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Chapel Hill Post Office and Peace and Justice Plaza

The Chapel Hill post office at Franklin and Henderson streets is a one-story brick Colonial Revival building finished in 1938 on the site of the earlier post office. Its front lawn became a place of protest, from the 1964 Holy Week fast to weekly Vietnam War vigils, and in 2006 the town named it Peace and Justice Plaza.

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.

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Sites linked through the same people

Indexed works

Books, articles, records, and images about Chapel Hill Post Office and Peace and Justice Plaza. Each has been reviewed for relevance; materials held at OCPL appear first.

About the site

Specification for the construction of the United States post office at Chapel Hill, N.C

United States. Department of the Treasury. Office of Supervising Architect · 1917 · G.P.O.

Government specification for building the United States post office at Chapel Hill, printed by the Government Printing Office in 1917 for the Treasury Department's Office of the Supervising Architect. Topics include post office buildings and building specifications for the town. It sets out the materials and workmanship required, a source for the construction history of the town's federal building.

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

UNC

Post Office: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

1978

Photograph of the outside of the Chapel Hill post office, taken in 1978. It belongs to the Chapel Hill Government binder in the Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection.

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

CH Historical Society

Post Office: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

1950

Two photographs of the Chapel Hill post office and the buildings around it under snow, dated 1950 to 1977. From the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection.

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

CH Historical Society

U.S. Post Office, Chapel Hill

1940

Real photo postcard of the United States post office in Chapel Hill, from about the 1940s. Card number 50C.

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

DPLA

Post Office, Erected in 1917, Chapel Hill, N.C.

1922 · R. W. Foister, Chapel Hill, N.C

Chapel Hill's post office, built in 1917, on a 1922 postcard published by R. W. Foister. The street view shows the glass doors and broad stone steps.

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

DPLA

Old Post Office: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

Three men stand outside Chapel Hill's old post office in this undated print, one of the photographs in the Chapel Hill Government binder of the Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection.

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

CH Historical Society

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Chapel Hill Post Office and Peace and Justice Plaza 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.

The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, North Carolina: 1795-1975

Little-Stokes, Margaret Ruth · 2006

Margaret Ruth Little-Stokes's survey of Chapel Hill's town and campus buildings from 1795 to 1975, published by the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill in 2006. Chapters run from the first campus buildings through David Swain's romantic campus to midcentury modernism, followed by area surveys of the campus, east and west Chapel Hill, downtown, Northside and the suburbs.

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

NC Cardinal UNC Duke NC State Durham Chapel Hill PL Library of Congress CH Historical Society

The town and gown architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975

Little, M. Ruth · 2004 · Preservation Society of Chapel Hill

M. Ruth Little's 2004 architectural history of Chapel Hill and the university campus from 1795 to 1975, written for the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill. A 99-page survey with a bibliography.

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

NC Cardinal NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Chapel Hill historic sites survey : final report.

Gatza, M. B. · 1992 · Chapel Hill Planning Department

M. B. Gatza's final report of the 1992 Chapel Hill historic sites survey for the town Planning Department, with contributions by Beverly C. Kawalec and Catherine Bishir. It covers historic buildings and districts in Chapel Hill in 80 pages.

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

NC Cardinal NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Chapel Hill township survey final report

Lally, Kelly A. · 1992

Kelly A. Lally's October 1992 final report on the architectural survey of Chapel Hill township, including Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Besides the report and a bibliography, most of its 56 pages form an annotated index of the historic buildings surveyed.

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

NC Cardinal NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

When Chapel Hill was a village

Love, Cornelia Spencer, 1892-1981 · 1976 · Chapel Hill Historical Society

Cornelia Spencer Love's recollections of Chapel Hill as a village, published by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in 1976 with drawings by John V. Allcott. Love lived from 1892 to 1981, and the book covers Chapel Hill biography, the town's social life and customs, and the faculty of the university before 1962. viii and 87 pages with illustrations.

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

UNC Library of Congress CH Historical Society NC Cardinal

Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, North Carolina at 5-Year Intervals, 1793-1998

Bryant, Bernard Lee · 1999 · Chapel Hill Historical Society

Bernard Lee Bryant's compilation of who occupied each structure on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill at five-year intervals from 1793 to 1998, issued by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in 1999 as a photocopy of his original computer printout on cotton paper. 191 leaves.

