about 56 acres near Laurel Hill south of Chapel Hill A fire, believed started by campers the evening before, burned all day Sunday over about 50 acres of the old Shep Edwards place and about six acres of William L. Hunt's Laurel Hill tract along Morgan Creek, until Black enrollees from the CCC camp south of Chapel Hill and volunteers put it out about two hours after dark. Hunt credited his fire lanes with saving Laurel Hill itself and the University's land. People: William Lanier HuntSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 5, 1940, p. 1
  20. Classics professor J. P. Harland builds the first postwar house in Laurel Hill His shingled Colonial Revival cottage on Laurel Hill Road has an attached garage wing turned to face the street. Earlier Laurel Hill houses kept their garages at the far end of the driveway, so the nomination reads the wing as a sign of the car's new place in the suburb. Also named: J. P. HarlandSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 22
  21. Laurel Hill Road is extended south beyond the 1927 plat On the 1927 plat the road stopped at the south edge of 603 Laurel Hill Road. The extension carried it south toward the line later taken by the 15-501 Bypass and opened lots for postwar houses.Search the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 21
  22. Commerce dean Dudley D. Carroll builds a small brick house on Laurel Hill Road for an in-law The one-story side-gabled house has a traditional form with a large transom and sidelights at the door. English professor Blyden Jackson later owned it. People: Dudley Dewitt Carroll, Blyden JacksonSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 17
  23. A brick Colonial Revival house is built at the entrance to Laurel Hill for Dean C. O. Cathy The story-and-a-half house on Country Club Road has end wings and a recessed columned porch. Historian H. G. Jones, later curator of the North Carolina Collection, owned it for many years. People: H. G. Jones Also named: C. O. Cathy · Also mentions: North Carolina Collection, Country Club RoadSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 9
  24. William Van Sprinkle designs a shingled Colonial Ranch on Laurel Hill Road for math professor Ed Cameron T. D. Green built the four-bay house, which has a board-and-batten front wing and an original screen porch. The nomination cites it as Sprinkle dressing the new Ranch form in colonial details. People: William Van Sprinkle Also named: Ed Cameron, T. D. GreenSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 12
  25. Gordon Ellis of the UNC education department builds a brick Cape Cod house on Pine Lane Chemistry professor Henry Thomas and his wife Mary, a librarian at the UNC medical school, bought the house soon after it was finished. Also named: Gordon Ellis, Henry Thomas, Mary ThomasSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 15
  26. Dr. Robert T. Cadmus, first director of Memorial Hospital, builds a colonial Ranch on Iris Lane The five-bay brick Ranch has a large picture window and a sunporch at one end. Cadmus came to run the new North Carolina Memorial Hospital, part of the postwar wave of medical staff who needed houses near campus. Also named: Robert T. Cadmus · Also mentions: North Carolina Memorial HospitalSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 23
  27. Jim Webb designs a Contemporary house on Laurel Hill Road for psychologists Louis and Thelma Thurstone The low L-shaped house has vertical wood siding, a hipped roof with wide eaves and a carport joined by a screen porch; Ellington & Sparrow built it. Webb counted it among his firm's best work. People: James M. Webb Also named: Louis Thurstone, Thelma ThurstoneSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 23
  28. Milton Julian wins the right to build his modernist house on Ledge Lane When W. C. Coker's chosen architect, Walter D. Toy, refused to approve the plans for clothier Milton Julian's house on Ledge Lane, designed by George Matsumoto of the State College School of Design, Milton and Virginia Julian sued on September 30, 1953; Coker's executors, his widow and neighbors Cornelius and Beulah Cathey opposed them. The North Carolina Supreme Court held on June 4, 1954 that the approval clause was personal to Coker and ended at his death in June 1953, and the International Style house was finished by November 1956. People: George Matsumoto, Milton Julian Also named: W. C. Coker, Walter D. ToySearch the index · Caselaw Access Project: Julian v. Lawton, 240 N.C. 436, 82 S.E.2d 210 (N.C. Supreme Court, June 4, 1954) · Also: NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975; Chapel Hill Weekly, November 2, 1956, p. 1
  29. A Modernist split-level with a butterfly roof is built on Fern Lane for Thomas H. Darden The post-and-beam house has clerestory windows, vertical wood siding and a flat-roofed carport. Oral tradition credits the design to Jim Webb. People: James M. Webb Also named: Thomas H. DardenSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 10
  30. A weatherboarded Cape Cod house is built on the new Fern Lane for Eleanor R. Rowe and Philip P. Green Jr. The five-bay house has a center chimney and a side wing joined by a hyphen, possibly a converted garage. It was one of the first houses on the newly platted street. People: Philip P. Green Jr. Also named: Eleanor R. RoweSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 9
  31. George Watts Carr designs a Cape Cod house on Country Club Road for religion professor Bernard Boyd The large story-and-a-half house for Bernard and Thelma Boyd has shake siding and three gabled dormers. Carr, a lifelong advocate of the Colonial Revival, had designed Laurel Hill houses since the late 1920s. People: Bernard H. (Bernard Henry) Boyd, George Watts Carr Sr. Also named: Thelma Boyd, George Watts CarrSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 23
  32. Iris Lane and Fern Lane are platted, extending Laurel Hill onto the Coker estate After William C. Coker died in 1953, Laurel Hill spread into adjoining land of his estate. The new plat laid out two streets at the south end of the neighborhood, and most of their houses went up before 1960. Also named: William C. CokerSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 21
