Skip to content

Businesses, mills and venues

Carr Mill

Carr Mill is the brick textile mill beside the railroad in Carrboro that Thomas F. Lloyd built in 1898 and 1899 as the Alberta Cotton Mill; Julian S. Carr's Durham Hosiery Mills bought it in 1909. Saved from demolition by residents in the mid-1970s, it reopened in 1977 as a shopping center, now Carr Mill Mall.

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.

People in its history

People named in events about this site, ordered by number of mentions. Each example links to an entry with a source citation.

Sites linked through the same people

Indexed works

Books, articles, records, and images about Carr Mill. Each has been reviewed for relevance; materials held at OCPL appear first.

About the site

Carr Mill, Carrboro, North Carolina : a rehabilitation project under the Tax Reform Act of 1976

Thomas, Margaret A. (Margaret Ann), 1951- · 1979

Margaret A. Thomas wrote this 1979 report on the rehabilitation of Carr Mill in Carrboro for the Technical Preservation Services Division of the Interior Department's Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service. It presents the mill as a rehabilitation project under the Tax Reform Act of 1976, with attention to federal aid for historic sites and the restoration of historic buildings. 32 illustrated pages.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

Carr Mill shopping village

1977 · Carr Mill?

A short booklet on Carr Mill, the former Carrboro mill remodeled as a shopping village, issued around 1977. A note beneath the title names the owner, a limited partnership called Carr-Mill, the leasing agent Southern Real Estate of Charlotte, the architects Miller/Steever/Finch of Charlotte, and the contractor Wooten-Brawley of Statesville. Five unnumbered pages with illustrations, a map and a plan.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

UNC

Carr Mill Mall

Cotten, Jerry (some photos) · 1900

Photographs following the Carrboro mill site from about 1900 to the 1970s: the Carrboro Mill in the early 1900s, a group portrait of Durham Hosiery Company workers at Carr Mill, the Carr Mill Mall later built on the site, and the sign for Elmo's Diner there. Some of the pictures are by Jerry Cotten.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

Friends of Old Carrboro, Inc. collection, circa 1970s-2000

Friends of Old Carrboro, Inc · 1974

Organizational records of Friends of Old Carrboro, Inc., roughly 2,600 items in 4.5 linear feet spanning circa 1970s to 2000, part of the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 70171. Topics include historic preservation and architectural conservation in Carrboro, city planning, zoning and traffic calming, with names including Claudia Roberts Brown and Jay Bryan and sites such as Carr Mill and Weaver Street Market. Materials in English.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

UNC

Carr Mill Mall: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

Carr Mill Mall in Carrboro, two undated exterior photographs: one with a cyclist, the other with a crowd gathered outside near lumber. From the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection (CHHS.002).

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

Carr Mill Shopping: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

Undated exterior of Carr Mill with cars and a bicycle in front. The former textile mill in Carrboro became a shopping center. From the Chapel Hill Historical Society's business photographs.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

Show 2 more works

Carrboro Mill Mall: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

Two undated exterior photographs of Carrboro Mill Mall showing its landscaping, from the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection (CHHS.002).

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

Carrboro Mill: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

Carrboro Mill seen from outside in two undated photographs, part of the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection (CHHS.002).

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Carr Mill alone: the architectural surveys that cover its town or the county, and maps drawn while it stood. Several of the surveys can be read free online at NC Digital Collections.

Carrboro Map [1935]

1935

Hand-drawn map of Carrboro from about 1935, centered on Greensboro Avenue and Weaver Street and marking buildings, lots and the main roads.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

Map of Chapel Hill-Carrboro, N.C.

Gove, John R. · 1958 · Chapel Hill-Carrboro Merchants Association

Robert J. Ayers drew this folding map of Chapel Hill and Carrboro using data gathered by John R. Gove; the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Merchants Association published it under a 1954 copyright. The 1958 printing shows the towns, the University, streets, creeks and country clubs. On the back is text for the Chapel Hill School Art Guild house tour of 30 October 1960, with eleven houses marked in red.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

Found a book OCPL doesn’t own? You can often borrow it through interlibrary loan at OCPL.

Start at OCPL

    Where to look on the shelf

    These books don’t necessarily mention Carr Mill, but they cover where it stands, its kind of building and the land, family and burial records behind it, and they are where a search for a place like this usually goes next. All are at OCPL, most in the Wall Collection.