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

UNC
Show 9 more surveys and maps

[Map of the site of the University of North Carolina and Chapel Hill].

Daniel, John (Surveyor) · 1792

John Daniel, a surveyor employed by the university trustees, made this pen and ink map of the future university site in 1792. It shows the tracts of land, the springs and creeks, nearby mills and the roads running from Fayetteville to Hillsborough, Pittsborough to Petersburg, Hillsborough to Newberne, and on to Raleigh. William S. Powell describes the map in First state university.

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

UNC

A plan of the situation of ye University, ye ornamental ground, ye adjacent village : the lands belonging to ye trustees together with ye springs : June 1st, 1795.

1795

Dated June 1, 1795, this pen and ink plan lays out the University of North Carolina site in its earliest years: the village, the cleared ground, the avenue, the ornamental ground, the lands belonging to the trustees and the springs. Archibald Henderson reproduced it in The campus of the first state university and identified it as the lost 1795 map by Charles W. Harris. Manuscript map, 30 x 36 cm.

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

UNC

Plan of the village at the University with the adjoining lands belonging to the institution.

1804

Early hand-drawn plan of the University village at Chapel Hill and the lands around it, which Archibald Henderson dated to between 1797 and 1812. It shows town lots with owners' names, Main Building (South Building), the steward's and president's houses, the chapel, Franklin Street and a Grand Avenue, plus a partial list of buyers at the 1793 lot sale.

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

UNC DPLA

Plan of the village of Chapel Hill on a scale of 200 yards to an inch.

1812

An early manuscript plan of Chapel Hill drawn at 200 yards to the inch, dated 1812, with a note on the verso reading September 4, 1817. It copies an earlier pen and ink plot in the possession of William Pannill, taken in turn from one by John Craig, and it marks boundary lines, town lots with some owners named, the University buildings, the president's lot, the chapel and the preparatory school.

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

UNC

Map of Chapel Hill as it was in 1875 to 1885

Carter, H. D. (Henry Dennis), -1941 · 1934

Henry Dennis Carter's reconstruction, drawn as a blueprint in 1934, of Chapel Hill as it stood between 1875 and 1885, showing the buildings of the village. A note on the map says the information came from old residents who gave it to Mary L. Thornton.

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

UNC

[Map of Chapel Hill and vicinity].

Harris, Hunter Lee, 1866-1893 · 1888 · Hunter Lee Harris?

Dating from 1888 and attributed to Hunter Lee Harris, a map of Chapel Hill and its vicinity, reproduced as a photocopy measuring 22 by 37 centimeters. Harris died in 1893, which brackets the drawing to the late nineteenth century. An early depiction of the streets of the village and the land around it.

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

UNC

[Map of Chapel Hill].

1895

Pen-and-ink manuscript map of Chapel Hill dated 1852, with a table of measurements, showing the University campus, the village around it, street widths and layout, and the town limits. Later notes attributed to Kemp P. Battle give the longitude and latitude of landmarks as measured from atop New East Hall in 1880.

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

UNC DPLA

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina.

1925

Sanborn Map Company fire insurance map of Chapel Hill, June 1925, on eleven sheets, with Carrboro also drawn. Sanborn maps recorded the outline, construction and use of each building for fire insurers, so the set shows both towns block by block in the mid 1920s.

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

Library of Congress Digital Collections

Map of Chapel Hill & vicinity.

1933

Street and property map of Chapel Hill and the surrounding country, revised to 1 January 1933 and printed in the town. Topics include streets, real property and the historical geography of Chapel Hill along with maps of the University of North Carolina in its 1793 to 1962 period. A useful sheet for tracing lot lines and street names as they stood at the start of the 1930s.

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

UNC

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 Chapel Hill Post Office and Peace and Justice Plaza, 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 · NC 975.656 STO Chapel Hill: A Pictorial History Stolpen, Steven · 1978

      Steven Stolpen's pictorial history of Chapel Hill, one of the Donning Company's photographic town histories, published in Norfolk, Virginia in 1978. Photographs and portraits carry the story of the town and the university, including references to Thomas Wolfe's years as a student at Carolina. 156 pages with illustrations.

