University Lake

In the chronology

Storylines set here, earliest first. Each has its own page.

Other dated events here, earliest first. See these 7 dated events in the chronology →

1. second quarter of the 1800s Burials begin in the Matthew and Martha McCauley family cemetery The family burial ground of Matthew and Martha McCauley, who gave land for the university, lies on Old Fayetteville Road near University Lake. Its graves date from about 1825 to 1850.Search the index · NC Digital Collections: Kelly Lally and Ruth Little, Chapel Hill Township Survey Final Report (1992), p. 30
2. February 28, 1928 Mason Toney Strayhorn and his grandson Alfred Barbee finish a stone dam across Morgan Creek Toney Strayhorn, a formerly enslaved Carrboro mason and preacher, completed a thirty-foot-wide stone dam spanning Morgan Creek near University Lake with his grandson Alfred Barbee, whose first masonry job it was. Alfred and his brother Willis Barbee went on to build walls, dams and chimneys around Chapel Hill and Carrboro for sixty years.Search the index · NC Historic Preservation Office: Heather Fearnbach, Troy M. and Roberta C. Andrews House, National Register nomination (draft, 2026)
3. 1932 University Lake begins supplying Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina dammed Morgan Creek west of Carrboro to form University Lake, which began supplying water to the university and to Chapel Hill. The lake and about 500 acres of surrounding land remain in university ownership, with OWASA entitled to use the lake under contract.Orange Water and Sewer Authority: Capital Improvements Program Book FY24-28
4. August 1968 Drought drops University Lake to a sixth of its normal level and forces water rationing With the lake nearly empty, the university spent about $100,000 on a pipe connecting Chapel Hill to Durham's water system and bought Durham water. Lawn watering and car washing were banned under penalty of fine, and there was concern that classes would be suspended before levels recovered by the end of 1969. People: J. Carlyle SittersonCarolina Story, Virtual Museum of University History (UNC): Droughts, 1960s-1970s
5. 1969 Engineering study for UNC recommends a reservoir on Cane Creek After the 1968 drought left University Lake dangerously low, a study sponsored by the University of North Carolina and conducted by the engineering firm Hazen and Sawyer recommended damming Cane Creek. The Haw River, the proposed Jordan reservoir, an enlarged University Lake and the Eno were among the alternatives set aside. People: Daniel A. OkunCaselaw Access Project: In re Appeal from Environmental Management Commission, 53 N.C. App. 135 (1981)
6. 1976 Cane Creek is chosen as the site of a new reservoir and area landowners organize against it A consultant's feasibility study concluded that Cane Creek, west of Carrboro, was the best site for a reservoir to supplement University Lake, and OWASA began assembling land there. Cane Creek residents and farmers formed a conservation group and fought the project in court for years, arguing that it would destroy farms and hasten the decline of agriculture and that expanding University Lake had not been properly considered. People: Daniel A. OkunANCHOR, A North Carolina History Online Resource: Cane Creek Reservoir
7. October 8, 1976 UNC trustees approve a Cane Creek pipeline on OWASA's recommendation With University Lake 64 inches below capacity, the UNC Board of Trustees approved an $824,450 pipeline and small temporary dam to draw water from Cane Creek, described as a step toward the planned reservoir. OWASA, due to take over the University water system in January 1977, recommended the Cane Creek project over alternatives that included pumping raw water from the Haw River to a treatment plant.Daily Tar Heel (DigitalNC): Board of Trustees approve $824,000 pipeline from Cane Creek, October 11, 1976