  33. The Pinetum at Rocky Ridge Farm is deeded to the university's botanical garden A protected stand of Coker's remaining forest along Meeting of the Waters Creek on the west edge of the development, known as the Pinetum, was deeded in 1954 to the UNC botanical garden for its care.Search the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, National Register nomination (OR0303), p. 4
  34. James A. Taylor builds a shingled Colonial Ranch on Fern Lane from magazine blueprints The plans were American Home magazine's House No. 33, published in 1954, and the original blueprints still stay with the house. It has a small-paned bay window and an attached garage entered from the side. Also named: James A. TaylorSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 23
  35. Joe and Peggy Galloway build a Contemporary brick Ranch on Pine Lane The house sits on a daylight basement with bands of casement windows. Joe Galloway ran placement for the UNC School of Business; Peggy Galloway taught in the public schools. Also named: Joe Galloway, Peggy GallowaySearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 15
  36. Milton Julian's Matsumoto-designed house on Ledge Lane is finished The modernist house George Matsumoto designed for clothier Milton Julian and his family, which neighbors had gone to court to stop, stood finished by November 1956, when it was one of ten homes on the School Art Guild's tour of Chapel Hill homes. People: George Matsumoto, Milton JulianSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 2, 1956, p. 1 · Also: NC State University Libraries, George Matsumoto Papers finding aid
  37. Dr. Ernest Wood, the first radiologist at UNC's hospital, builds a brick Ranch on Fern Lane The five-bay Ranch has a recessed garage wing and a front cross-gable. Also named: Ernest WoodSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 24
  38. Football coach Jim Tatum and his wife Edna build a house on Laurel Hill Road The house pairs a two-story colonial block with a split-level stone living-room wing and a bowed window, probably from mail-order plans. Tatum had come back to coach UNC the year before. People: Jim Tatum Also named: Edna TatumSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 24
  39. Jim Webb designs a Contemporary Ranch on Pine Lane as a retirement home for Fred and Josephine Weedon Ellington & Sparrow built the open-plan house on a slope with an exposed basement at the back. The Weedons' daughter Josie and her husband, preservationist Bob Stipe, later lived there for many years. People: James M. Webb Also named: Fred Weedon, Josephine Weedon, Robert E. Stipe, Josie Stipe, Bob StipeSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 13
  40. Waverly Branch and his wife build a Williamsburg-style house on Laurel Hill Road The story-and-a-half house has beaded siding, a slate roof, end chimneys and a pedimented entrance porch in imitation of colonial Williamsburg. Branch was active in UNC affairs, and his wife was for many years the chancellor's secretary. Also named: Waverly BranchSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 24
  41. Commissioners enlarge the Greater Chapel Hill Fire District The county commissioners added the neighborhoods along the Laurel Hill Road extension, Coker Drive, King's Mill Road, Sourwood Road, Bertram Drive, Spring Lane, Oteys Road and Morgan Creek Road to the Greater Chapel Hill Fire District.The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 12, 1957, p. 1
  42. English professor Hugh Holman and his wife Verna build a Cape Cod house on Pine Lane The story-and-a-half side-gabled house has two dormers and a small side wing. People: C. Hugh Holman Also named: Verna HolmanSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 15
  43. Chapel Hill aldermen buy two wooded tracts for town parks Acting on Alderman Paul Wager's proposal to spend extra state beer and wine tax refunds on parks, the board voted unanimously to pay the Coker College trustees their $3,000 price for two wooded lots, one at the southwest corner of the bypass and Raleigh Road and one near Laurel Hill Road and Laurel Hill Circle. Mayor pro tem Gene Strowd called the price a bargain. People: Paul W. Wager Also named: Gene StrowdSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), October 29, 1959, p. 7
  44. Political scientist Gordon Cleveland designs his own Colonial Revival house on Pine Lane Ellington & Sparrow built the side-hall house for Gordon and Martha Cleveland on a sloping lot with a full basement. Also named: Gordon Cleveland, Martha ClevelandSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 15
  45. UNC football coach Jim Hickey builds a two-story Colonial Revival house on Iris Lane The weatherboarded house has a pedimented entrance porch and a garage wing topped by a small cupola. Hickey lived there until 1977. Also named: Jim HickeySearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 11
  46. William Van Sprinkle designs a long Contemporary Ranch on Buttons Road for Charles and Kay Bream The six-bay house for the radiology professor mixes vertical wood and brick, with sliding windows and a carport set on the diagonal. Sprinkle, known for Colonial Revival work, here turned to a modern design. People: William Van Sprinkle Also named: Charles Bream, Kay BreamSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 16
  47. Architect Arthur Cogswell adds a flat-roofed art studio to the Voitle house on Country Club Road The low modern studio at the rear has vertical wood siding and large fixed windows, a sharp contrast to the 1930s cottage in front of it. People: Arthur CogswellSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 18
  48. An eight-acre lake is carved out of the North Carolina Botanical Garden A new, still unnamed eight-acre lake was made in the Botanical Garden's tract of about 329 acres south of the 15-501 bypass and was already in use for horticultural work. Prof. C. Ritchie Bell of the Botany Department planned to extend the garden's mile of trail through the Laurel Hill and Mason Farm woods. Also named: C. Ritchie Bell · Also mentions: Mason FarmSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, April 12, 1967, p. 3