    • 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.

    • Foundational · NC 917.56 HIS Historic Buildings and Landmarks of Chapel Hill, N.C Chapel Hill Historical Society · 1973

      A pocket-sized guide to the historic buildings and landmarks of Chapel Hill, prepared by the Chapel Hill Historical Society and printed by Creative Printers in 1973. Forty pages with illustrations and maps, 14 by 22 cm. Topics include architecture, historic buildings and historic districts in Chapel Hill, and the guide is useful for a walking tour of the older parts of town.

    Land, family and burial records

    • Foundational · NC 333.3 DUNAWAY Chapel Hill, N.C. History of Town Lots (1790-1930s) Dunaway, Stewart E. · 2014

      Deed transcripts for the town lots of Chapel Hill and adjoining land from 1790 to the 1930s, compiled by Stewart E. Dunaway. Each transcript keeps only the working facts: grantor and grantee, price, acreage and the metes and bounds of the parcel. Self-published in 2014 as Issue 1G, 702 pages with maps and facsimiles.

    In the chronology

    Storylines about this site, each with a page of its own:

    1. Samuel Hopkins opens the accounts of Chapel Hill's first post office Samuel Hopkins, the first postmaster appointed for Chapel Hill, files his first account with the Post Office as of July 1, 1795, the earliest record of the village post office. People: Samuel Hopkins Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 366
    2. Patridge succeeds Charles Chalmers as Chapel Hill postmaster The first issue of the Harbinger reported that Patridge had been appointed postmaster of Chapel Hill after Charles Chalmers resigned. The new postmaster's notice of August 26 set the hours of the office and the days the northern, eastern, southern and western mails arrived and closed. People: Isaac C. Patridge The Harbinger (Chapel Hill), August 27, 1833, p. 3
    3. Chapel Hill's two main mails begin coming three times a week Postmaster I. C. Patridge announced a new schedule at the Chapel Hill post office: the northern, eastern and southern mail would arrive on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, and the western mail on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Under the schedule of December 10, 1833, each had come twice a week; the Clover Garden mail stayed at once a week, on Friday. People: Isaac C. Patridge The Harbinger (Chapel Hill), January 2, 1834, p. 3
    4. The Chapel Hill post office sends off about four hundred letters a day Chapel Hill's postmaster reported that the post office was handling more mail than at any earlier time, with letters sent off averaging about four hundred a day. The Gazette took the figure as a sign of the town's growing business. The Chapel Hill Gazette, February 20, 1858, p. 2
    5. H. B. Guthrie is put out of the Chapel Hill post office The Post Office Department accepted a resignation from Chapel Hill postmaster H. B. Guthrie and commissioned a Kirkland in his place; Guthrie, chairman of the Orange County Republican executive committee, swore he had never resigned and that his name had been forged. Hillsborough Recorder, July 19, 1876, p. 3
    6. Andrew Mickle is appointed Chapel Hill postmaster Andrew Mickle was appointed postmaster at Chapel Hill on May 19, 1877, succeeding Hugh B. Guthrie. Thomas M. Kirkland followed him on January 31, 1881. People: Hugh B. Guthrie Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 366
    7. Herbert Lloyd takes charge of the Chapel Hill post office Herbert Lloyd became postmaster at Chapel Hill in April 1900; he had just taken charge when burglars blew open the office safe on April 18. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 3, 1900, p. 3
    8. W. A. Lloyd succeeds Herbert Lloyd as Chapel Hill postmaster W. A. Lloyd succeeded Herbert Lloyd as postmaster at Chapel Hill. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), August 25, 1904, p. 3
    9. The Chapel Hill post office opens as a postal savings bank The Chapel Hill post office was made a postal savings bank and opened to the public, taking deposits of ten cents and up. Postmaster Lindsay handled the new accounts. People: William E. Lindsay Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), October 5, 1911, p. 5
    10. The federal government acquires the McNider lot as the site of a new Chapel Hill post office A government agent closed a deal with Dr. McNider by which the government came into possession of the McNider lot, on which a handsome federal post office building was to be put up. The News (Chapel Hill), May 6, 1915, p. 3
    11. The Treasury calls for bids to build Chapel Hill's federal post office The Treasury Department's Supervising Architect advertised for sealed bids to build the United States post office at Chapel Hill, to be opened in Washington on November 27, 1917, with plans available from the custodian of the site at Chapel Hill. The News (Chapel Hill), November 1, 1917, p. 5