    Histories of the town and county

    • Rebecca Wall Collection · 975.656 OTTO Carrboro Otto, David · 2011

      Pictorial history of Carrboro in Arcadia's Images of America series by David A. Otto and Richard Ellington, published in 2011. Its 127 pages of photographs, maps, facsimiles and portraits cover the town's history, social life and African American community, with a bibliography and index.

    • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.656 OTTO Carrboro Otto, David · 2015

      Second Images of America volume on Carrboro by David A. Otto and Richard Ellington (Arcadia, 2015). Chapters follow the town from mill village to growing urban center, then turn to its merchants, the arts, festivals, changing demographics and changing architecture, in 95 illustrated pages.

    • Foundational · 975.656 RYAN Orange County Trio: Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro, North Carolina, Histories and Tour Guides Ryan, Elizabeth Shreve · 2004

      Elizabeth Shreve Ryan's combined histories and tour guides for Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro, the three towns of Orange County, with the University of North Carolina treated alongside Chapel Hill. Each town gets a narrative history and a tour of its streets and buildings. Published by Chapel Hill Press in 2004, 369 pages with illustrations and maps.

    Buildings and surveys

    • Foundational · NC 720.975 BIS A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina Bishir, Catherine W. · 2003

      Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern's field guide to the historic buildings of the North Carolina Piedmont, arranged county by county from Wake and Franklin in the east to Mecklenburg and Gaston in the west. The Orange County section takes in Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro along with the rural county, with entries on individual buildings and maps for finding them. Published 2003, 596 pages with illustrations and maps.

    • Start here · NC 720.975 BRO Carrboro, N.C: An Architectural & Historical Inventory Brown, Claudia Roberts · 1983

      Architectural and historical inventory of Carrboro by Claudia Roberts Brown, published in 1983 by the Carrboro Appearance Commission and the town. The 48-page survey, with illustrations and maps, documents the town's historic buildings and their conservation.

    • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 621.21 HOB Exploring the Old Mills of North Carolina Hobbs, Grimsley T. · 1985

      Grimsley T. Hobbs's oblong guide to the old water mills of North Carolina, with drawings by Kate Russell Forbes, published in 1985 by Provincial Press of Chapel Hill in 80 pages. The same press also published guides to the Piedmont and to the state's country inns.

