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Houses, farms, parks and cemeteries

Gimghoul Castle and neighborhood

Gimghoul Castle is the stone castle that the Order of Gimghoul, a student secret society founded in 1889, built in 1925-26 at Piney Prospect east of the UNC campus, where legend placed Dromgoole's fatal duel. The order developed the rest of its 1915 tract as the Gimghoul neighborhood, listed in the National Register as a historic district in 1993.

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 Gimghoul Castle and neighborhood. Each has been reviewed for relevance; materials held at OCPL appear first.

About the site

Dromgoole, twice-murdered: unraveling a Southern legend of duels, disappearance, Seminole Wars, secret societies,mystery, castles, & Flagler's millions

Malone, E. T. · 2017 · Literary Lantern Press

E. T. Malone's biography of Peter Pelham Dromgoole, born 1815, the University of North Carolina student whose disappearance from Chapel Hill in 1833 grew into the legend behind the Order of Gimghoul. The long subtitle promises duels, the Seminole Wars, secret societies, castles and Flagler's millions along the way. Published by Literary Lantern Press in Warrenton in 2017, 276 pages with illustrations and portraits, some in color.

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

NC Cardinal UNC Library of Congress CH Historical Society

Castle of shadows : a fade into darkness

VanDyke, Jesse · 2014 · New Castle Publishing

Fantasy fiction by Jesse VanDyke set at Gimghoul Castle in Chapel Hill. Published in 2014 by New Castle Publishing of Lake Worth, Florida, the book runs 111 pages with illustrations in a small format.

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

UNC

Dromgoole's revenge

Malone, E. T., Jr. · 2010 · Literary Lantern Press

A sixteen page short story by E. T. Malone, Jr., built on the campus legend of Peter Dromgoole, the University of North Carolina student who vanished in the 1830s, and on the Order of Gimghoul, the Chapel Hill secret society bound up with that legend. Literary Lantern Press of Warrenton published it in 2010.

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

UNC

Gimghoul : past and present

1978 · Order of Gimghoul

A short pamphlet on the history of the Order of Gimghoul, the Chapel Hill student society, and its castle, issued by the order in 1978. It includes the legend attached to Peter Pelham Dromgoole, a student born in 1815. Eight unnumbered pages with illustrations.

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

UNC

Gimghoul.

1947

The Order of Gimghoul, the Chapel Hill secret society, presented in an unpaged illustrated volume carrying emblems, portraits of members and historical material about the order. Twenty-six centimeters, of interest for student societies at the University of North Carolina.

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

UNC

The new Gimghoul Castle : report of the Building Committee, 1926

1926 · Orange Printshop

An illustrated report from the Building Committee of the Order of Gimghoul on its new castle in Chapel Hill, printed by the Orange Printshop in 1926 and signed at the end by A.H. Patterson. The Order is a society of University of North Carolina students and alumni. Ten unnumbered pages with illustrations, 25 cm.

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

UNC
Show 6 more works

Gimghoul Castle, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C.

1944 · North Carolina News Company, Durham, N.C

Gimghoul Castle in the northeast part of Chapel Hill on a 1944 North Carolina News Company postcard. The caption notes that the Durham skyline, 12 miles off, can be seen from the site on clear days and nights, and that Waldensian stonemasons built the castle of native stone.

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

DPLA

Gimghoul Castle, U.N.C., Chapel Hill, N.C.

1940 · Graycraft Card Co., Danville, Va

Gimghoul Castle in Chapel Hill on a 1940 natural-finish postcard by the Graycraft Card Co. of Danville, Virginia, number CH-6.

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

DPLA

Gimghoul Castle, U.N.C., Chapel Hill, N.C.

Graycraft Card Co. (Danville, Va.) · 1915 · Danville, Va.: Graycraft Card Co

Gimghoul Castle on Gimghoul Road in Chapel Hill, pictured on a black and white Graycraft Card Co. postcard. First called Hippol Castle, the stone building of the Order of Gimghoul took four to six years to build from the early 1920s. Undated card from the Ellen Payne Odom Genealogy Library Postcard Collection.