    12. Work on Chapel Hill's new post office stops after its contractor dies Work on the new post office, the new Presbyterian church and the Phillips building on the campus had been going well in the mild winter weather, but the contractor building the post office died at his home in Henderson in mid-January and all work on it was suspended for a while. The News (Chapel Hill), January 16, 1919, p. 5
    Show all 58 dated events
    1. Building goes forward on Chapel Hill's new post office and Presbyterian church The News reported work progressing well on Chapel Hill's new post office, the new Presbyterian church and the University's laboratory buildings. The News (Chapel Hill), May 22, 1919, p. 5
    2. Chapel Hill's new federal post office opens on Franklin Street Postmaster R. S. MacRae moved into the new government post office across Franklin Street from the Battle dormitory before the building was quite finished, leaving the crowded one-room office. Haymes Brothers had begun the one-story building with columns in April 1918 under a contract signed the December before. The Tar Heel, January 10, 1920, p. 2 · Also: The Tar Heel, April 20, 1918, p. 1; The News (Chapel Hill), November 27, 1919, p. 5; The News (Chapel Hill), December 6, 1919, p. 5
    3. Robert L. Strowd resigns as Chapel Hill postmaster R. L. Strowd, postmaster at Chapel Hill since the death of R. S. McRae, sent in his resignation on October 1 on his doctors' advice, to take effect when a successor was installed. The News said the office had outgrown its staff, with three clerks handling some seven hundred student calls a day at the general delivery window, and Strowd had urged the University to put keyless boxes in its buildings. The News (Chapel Hill), November 16, 1922, p. 1
    4. Three names go to the President to succeed R. L. Strowd as Chapel Hill postmaster By early February 1923 the Post Office Department had sent the President three Chapel Hill names to succeed R. L. Strowd, who had resigned as postmaster the previous October, among them DeWitt Herndon. Two weeks later the News expected Herndon to be named once the Senate confirmed him. The News (Chapel Hill), February 8, 1923, p. 7
    5. DeWitt Herndon succeeds R. L. Strowd as Chapel Hill postmaster DeWitt Herndon, a Bank of Chapel Hill employee who stood second on the civil service list, was confirmed as Chapel Hill's postmaster and took over from Robert L. Strowd, who had retired by mid-May. People: Robert L. Strowd The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 17, 1923, p. 4
    6. A star-route mail truck begins running from Durham through Chapel Hill to Siler City A new star route carried mail by truck from Durham through Chapel Hill, Riggsbee, Bynum, Pittsboro and Kimbolton to Siler City, so that mail once held until noon reached Chapel Hill at seven in the morning. The first truck left Durham on a Monday with about 15 of its 20 sacks bound for Chapel Hill. The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 5, 1923, p. 4
    7. A postal inspector approves house-to-house mail delivery for Chapel Hill A post office inspector sent from Washington gave final approval in October 1923 for carrier delivery of mail to every house and business in Chapel Hill, with two carriers making morning and afternoon rounds and banks of lock boxes on the ground floor of each university building. The change followed visits to the Post Office Department by Republican state chairman Bramham, alumni president Murphy and Dean J. F. Royster, and the News expected delivery to begin about November 1. People: James Finch Royster The News (Chapel Hill), October 25, 1923, p. 1
    8. House-to-house mail delivery begins in Chapel Hill City mail delivery began in Chapel Hill in November 1923, with carriers Dewey Poythress and Robert Burch setting out from the post office each morning to cover the east and west halves of town. The campus was left off the route until boxes could be put in the dormitories, and Postmaster Herndon said the change was easing crowding in the office. The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 15, 1923, p. 1
    9. The Chapel Hill post office adds a third carrier for the campus and puts up street letter boxes The Chapel Hill post office went from two mail carriers to three in January 1925, making the University campus a route of its own, because each carrier's load was so heavy that homes meant to get two deliveries a day often got one. By February 12 five collection boxes had been set up in town and five on the campus. The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 29, 1925, p. 1