  49. UNC head football coach Bill Dooley buys the Wood house on Fern Lane Dooley bought the 1957 Ranch built for radiologist Ernest Wood and lived there until 1994. People: Bill Dooley Also named: Ernest WoodSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 10
  50. Chapel Hill aldermen hear opposition to the Laurel Hill condominiums south of Morgan Creek A standing-room-only crowd heard three hours of argument before the Board of Aldermen on Comprehensive Ventures' plan for 225 condominiums on 150 acres of William L. Hunt's land beside the Laurel Hill subdivision and Hunt Arboretum; Laurel Hill and Morgan Creek residents said it would overload roads and sewers, the planning staff reported an insufficient water supply, and the aldermen sent the testimony to the planning board. People: William Lanier HuntSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 15, 1974, p. 1
  51. Chapel Hill Town Council approves the Laurel Hill and Esseola condominium projects The Town Council let the developer of the Laurel Hill condominiums on Parker Road enlarge the 30-unit project approved in December, after more than a year before the council and four suits by the developer against the town, one attacking the special use process itself. It also approved the Esseola Townhouses as condominiums instead of the rental apartments permitted in November, which the developer said could not be financed at current interest rates.Search the index · The Daily Tar Heel, March 12, 1980, p. 3
  52. The state adds Rocky Ridge Farm and Chapel Hill Town Hall to the Study List Acting on requests from owners and sponsors, the State Professional Review Committee on April 14, 1988 placed the Rocky Ridge Farm Development Historic District, the Laurel Hill neighborhood, and Chapel Hill Town Hall on the Study List. Robert Stipe abstained on the two Chapel Hill votes. Also mentions: Chapel Hill Town HallSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: National Register Advisory Committee agendas, minutes and approved lists, p. 348
  53. Chapel Hill Town Council approves a 512-space park-and-ride lot on N.C. 54 Over objections from neighbors in the Finley Forest condominiums, 180 of whom had petitioned Chancellor Paul Hardin, the council voted 6 to 2 for a special use permit for a 512-space park-and-ride lot on University-owned Mason Farm land reached from Laurel Hill Parkway, the first of four such lots in the town's capital plan. Planners shifted the lot to leave a 163-foot buffer; Roosevelt Wilkerson and Jim Wallace voted no, Wilkerson saying the town was held captive by the University's power. Also named: Roosevelt Wilkerson, Jim Wallace, Paul HardinSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, April 27, 1989, p. 7
  54. The Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District is listed in the National Register On August 8, 1989 the National Park Service listed the Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District in Chapel Hill in the National Register of Historic Places.Search the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: North Carolina Listings in the National Register of Historic Places, Orange County · Also: NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, National Register nomination (OR0303)
  55. Cornelia Spencer Love's Laurel Hill cottage is remodeled and enlarged with a modern two-story wing The work replaced the shingles with wood siding and added a large glassy wing with a metal balcony. So little original fabric survives that the 2008 documentation reclassified the house as noncontributing. People: Cornelia Spencer LoveSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748), p. 16
  56. WUNC raises $1.5 million toward a new station on University land WUNC-FM's general manager Bill Davis told its community advisory board on Oct. 17 that the station had raised at least $1.5 million, $500,000 of it from a Buy a Brick appeal, toward a $2.25 million, 12,999-square-foot building on a $200,000 lot the University gave on Laurel Hill Parkway, to replace its flood-prone quarters in Swain Hall's basement. Also named: Bill DavisSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 22, 1990, p. 4
  57. An expansion of the Rocky Ridge Farm district joins the Study List The National Register Advisory Committee placed an expansion of the Rocky Ridge Farm historic district in Chapel Hill on North Carolina's Study List, its list of properties likely to qualify for the National Register.Search the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: National Register Advisory Committee agendas, minutes and approved lists, p. 1059
  58. Rocky Ridge Farm's district expansion prompts a debate over the fifty-year rule When staff presented the boundary increase and added documentation for the Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District on October 11, 2007, one member warned that stretching periods of significance into recent decades weakened the National Register, naming Rocky Ridge with two other nominations. Another member suggested the neighbors also claim significance for notable residents. The objecting member then moved approval of Rocky Ridge with the other routine nominations, and it passed.Search the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: National Register Advisory Committee agendas, minutes and approved lists, p. 1111
  59. The Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District is enlarged in the National Register On January 30, 2008 the National Park Service listed a boundary increase for the Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District, enlarging the district in the National Register of Historic Places.Search the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: North Carolina Listings in the National Register of Historic Places, Orange County · Also: NC State Historic Preservation Office: Rocky Ridge Farm Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1748)