    In the chronology

    1. Thomas F. Lloyd builds the Alberta Cotton Mill Lloyd built the Alberta Cotton Mill beside the railroad in West End in 1898 and 1899, the brick mill that later became Durham Hosiery Mill No. 4 and then Carr Mill Mall. People: Julian S. Carr, Thomas F. Lloyd (Carrboro mill builder) Town of Carrboro: Carrboro Walking Tour · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, April 9, 1982, p. 4
    2. Brodie Lloyd builds a row of rental houses on Weaver Street for Alberta mill workers Brodie Lloyd put up the one-story house with a triple-A roof at 302 Weaver Street, along with nearly identical houses at 300, 304 and 306 Weaver, as rentals for hands at the Alberta Cotton Mill run by his cousin Thomas F. Lloyd, renting either to the workers or through the mill. By 1983 only 302 stood where it was built; 300 had been moved and the others torn down. People: Thomas F. Lloyd (Carrboro mill builder) Town of Carrboro: Brown, McSwain and Florin, Carrboro, N.C.: An Architectural and Historical Inventory (1983), p. 33 (no. 12, House, 302 Weaver Street)
    3. Julian Carr's Durham Hosiery Mills buys the Alberta Mill In early February 1909 Julian S. Carr and his sons closed a deal for both the Alberta Cotton Mill that Thomas F. Lloyd had built at West End and the Blanche Hosiery Mill, to change hands on April 1 and run together as Durham Hosiery Mills' Mill No. 4. The deeds were recorded in March. People: Julian S. Carr, Thomas F. Lloyd (Carrboro mill builder) DigitalNC: The Durham Recorder, February 12, 1909, p. 3 · Also: NC State Historic Preservation Office: Alberta Mill Complex, National Register nomination; Brown, McSwain and Florin, Carrboro Inventory
    4. Durham Hosiery Mills nearly doubles Mill No. 4 About 1912 the company added a two-story extension to the west end of the old Alberta mill, enlarged its one-story south wing and put up a new power house northeast of the reservoir. Orders for cotton hosiery had outgrown the building. The Sanborn maps show the work done between March 1911 and December 1915. Town of Carrboro: Brown, McSwain and Florin, Carrboro, N.C.: An Architectural and Historical Inventory (1983), p. 13 · Also: Library of Congress, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Chapel Hill, March 1911 sheet 4 and December 1915 sheet 1
    5. A new wood-frame railroad station is built in Carrboro The depot that still stands east of the old Alberta mill (Carr Mill) was built about 1913 as an extension of a small frame depot of about 1900, which had itself replaced the boxcar that served as West End's first station. The older depot was later removed, and the 1913 building served as the passenger and freight depot. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Alberta Mill Complex, National Register nomination (OR0001), p. 6 · Also: Town of Carrboro: Brown, McSwain and Florin, Carrboro, N.C.: An Architectural and Historical Inventory; Open Orange: Southern Railway Station - Carrboro
    6. A. J. Blackwood recruits Cora Oakley's family from Burlington to the Carrboro mills In 1914 A. J. Blackwood, a Burlington neighbor lately made superintendent of Mill No. 4, drew Cora Oakley and her large family to Carrboro with slightly higher wages and a ten-hour day. Durham Hosiery Mills hired many experienced hands away from Burlington-area mills in this way. Town of Carrboro: Brown, McSwain and Florin, Carrboro, N.C.: An Architectural and Historical Inventory (1983), p. 14
    7. The power house wing of Mill No. 4 is raised to two full stories In 1918 Durham Hosiery Mills built the original power house wing of Mill No. 4 up to two full stories and gave it a taller two-story tower on the north side. Town of Carrboro: Brown, McSwain and Florin, Carrboro, N.C.: An Architectural and Historical Inventory (1983), p. 13 · Also: Library of Congress, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Chapel Hill, December 1915 sheet 1 and June 1925 sheet 9
    8. Durham Hosiery Mills begins cutting back its Carrboro operations With demand for cotton stockings sliding since silk hosiery came in during the mid-1910s, the company began curtailing work at its Carrboro mills in 1928. The 1929 crash deepened the slump, and Mill No. 4 shut in 1930. Town of Carrboro: Brown, McSwain and Florin, Carrboro, N.C.: An Architectural and Historical Inventory (1983), p. 24
    9. Durham Hosiery closes Mill No. 4, the former Alberta mill Durham Hosiery Mills closed its No. 4 spinning mill in Carrboro, the former Alberta mill, once the stock on hand had been run out, about June 1930, saying there was no longer a market for the product as the Depression cut into the hosiery business. The Weekly counted about 175 people on the payroll; the knitting room in the same building kept running for a time on a large order. Carr Mill Mall: History · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, May 9, 1930, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, July 4, 1930, p. 5; The Daily Tar Heel, April 9, 1982, p. 4