    10. Receivers auction the property of the Chapel Hill Insurance and Realty Company The receivers of the bankrupt Chapel Hill Insurance and Realty Company auctioned its Chapel Hill and Carrboro properties in front of the post office. Lots on the old Guthrie place went to T. C. Atwood and Moody Durham, the Daniel house to Arthur London and James Griffin of Pittsboro, the Coop to Miles Andrews of Carrboro, and the Peoples Bank building to Lueco Lloyd for $23,000. People: W. S. Roberson, Lueco Lloyd, Isaac W. Pritchard, Moody W. Durham, Milton E. Hogan The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 6, 1928, p. 1
    11. The Chapel Hill post-office plaza is raised to the level of the sidewalk The sunken plaza in front of the post office was raised to sidewalk level, with small lawns planned at each end of the building. Collier Cobb Jr. did the work to a plan of the postal authorities. People: Collier Cobb Jr., Henry Roland Totten The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 6, 1928, p. 1
    12. Chapel Hill post office begins a late-afternoon outgoing mail On May 3, 1928, on an order of the postmaster general, the Chapel Hill post office began a 4:30 p.m. dispatch of first-class mail, carried by bus to Durham to catch the evening trains east and west. Townspeople had petitioned for it, and by late July the closing hour was moved to 5:30. The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 4, 1928, p. 1
    13. Chapel Hill post office ends Saturday afternoon window service and deliveries Under the law cutting postal clerks' week from 48 to 44 hours, and with the department no longer paying substitutes, the Chapel Hill post office closed all its windows at 1 o'clock on Saturdays and stopped Saturday afternoon carrier deliveries. The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 5, 1932, p. 1
    14. Federal economy furloughs reach the Chapel Hill post office In the week before July 22, 1932 a postal inspector came to Chapel Hill to arrange furloughs for the post-office clerks under President Hoover's economy plan, which laid government employees off one month a year to cut payrolls by 8 1/3 percent. Postmaster DeWitt Herndon took the same pay cut without a furlough and said the office had never done so little business. The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 22, 1932, p. 1
    15. Robert A. Eubanks takes over as Chapel Hill postmaster Robert A. Eubanks, a Democratic party leader, was named postmaster to succeed DeWitt Herndon and took charge of the office on April 7, resigning his seat on the county board of commissioners. The appointment, announced on April 4, took the village by surprise. The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 7, 1933, p. 1
    16. Chapel Hill post office has its biggest year and qualifies for first-class rank Postal receipts at Chapel Hill reached $50,589.37 in 1935, the most in the office's history and above the 1928 high of $49,993.20, enough to make it a first-class post office from the next July 1. Postmaster Eubanks handled the holiday rush mostly with overtime by his regular staff. People: Robert A. Eubanks The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 3, 1936, p. 1
    17. Robert A. Eubanks receives his regular appointment as Chapel Hill postmaster Eubanks, acting postmaster since April 5, 1933, was given his regular appointment on January 16, 1935. He held the office until he resigned in 1939. Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 366 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, March 1, 1935, p. 3
    18. Schoolchildren of the Junior Garden Club plant a small park behind the Chapel Hill post office In March 1936 children of the Chapel Hill school, organized as the Junior Garden Club, planted 200 shrubs given by W. C. Coker, beds of flowers and bulbs on the lot behind the post office at Henderson Street and Rosemary Lane. The town cleared and graded the ground with WPA labor, Paul Green gave cedar poles for the fence, and the Senior Garden Club and the Movie Guild gave $25 each. People: William Chambers Coker, Paul Green The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 20, 1936, p. 1
    19. The Post Office Department decides to build a new Chapel Hill post office Congressman William B. Umstead telegraphed Postmaster Robert A. Eubanks that the fourth assistant postmaster general had given definite assurance of a new building, after inspectors found the old office too small and damaged by termites. By August the allotment was tentatively set at $155,000, and in September the Treasury's supervising architect, Louis A. Simon, came to Chapel Hill and promised a Colonial design in keeping with the campus. People: William B. Umstead, Robert A. Eubanks The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 26, 1936, p. 1
