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Sewage disposal plant and incinerator (Chapel Hill)

In Chapel Hill. 4 dated events, 1930–1941.

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

In the chronology

  1. Chapel Hill votes $35,000 in bonds to enlarge its sewage disposal plant In August 1930 the aldermen authorized enlarging the sewage disposal plant in Strowd's low grounds, at up to $35,000 shared equally by the town and the University, on H. G. Baity's recommendation of a digester, a larger sludge bed, a sedimentation plant and chlorination. On August 13 they unanimously rejected damage claims of $12,500 and $5,000 from two neighbors on the Durham road who complained of odors and flies; Jack Sparrow later dropped his claim. People: Herman G. Baity The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 15, 1930, p. 1
  2. Chapel Hill lets the contract for a town incinerator At a special meeting the aldermen gave the Nye Odorless Incinerator Company of Macon, Georgia, a $17,700 contract for a garbage and trash incinerator beside the sewage disposal plant in Strowd's Lowgrounds, about a mile east of the village. It was one part of a public works project for which the town had a $21,000 PWA grant from October 1936, with the west-end sewer and street surfacing; laborers began digging its foundations in late March. People: Arthur R. Hollett The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 5, 1937, p. 1
  3. Chapel Hill's new PWA-aided incinerator goes into operation The town's new garbage and trash incinerator, built beside the sewage disposal plant in Strowd's Lowgrounds east of the village by the Nye Odorless Incinerator Company for $17,700, passed its final inspection by PWA engineers and town officials and began burning the daily truckloads. The federal government paid nearly half the cost, the University supplied much of the refuse, and the town stopped using its old dump off the Hillsboro road. People: John Caldwell, John L. Caldwell, Arthur R. Hollett The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 25, 1937, p. 1
  4. Chapel Hill begins enlarging its sewage disposal plant on Bolin Creek Forty to fifty men were at work extending the town sewage disposal plant in the Bolin Creek valley east of town, a project of about $45,000 paid partly by a W.P.A. grant and partly by the town and the University. The main new structure was a trickling filter 125 feet across which, with a secondary clarifier, was to treat the outflow before it reached the creek; completion was expected in the fall. The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 21, 1941, p. 1

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Indexed works

The index has no works about Sewage disposal plant and incinerator itself yet. The surveys and maps below cover where it stands. Search the index for Sewage disposal plant and incinerator, or tell us about a book or record we have missed.

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Sewage disposal plant and incinerator 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.

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
Show 1 more surveys and maps

Map of African-American Neighborhoods in 1944, Chapel Hill

1944

An appendix map from 1944 marking Chapel Hill's African American neighborhoods: Potters Field, Sunset, Tintop, Knolls and South West Lane. A proposed park north of town, possibly Umstead Park, is also shown.

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

DigitalNC DPLA

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

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    Where to look on the shelf

    These books don’t necessarily mention Sewage disposal plant and incinerator, 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.

    Research sources

    Sources cited in this site’s history, National Register documents, and places to get research help. Research guide: Investigate a school or community institution.

    Historic sites, markers, and maps

    Records of the time 5

    Collections and databases

    Local help 6

    Nearby

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    Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026