    10. Pacific Mills bricks up the Carrboro mill's windows to air-condition it When Pacific Mills put air conditioning into the Carrboro mill it filled in nearly every window, more than 100 openings in all, leaving only the north and office wings unchanged. Thomas's 1979 report puts the work in the 1950s, but The News of Orange County reported in September 1945 that the windows had been broken out and bricked up and that Bahnson Co. of Winston-Salem had the air conditioning job about half done. Margaret A. Thomas, Carr Mill, Carrboro, North Carolina: A Rehabilitation Project under the Tax Reform Act (1979), scan p. 5 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 20, 1945, p. 1; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 1, 1945, p. 1
    11. The former Alberta mill reopens as Carrboro Woolen Mills After fifteen idle years the modernized Mill No. 4 building reopened as Carrboro Woolen Mills, owned by Pacific Mills of Boston. It began weaving cloth for the armed forces on twelve looms in late April 1945 and ran until the early 1960s. Carr Mill Mall: History · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 3, 1945, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, April 9, 1982, p. 4
    12. Pacific Mills announces it will close Carrboro Mills Pacific Mills, which had reopened Mill No. 4 as Carrboro Woolen Mills in 1945 and later bought the idle Mill No. 7, announced on June 17, 1958 that Carrboro Mills would shut down within two or three months. The plant was the community's only industry, with 380 workers and a payroll of more than $900,000 a year. By then the university and nearby businesses were taking industry's place as Carrboro's employers. Town of Carrboro: Brown, McSwain and Florin, Carrboro, N.C.: An Architectural and Historical Inventory (1983), p. 25 · Also: The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 19, 1958, p. 1
    Show all 45 dated events
    1. The EDY Corporation of Chapel Hill buys the empty Carrboro mill The former Alberta and Durham Hosiery mill, last used by the BVD Company for sorting and shipping underwear, was sold in 1967 to the EDY Corporation of Chapel Hill. It stood mostly empty for the next decade apart from occasional warehouse use. Margaret A. Thomas, Carr Mill, Carrboro, North Carolina: A Rehabilitation Project under the Tax Reform Act (1979), scan p. 3 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, April 9, 1982, p. 4
    2. A feasibility study proposes turning the Carrboro mill into a shopping bazaar With town officials and the owners looking for a use for the empty mill, a 1971 feasibility study recommended reopening it as a shopping bazaar. Nothing came of it for lack of money. Margaret A. Thomas, Carr Mill, Carrboro, North Carolina: A Rehabilitation Project under the Tax Reform Act (1979), scan p. 6
    3. Residents campaign to save Carrboro's former textile mill from demolition In spring 1975 an Atlanta firm took an option to buy the vacant former Alberta mill, tear it down and build a shopping center. Frances Shetley and other Carrboro residents circulated a petition against its demolition, the firm let its option go, and the owner turned to a reuse plan that made it Carr Mill. The mill, the depot and the brick grist mill were nominated together to the National Register of Historic Places in June 1975. Chapelboro: Frances Shetley Reflects on Her Impact on Carrboro (September 6, 2022) · Also: NC State Historic Preservation Office: Alberta Mill Complex, National Register nomination; The Daily Tar Heel, January 30, 1976, p. 1; Open Orange: Alberta Cotton Mill / Durham Hosiery Mill No. 4 / Carr Woolen Mills / Carr Mill Mall; Margaret A. Thomas, Carr Mill, Carrboro, North Carolina
    4. Southern Real Estate and the EDY Corporation form the Carr Mill partnership After an Atlanta buyer dropped its option, the Charlotte firm Southern Real Estate proposed reusing the mill as a shopping center with a new grocery and drug store building beside it. The EDY Corporation put in the property, valued at $300,000, as general partner, and three Southern Real Estate principals joined as limited partners. Margaret A. Thomas, Carr Mill, Carrboro, North Carolina: A Rehabilitation Project under the Tax Reform Act (1979), scan p. 7
    5. The Alberta Mill complex is listed on the National Register The mill, the railroad depot and the brick grist mill were listed together on the National Register of Historic Places, a year after the 1975 nomination made during the fight over demolishing the mill. The Local Reporter: Carrboro's Heritage Embraces Preservation of the Town's Early Architecture
    6. Carrboro grants its first unified business development permit, for Carr Mill After about three months of hearings and negotiation from December 1975, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen unanimously approved a conditional use permit for the mill project on February 11, 1976, the town's first for several businesses in more than one building on one lot. Among the permit's 12 conditions, the developers agreed to keep the southwestern lawn as public open space, save trees, get Appearance Commission approval for the new building, give land for street widening, build sidewalks and put utilities underground. Margaret A. Thomas, Carr Mill, Carrboro, North Carolina: A Rehabilitation Project under the Tax Reform Act (1979), scan p. 11 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, February 13, 1976, p. 1