    20. The Chapel Hill post office begins enrolling workers for Social Security old-age benefits Assistant postmaster W. S. Hogan began giving employers application blanks for their employees, to be returned by December 5 so that each worker could be assigned a government account number before the old-age pension tax of 1 per cent on employer and employee began on January 1, 1937. The post office also handed out a folder explaining the act. People: William S. Hogan The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 27, 1936, p. 1
    21. The Treasury lets the contract for Chapel Hill's new post office The contract for Chapel Hill's new federal post office went to L. B. Gallimore of Greensboro on his bid of $94,500, with digging for the foundations to begin the next Monday. The building was to go up in two halves on the old site at Franklin and Henderson streets so the post office could keep working, and Postmaster Robert A. Eubanks credited Congressman Umstead's efforts. People: Robert A. Eubanks The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 23, 1937, p. 1
    22. Excavation begins for Chapel Hill's new post office Work on the new post office began with a steam shovel digging out the foundations behind the old building, and the big pecan tree that shaded its rear was cut down. The Weekly reported crowds standing at the edge of the hole all day to watch. The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 30, 1937, p. 5
    23. The Chapel Hill post office moves into the rear section of its new building The post office force moved into the first finished part of the new federal building, which served on its own, with a public entrance on Henderson Street, while the old building was torn down and the front built. The whole post office was to be finished in May. People: Robert A. Eubanks, William S. Hogan The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 11, 1938, p. 1
    24. The Chapel Hill post office opens on Franklin Street A new federal post office was built in two stages on the site of the old one at Franklin and Henderson streets, begun in July 1937. Postal workers moved into its rear section early in 1938 while the old building was torn down and the front half built, and the finished post office began full operation on July 5, 1938. The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 7, 1938, p. 1 (P. O. Will Shift to New Building) · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, July 1, 1938, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, June 24, 1938, p. 1
    25. William S. Hogan is appointed Chapel Hill postmaster President Roosevelt appointed Hogan, assistant postmaster, to succeed Robert A. Eubanks on the nomination of Congressman Carl Durham, and the Senate confirmed him. Durham waived an examination because Hogan had served in the office about twenty years. People: Robert A. Eubanks, Carl T. Durham The Chapel Hill Weekly via DigitalNC: Appointment of Hogan Confirmed By U. S. Senate (August 11, 1939)
    26. Robert A. Eubanks, former Chapel Hill postmaster and merchant, dies Robert Allen Eubanks died in the afternoon at about 70. Born at White Cross, he ran a Chapel Hill grocery for about 40 years, then was postmaster from early in the Roosevelt administration until 1939; he had served as a county commissioner, on the town school board and on the board of aldermen, and was a charter member of the Chapel Hill Knights of Pythias lodge. The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 3, 1940, p. 4
    27. Chapel Hill post office begins selling Defense Savings Bonds and Stamps United States Defense Savings Bonds and new Postal Savings Stamps went on sale at the Chapel Hill post office, a $25 bond costing $18.75 and maturing in ten years. The Bank of Chapel Hill also began selling the bonds without commission and by May 9 offered all three series. The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 2, 1941, p. 4
    28. William S. Hogan, Chapel Hill's postmaster for fifteen years, dies Funeral services were held at University Methodist Church for William S. Hogan, who had come up through the Chapel Hill post office from substitute clerk to postmaster and had served as postmaster for the past fifteen years. A native of the Orange Church community, he was a charter member of the Chapel Hill American Legion post and a past president of the Kiwanis Club. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 13, 1954, p. 10
    29. J. Paul Cheek is sworn in as acting postmaster of Chapel Hill J. Paul Cheek, born near White Cross and a postal worker for 31 years, took over the Chapel Hill post office, vacant since postmaster William S. Hogan died May 6 after 15 years; assistant postmaster H. D. Strowd had run it in the meantime. He was the senior Republican on the 35-person staff and was thought likely to win the permanent appointment. People: William S. Hogan The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 19, 1954, p. 1