Maps of Laurel Hill

Dated maps that show this place, oldest first: town plans, county, road and soil maps, fire insurance sheets and the U.S. Geological Survey’s topographic maps, each linked to the library or archive that holds it. The USGS maps are free to download.

  1. Map of Orange County UNC · a county map
  2. Map of Orange County, N.C. UNC · a county map
  3. A map of Orange County, N.C. UNC · a county map
  4. Soil map, North Carolina, Orange County sheet Duke · a county map
  5. School map, Orange County, North Carolina. UNC · a county map
  6. Map of Orange County, N.C. : 1939 UNC · a county map
  7. An atlas for Orange County, North Carolina UNC · a county map

Indexed works

Works about Laurel Hill from library and archive catalogs. The most widely held appear first; novels are not shown here. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.

Widely held

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Football Office records, 1934-2008.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Football Office · 1934

Records of the Football Office at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1934 to 2008, counted at 5,152 items, in the University Archives at UNC, collection 40291. Coaches and players represented include Mack Brown, Bill Dooley, Dick Crum, Carl Torbush, John Bunting, Charlie Justice and Lawrence Taylor. The records also concern the university's baseball, basketball and tennis programs. Materials in English.

Included because: The record names this place alongside a heading for the county or its towns.

UNC

Order of Gimghoul records, 1832-2006 (bulk 1940-1997).

Order of Gimghoul (Chapel Hill, N.C.) · 1832

Organizational records of the Order of Gimghoul, a student society at Chapel Hill, spanning 1832 to 2006 with most material from 1940 to 1997. About 4,000 items in six linear feet, in the University Archives at UNC, collection 40262. Subjects include the Gimghoul Corporation along with Lyman A. Cotten, Nathaniel Cortlandt Curtis, Thomas F. Hickerson, George Watts Hill and Charles Milton Shaffer, and reach student activities and faculty social life.

Included because: The record names this place alongside a heading for the county or its towns.

UNC

Research sources

Sources and research tools for this place. Research guide: Research a neighborhood or rural community.

Collections and databases

  • NC LIVE: prepared search for Laurel Hill 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.

Local help

Related themes

UNC & Campus Life →Business, Shops & Commerce →Carolina Sports →Everyday Life & Traditions →Growth, Land & Planning →Housing, Neighborhoods & Displacement →

More to discover

Keep Reading Local

The Friends connect people with new library materials, local writers and publishers, and resources documenting Orange County.

Browse New Arrivals → Meet Local Authors → Explore Local Publishers →
Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library
Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026