    7. Work begins on the shopping mall in Carr Mill and its new grocery and drug store building The first phase of the mill's redevelopment, the ground-floor shopping mall, the new grocery and drug store building and site work, began in August 1976. It was paid for with a $1.2 million construction loan from Mutual Savings and Loan of Charlotte, and Wooten-Brawley and Company of Statesville was the contractor. Margaret A. Thomas, Carr Mill, Carrboro, North Carolina: A Rehabilitation Project under the Tax Reform Act (1979), scan p. 10
    8. Carrboro amends the Carr Mill permit to allow offices on the second floor The town amended the mill's conditional use permit in December 1976 so the developers could rent the second floor as offices. In return they paid to widen the access road and build sidewalks to the new parking lot. Margaret A. Thomas, Carr Mill, Carrboro, North Carolina: A Rehabilitation Project under the Tax Reform Act (1979), scan p. 12
    9. Carr Mill Shopping Village opens in Carrboro's renovated mill Carr Mill Shopping Village, a shopping center built inside Carrboro's renovated former textile mill, was scheduled to open on May 1, 1977, with ten retail stores, a Harris Teeter supermarket and a Revco drug store. By that September it advertised about 25 businesses; the complex is now known as Carr Mill Mall. The Daily Tar Heel, March 30, 1977, p. 4 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, September 30, 1977, p. 8
    10. Carr Mill's property tax bill rises from about $4,900 to nearly $30,000 after rehabilitation Assessed at $304,700 before the work, the mill property paid $4,875 in taxes in 1975. Revalued at $1,538,500 after rehabilitation, it paid $29,847 in 1978. Sales in the complex that year came to about $10.5 million. Margaret A. Thomas, Carr Mill, Carrboro, North Carolina: A Rehabilitation Project under the Tax Reform Act (1979), scan p. 29
    11. The Carrboro Art School leases a Carr Mill warehouse The Carrboro Art School, begun about 1974 above the old Trading Post when the UNC Evening College dropped art classes, signed a $10,000-a-year lease late in 1978 for a former warehouse in Carr Mill Mall, where by 1979 it had about 30 instructors, some 350 students a quarter and a Gallery Theater. The Daily Tar Heel, September 21, 1979, p. 5
    12. The Interior Department certifies the Carr Mill rehabilitation for federal tax benefits Federal preservation officials reviewed the first two phases of the Carr Mill work and, after receiving more photographs in February 1978, certified them as a historic rehabilitation under the Tax Reform Act of 1976. The partners could then write off qualifying rehabilitation costs over five years, about $1.9 million for the whole project once the third phase was also certified in 1979. Federal officials later held up the window repairs and replica sash as a model for industrial buildings. Margaret A. Thomas, Carr Mill, Carrboro, North Carolina: A Rehabilitation Project under the Tax Reform Act (1979), scan p. 13
    13. Carr Mill's second-floor offices are finished, with Memorial Hospital's dialysis unit among the tenants The second phase, offices on the mill's upper floor, was completed in February 1978. Tenants who had asked for space included North Carolina Memorial Hospital, which moved its kidney dialysis laboratory there and proposed moving three administrative divisions out of the crowded hospital, a state Vocational Rehabilitation area office and a Southern Bell regional office. Margaret A. Thomas, Carr Mill, Carrboro, North Carolina: A Rehabilitation Project under the Tax Reform Act (1979), scan p. 10
    14. Carrboro amends the Carr Mill permit to allow a weekend farmers' market in its parking lot At the town's request and with the developers' consent, Carrboro amended the permit to let a farmers' market use the mill's second parking lot on weekends. A permanent open-air shelter was built with a $25,000 state matching grant, with the town supplying the site. Margaret A. Thomas, Carr Mill, Carrboro, North Carolina: A Rehabilitation Project under the Tax Reform Act (1979), scan p. 12
    15. Carrboro Farmers’ Market is established After organizing and planning in 1977, the Carrboro Farmers' Market began business in 1978, once the town amended its permit in February 1978 to allow the market at Carr Mill. The Daily Tar Heel reported that the Carrboro Farm and Craft Market opened on Saturday, August 5, 1978, with local produce, arts and crafts, open Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. behind the Sidetrack and next to the rescue squad. Carrboro Farmers’ Market — Mission & History · Also: Margaret A. Thomas, Carr Mill, Carrboro, North Carolina; The Daily Tar Heel, July 27, 1978, p. 2; The Daily Tar Heel, August 24, 1978, p. 10