    30. Student Peace Union marchers protest the Armed Forces Day theme at the Chapel Hill post office Led by chairman Pat Cusick, Student Peace Union members and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom marched silently alongside the Air Force ROTC drill team to the post office to protest the day's theme, Power for Peace. Spectators called out 'Communists', but no incidents occurred. The Daily Tar Heel, May 19, 1963, p. 1
    31. The Holy Week fast began on the Franklin Street post office lawn At sunrise on Palm Sunday, Freedom Committee members John Dunne, Pat Cusick, James Foushee and the Rev. LeVert Taylor began an eight-day, water-only fast on the grounds of the Chapel Hill post office, planned to last through Easter. The fast was aimed at the Board of Aldermen, and a fifth faster joined within two days. People: John Dunne The Daily Tar Heel, March 22, 1964, p. 1
    32. A Klan rally gathers at the post office fast and a UNC student is struck On the fast's seventh day a Ku Klux Klan rally drew onlookers to the Franklin Street post office, where textile worker Milford Cordell Hill of Gold Hill struck UNC senior Louis S. Calhoun Jr. and knocked off his glasses; police officers who saw it swore out complaints. The Daily Tar Heel, April 10, 1964, p. 1
    33. Wednesday vigils against the Vietnam War at the Chapel Hill post office Every Wednesday from January 4, 1967 through 1973, Charlotte Adams and fellow protesters, whom the Duke newsletter places in the Chapel Hill branch of WILPF, stood in silent vigil from noon to 1 p.m. in front of the Chapel Hill post office against U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. The first vigil drew more than 120 students and townspeople and was organized by the Peace and Social Concerns Committee of the Chapel Hill Friends Meeting, the Daily Tar Heel reported. Duke University Libraries, Sallie Bingham Center: Women at the Center newsletter, "WILPF: Thinking Globally, Acting Locally" · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, January 5, 1967, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, October 3, 1969, p. 7; The Daily Tar Heel, November 17, 1971, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, October 9, 1980, p. 11
    34. The Postal Service offers the downtown Chapel Hill post office building for sale, with the town given first option The Postal Service's real estate office announced it would sell the downtown Chapel Hill post office building on a sale-leaseback, keeping 4,800 square feet for a service window, lock boxes and vending machines, and gave the town the first option to buy before any public sale. Its letter expected the building to be listed as a National Historic Place; the town attorney was to draft a proposal for the aldermen's October 30 meeting, with any bid due by November 15. The Daily Tar Heel, October 12, 1978, p. 1
    35. Chapel Hill aldermen move to buy the Franklin Street post office for courts and land for a police station At a special meeting the Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen authorized Town Manager Gene Shipman and Town Attorney Emery Denny to negotiate buying the Franklin Street Post Office from the federal government for a District Court facility, and began proceedings to acquire land on Airport Road for a new police station. On Alderman Robert Epting's motion the board also put off until December 11 a vote on rezoning the University's Mason Farm Road land, the former Baity property. The Daily Tar Heel, November 8, 1978, p. 3
    36. Chapel Hill aldermen offer $250,000 for the Franklin Street post office The aldermen authorized Town Manager Eugene Shipman to offer the U.S. Postal Service $250,000 for the post office building on East Franklin Street to house the district court, which met upstairs in the police building at 100 West Rosemary Street. The Postal Service would keep part of the building on a 25-year lease, and the town was also acquiring land on Airport Road for a new police building. The Daily Tar Heel, March 29, 1979, p. 3
    37. Chapel Hill buys the Franklin Street post office building The Town of Chapel Hill bought the 1937 Franklin Street post office building from the U.S. Postal Service for $250,000 after a postal study scaled back operations there and a town feasibility study found the site good for courts. The purchase was paid from land acquisition and police court bonds passed in 1976. The post office stayed in the eastern part of the building, leasing it rent-free from the town for 25 years, and the town planned to move district court chambers and the district attorney's and sheriff's offices into the rest. The Daily Tar Heel, August 31, 1979, p. 3 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, February 12, 1981, p. 3
    38. Chapel Hill authorizes $4.25 million in bonds to buy the post office for court use The Chapel Hill Town Council authorized the sale of $4.25 million in public improvement bonds that voters had approved in 1976, to pay for recreation projects, street improvements and the purchase and renovation of the Franklin Street post office for court facilities. The bonds were to go on sale October 16. The Daily Tar Heel, October 10, 1979, p. 3
    39. Work begins on a new plaza and front for the Franklin Street post office building Work began on September 7, 1983, on the second phase of remodeling the outside of the Franklin Street post office building, which the town of Chapel Hill owned and which also housed a district courtroom and the Orange County District Attorney's office: a plaza with benches, longer front steps with a wheelchair ramp, a wider center door, a screened place for newspaper racks and a better entrance to the district attorney's office. Architect James Webb drew the plans and Delta Construction Company of Durham did the work; the town had already spent $600,000 renovating the interior. The Daily Tar Heel, September 8, 1983, p. 3
    40. Chapel Hill Town Council commits the Franklin Street post office basement to a teen center Also on September 26, 1983, the Chapel Hill Town Council authorized a commitment to the Downtown Chapel Hill Association for use of the basement of the Franklin Street post office as a proposed teen center. The Daily Tar Heel, September 28, 1983, p. 1
    41. Chapel Hill unveils a post office mural of the 1793 auction of the village lots As part of the town's Bicentennial, Mayor Ken Broun unveiled 'Auctioning the Village Lots' at a noon ceremony in the Franklin Street post office on October 12, 200 years after the sale of town lots on that site raised money for the University trustees. Chapel Hill artist Michael J. Brown, a 1977 UNC graduate, began it on September 1 to match Dean Cornwell's mural of the laying of Old East's cornerstone down the hall, and included Native American, African American and European American figures; three longtime residents paid for it. The Daily Tar Heel, October 13, 1993, p. 2
    42. Bill Thorpe petitions the council to name the post office plaza for local activists Council member Bill Thorpe presented a petition to rename the Franklin Street post office plaza for Charlotte Adams and Joe and Lucy Straley, an idea born at Joe Straley's memorial service. The council chose to hold a public hearing, and its naming committee proposed naming the plaza for an ideal with plaques for local peace and justice activists. People: Joe Straley, Lucy Straley, Charlotte Adams, Diana McDuffee, Joseph A. Herzenberg The Daily Tar Heel, March 29, 2006, p. 3
    43. Chapel Hill names the post office plaza Peace and Justice Plaza The Town Council named the space in front of the Franklin Street post office Peace and Justice Plaza, after a petition to honor Charlotte Adams and Joe and Lucy Straley. Lucy Straley, then 92, told the Daily Tar Heel the plaza had long been the couple's main backdrop for protest. People: Joe Straley, Bill Thorpe, Charlotte Adams The Daily Tar Heel, September 13, 2007, p. 3
    44. Chapel Hill dedicates the Peace and Justice Plaza marker The town unveiled a granite marker at Peace and Justice Plaza, in front of the old post office on Franklin Street, naming nine local activists: Charlotte Adams, Hank Anderson, James Brittian, Joe Herzenberg, Mildred Ringwalt, Hubert Robinson, Joe Straley, Lucy Straley and Gloria Williams. The Town Council had named the plaza in 2006 and set criteria for later honorees. People: James Brittian, Mildred Ringwalt, Hubert Robinson, Joe Straley, Lucy Straley, Gloria Williams, Charlotte Adams, Joseph A. Herzenberg, Sally Greene OrangePolitics: Sally Greene, Peace and protest, justice and injustice: marking Chapel Hill's sacred space (September 19, 2009) · Also: Town of Chapel Hill
    45. Rebecca Clark's name is added to the Peace and Justice Plaza plaque Clark, Yonni Chapman, the Rev. Charles M. Jones and Dan Pollitt were honored after their deaths for their work for civil rights, social justice and equality in Chapel Hill. Their names were added to the plaque at Peace and Justice Plaza, in front of the historic post office on Franklin Street. People: Yonni Chapman, Charles M. Jones, Daniel H. Pollitt UNC Libraries, History on the Hill: Four activists to be honored in Chapel Hill, SHC preserves documentation of their legacy
    46. Bill Thorpe and Dean Smith are to be added to the Peace and Justice Plaza marker The town announced that the names of former Council member Bill Thorpe and UNC basketball coach Dean Smith would be added to the granite marker, which already honored 13 local leaders, at a Peace and Justice Celebration on Sunday, October 11, 2015. People: Dean Smith, Mark Kleinschmidt North Carolina Newspapers: The Carolina Times, October 10, 2015, page 2

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