    16. The Carrboro Art School moves to lease Carr Mill space after its theater is evicted The Gallery Theatre of the Carrboro Art School, which had staged plays that fall in a Carr Mill Mall space, was told to leave when the developer, Southern Real Estate, promised the space to a group planning a disco; when that deal fell through days later the developer reopened talks, and director Jacques Menache said the school was preparing to sign a five-year lease to move the whole school there. Menache said the old warehouse space needed plumbing, wiring and heat and that the school would raise money in late December. The Daily Tar Heel, November 27, 1978, p. 4
    17. The contractor that renovated Carr Mill sues OWASA over a sewer tap fee Wooten-Brawley Co. of Statesville, which renovated Carr Mill for the mall, sued the Orange Water and Sewer Authority to recover a $7,002 tap-fee check that OWASA's lawyer had held in escrow since the mall opened about a year earlier, and asked $20,000 in damages and $50,000 in punitive damages. OWASA attorney Claude V. Jones said the suit shifted the dispute from the size of the fee to whether OWASA could use the check at all. The Daily Tar Heel, December 4, 1978, p. 3
    18. The ArtSchool moves across the street into larger quarters at Carr Mill Mall Having outgrown the single room across the street where Jacques Menache began teaching painting and drawing to 36 students in 1974, the ArtSchool began moving into larger quarters at Carr Mill Mall in 1979. By that fall it had 550 students, a professional mime troupe, poets' and actors' cooperatives and a theater, the Daily Tar Heel reported in 1981. The Daily Tar Heel, November 24, 1981, p. 1
    19. The Carr Mill complex employs 239 people By 1979 the stores in the mill and the new grocery and drug store building employed about 155 people and the offices upstairs another 84. Most of the store jobs were new to Carrboro, while most of the office jobs had moved from elsewhere in town. Margaret A. Thomas, Carr Mill, Carrboro, North Carolina: A Rehabilitation Project under the Tax Reform Act (1979), scan p. 28
    20. The last phase of Carr Mill, a restaurant and offices in the north, east and office wings, is finished With permanent financing in hand, the partners redeveloped the rest of the mill, its north, east and office wings, as a restaurant and offices, with 80 percent leased before work began. A second $500,000 loan from Connecticut Mutual paid for it, and the work was finished in mid-1979. Margaret A. Thomas, Carr Mill, Carrboro, North Carolina: A Rehabilitation Project under the Tax Reform Act (1979), scan p. 10
    21. The Interior Department publishes a case study of the Carr Mill rehabilitation The Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service issued a preservation case study by architectural historian Margaret A. Thomas on Carr Mill, using it to show how the 1976 tax incentives for historic buildings worked in practice. Margaret A. Thomas, Carr Mill, Carrboro, North Carolina: A Rehabilitation Project under the Tax Reform Act (1979), scan p. 31
    22. Orange County Health Department and the UNC dental school open a low-cost dental clinic at Carr Mill In March 1980 the Orange County Health Department and the UNC School of Dentistry opened a low-cost dental clinic at the health department's office in Carr Mill Mall in Carrboro, paid for by a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant, with the county providing the space and the dental school the staff, including dental hygiene students working for credit. A second clinic opened in March 1981; by 1983 the clinics had about 5,000 patient visits a year, 70 to 80 percent of them by children, with fees set by ability to pay from a $5 minimum. The Daily Tar Heel, October 3, 1983, p. 4
    23. Child Care Networks, a referral agency for parents, opens in Carr Mill Mall Child Care Networks, a nonprofit referral service sponsored in part by UNC, N.C. Memorial Hospital, Orange County and the United Way, opened in Suite 217 of Carr Mill Mall to help families find licensed or registered child care. More than 90 families called in its first two months; it held an open house on August 26. The Daily Tar Heel, August 28, 1984, p. 3
    24. The Orange County Health Department offers free, anonymous AIDS antibody tests at Carr Mill Mall The county clinic in Carr Mill Mall gave the HTLV-III antibody test free on Wednesdays, taking only a first name and issuing a number that had to be shown in person for the result. By October 1987 testing was offered on Monday and Wednesday mornings, with appointments several weeks out. Lambda (Carolina Gay and Lesbian Association, UNC), March 1986, p. 3
    25. The ArtSchool closes its Carr Mill home to move into the old Piggly Wiggly The ArtSchool closed its home in Carr Mill as its lease ran out and moved its office to Nice Price Books while the former Piggly Wiggly grocery on Main Street in Carrboro, bought by friends of the school, was rebuilt as a hall three times the size with a theater, gallery, studios and an expanded senior citizens center. Director Jacques Menache said the school still had to raise $400,000 and hoped to move in that spring. The Daily Tar Heel, December 3, 1986, p. 8
    26. Carrboro aldermen approve an $89,500 loan for Weaver's Market, a co-op grocery in the Carr Mill Mall annex The newly seated Carrboro Board of Aldermen approved an $89,500 loan from state funds for local start-up businesses to the company planning Weaver's Market, a cooperative grocery with local produce and an outdoor cafe in the Carr Mill Mall annex, at 9 percent over ten years with a balloon payment due in five. The Downtown Development Committee backed it as an anchor for the annex, which had seen many vacancies since it was built four years before; the market planned to open in March. The Daily Tar Heel, December 2, 1987, p. 5
    27. Weaver Street Market shows its cooperative grocery to the public in Carr Mill Mall Annex Before its planned May opening, the community-owned Weaver Street Market held a public preview with an ice cream scooping by a Ben and Jerry's co-founder at its 7,000-square-foot store in the Carr Mill Mall Annex. It had 157 shareholders, sold refundable shares at $75 per adult, and was the first business to receive a loan from the Carrboro Downtown Development Commission. The Daily Tar Heel, March 21, 1988, p. 7
    28. Celebrate Carrboro festival marks the opening of Weaver Street Market and Townsend Bertram and Company Put off a day by rain, the Celebrate Carrboro outdoor festival at Carr Mill Mall, sponsored by The Independent and the ArtsCenter, celebrated the official opening of Weaver Street Market and the Townsend Bertram and Company store. Mayor Eleanor Kinnaird used it to promote a town commons near Town Hall, and general manager Ruffin Slater described the market as a community-owned grocery whose customers and employees hold shares. People: Ellie Kinnaird The Daily Tar Heel, September 19, 1988, p. 1
    29. Work begins on a patio and storage addition at Weaver Street Market Construction began Oct. 22 on an outdoor patio for the Carrboro Cafe inside Weaver Street Market, seating 30 to 35, and a 1,500-square-foot storage addition to the 7,500-square-foot store. Carr Mill Mall paid for the work under a new lease as the first phase of its expansion; a second phase was to rework the Harris Teeter, the parking lot and landscaping. The Daily Tar Heel, October 26, 1990, p. 3
    30. Earthwares, a store selling only environmentally safe goods, opens at Carr Mill in Carrboro A couple who had moved to Carrboro in May 1990 opened Earthwares in Carr Mill Plaza, a store that sold only products they judged environmentally safe, from baby toys to paint and toilets, and planned hands-on workshops on subjects such as water purification. Mayor Eleanor Kinnaird helped the owners find space and get a loan from the town. People: Ellie Kinnaird The Daily Tar Heel, September 30, 1991, p. 3
    31. Katie's Pretzels opens in Carr Mill Mall Katie Taylor and Steve Brauer, who had sold Pennsylvania-Dutch style soft pretzels at a shop on the Outer Banks in the summer of 1991, opened Katie's Pretzels in Carr Mill Mall in Carrboro. By March 1993 business had grown enough for a second store in Durham's Northgate Mall. The Daily Tar Heel, March 5, 1993, p. 7
    32. University Printery leaves Franklin Street for Carr Mill Mall in Carrboro After 98 years on Franklin Street, University Printery moved from Amber Alley to Carr Mill Mall in Carrboro, where it planned to mark its 100th anniversary. A co-owner said delivery trucks had no room to park on Franklin Street and that construction of the Rosemary Street parking deck had cut off the building's rear access. The Daily Tar Heel, May 21, 1992, p. 3
    33. Carr Mill Mall's owners file a plan to pay their debt and leave Chapter 11 Carr Mill Mall Limited Partnership, which had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy about a year earlier to stave off foreclosure when a five-year loan came due, filed on September 29 a seven-year plan, agreed with its main creditor and the bankruptcy judge, to pay that creditor and some minor creditors in full. General partner Paul Greenberg said the Carrboro shopping center was healthy, with 98 percent of its space leased. The Daily Tar Heel, October 4, 1994, p. 3

    Open these in the chronology →

    Research sources

    Sources cited in this site’s history, National Register documents, and places to get research help. Research guide: Research a business or a changing street.

    Background 6

    National Register files

    Historic sites, markers, and maps

    Records of the time 22

    Show all 22

    Collections and databases

    Local help 5

    Nearby

    Something wrong or missing on this page, a location, a date or a name? Suggest a correction or a source →

    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