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

DPLA

Gimghoul Castle, U. of N.C., Chapel Hill, North Carolina

North Carolina News Company, Durham, N.C

Gimghoul Castle at Point Prospect in Chapel Hill on an undated North Carolina News Company postcard. The caption describes a turreted building of native stone with wide views of the countryside, owned by the Gimghouls, a junior social order at the university.

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

DPLA

Gimghoul Castle: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

Six undated photographs of Gimghoul Castle in Chapel Hill, the stone hall of the Order of Gimghoul, a University of North Carolina secret society. Views include a side with its chimney and ivy, the turret beside a 'Not Open to Public' sign, the tower, and an ivy-covered wall.

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

CH Historical Society

Gimghoul/Piney Prospect (Chapel Hill Historical Society vertical file)

Gimghoul and Piney Prospect, the neighborhood east of the university campus in Chapel Hill, in newspaper clippings, photocopied articles, and reports and notes. Undated folder, Neighborhoods series, Chapel Hill Historical Society Vertical File Collection (CHHS.001).

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

CH Historical Society

Published by or for this site

Directory of membership

Order of Gimghoul (Chapel Hill, N.C.) · 2003 · Order of Gimghoul

A 2003 membership directory of the Order of Gimghoul, the secret society of University of North Carolina students and alumni founded in Chapel Hill in 1889. Published by the order, the booklet also includes its history. 44 pages with illustrations.

Included because: Published by or for this site.

UNC

Directory of the Order of Gimghoul

1993 · Order of Gimghoul, University of North Carolina

The third edition of the membership directory of the Order of Gimghoul, the University of North Carolina secret society, edited by George Watts Carr III and listing living and deceased members up to the spring of 1963 according to its preface, with this printing dated 1993. A pocket-sized 40-page booklet published by the order in Chapel Hill, including a history of the society.

Included because: Published by or for this site.

UNC

Fifty years of the Order of Gimghouls

1939 · Order of Gimghoul

Membership directory marking fifty years of the Order of Gimghoul, the secret society founded at the University of North Carolina in 1889. It is chiefly a roll of members. Published by the Order in Chapel Hill, 1939, 28 pages in a small format.

Included because: Published by or for this site.

UNC

Membership list, Junior Order of Gimghouls : from Sept. 5, 1889 to Nov. 1, 1927

1928

Membership list of the Junior Order of Gimghouls at the University of North Carolina from its founding on September 5, 1889, through November 1, 1927, corrected in January 1928. Fifteen leaves. The Order of Gimghoul is the secret society whose castle stands at the end of Gimghoul Road in Chapel Hill; the list names its alumni members over the first four decades.

Included because: Published by or for this site.

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: Published by or for this site.

UNC

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Gimghoul Castle and neighborhood 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

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
Show 4 more surveys and maps

[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 Gimghoul Castle and neighborhood, 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

    Storyline about this site, with a page of its own:

    1. Students found the Order of Gimghoul after hearing the Dromgoole story Five undergraduates founded a secret society after hearing university president Kemp Battle tell the Dromgoole story. They first called it the Order of Dromgoole and later shortened the name to Gimghoul. People: Kemp Plummer Battle UNC-Chapel Hill: Carolina ghost stories: Gimghoul Castle
    2. President Battle has the trees cleared from Piney Prospect Kemp P. Battle had the trees cut from Piney Prospect, the hill east of Chapel Hill that Davie had praised in 1793 for its view, and seats were set there for visitors. From it the spire of Trinity Church and the factory chimneys of Durham could be plainly seen. The Chapel Hillian, January 12, 1891, p. 3
    3. The Order of Gimghouls builds its first lodge on Rosemary Lane The Gimghouls, a junior-class order at the university, were building their own lodge in the spring of 1898 on a lot at Rosemary Lane and Boundary Street. By late 1899 the order was holding dances in the new lodge. The Tar Heel, April 13, 1898, p. 3 · Also: The Tar Heel, November 29, 1899, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, November 20, 1924, p. 7
    4. The Order of Gimghouls buys a 95-acre tract east of campus The land took in the Prospect Point overlook prized by 1880s member Edward Wray Martin, who had dreamed of a stone castle there. The order traded about a third of it to the university, sold 35 acres, kept a wooded site for the castle and developed the rest as the Glandon subdivision, now the Gimghoul neighborhood. A 1986 Daily Tar Heel feature, drawing on the order's 1926 building committee report, told it differently: when the 94-acre tract went up for sale in 1915 the members could not raise the $4,500 price, had only $1,500 by 1918, and settled the division of the land with the university trustees in 1922. NC Digital Collections: Chapel Hill Historic Sites Survey: Final Report (1992), p. 71 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, August 28, 1986, p. 13
    5. Anatomy professor Wesley George builds a Colonial Revival cottage in Gimghoul George Watts Carr of Durham designed Wesley George's small front-gabled, shingled house with an entrance portico at 208 Glandon Drive, a sign of the Colonial Revival taking over the Gimghoul neighborhood after its first Craftsman houses. People: W. C. George (Wesley Critz George), George Watts Carr Sr. NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 63
    6. The Order of Gimghouls plats its Chapel Hill subdivision with racial deed restrictions The Junior Order of Gimghouls subdivided its land east of campus into house lots, with a plat recorded in Orange County Plat Book 1, page 51. The original deed covenants carried the racial restrictions standard for the period, along with setbacks and a requirement that the order review house plans. People: Thomas Felix Hickerson Living Places: Gimghoul Neighborhood Historic District (adapted from the 1993 National Register nomination by M. Ruth Little)
    7. University trustees approve the land exchange with the Order of Gimghouls The trustees approved a swap under which the Gimghouls gave the University 35 acres next to Battle's Park and received about seven acres to straighten their lines. The order planned to sell 42 house lots along the Raleigh road beyond the cemetery and to keep Piney Prospect for a stone lodge. People: Thomas Felix Hickerson The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 21, 1923, p. 1
    8. John M. Booker's colony and the Gimghoul colony require approval of house designs In selling lots on the old Battle place, John M. Booker wrote into his deeds that house exteriors be approved by a consulting architect, A. C. Nash, and the Gimghoul colony's deeds required plans approved by a local committee. Both also set building lines back from the street; the Weekly urged a town building law. People: John M. Booker, Arthur Cleveland Nash The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 18, 1923, p. 4
    9. Commerce dean Dudley D. Carroll and Eleanor Carroll build a house on Ridge Lane in Gimghoul Dudley DeWitt Carroll, dean of UNC's commerce school, and his wife Eleanor Elliott Carroll had a Chatham County contractor named Barber build a two-story Colonial Revival house with a garage on Ridge Lane, among the first houses in the new Gimghoul subdivision. National Register: Gimghoul Neighborhood Historic District nomination (OR0709, 1993), section 7
    10. Daniel L. Grant, UNC's first alumni secretary, builds a house on Glandon Drive Daniel L. Grant, the first secretary of the UNC Alumni Association, builds a two-story Colonial Revival house in the new Gimghoul subdivision, one of the five houses finished there in 1924. People: Daniel Lindsey Grant National Register: Gimghoul Neighborhood Historic District nomination (OR0709, 1993), section 7 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, September 25, 1936, p. 5
    11. University architect Thomas C. Atwood builds a duplex on Ridge Lane for his firm's workers Thomas C. Atwood, supervising architect for the 1920s campus building program, built a one-story frame duplex in the Gimghoul subdivision to house employees of Atwood and Nash. It stayed a duplex until the 1970s, when it became a single-family house. People: Thomas C. Atwood National Register: Gimghoul Neighborhood Historic District nomination (OR0709, 1993), section 7 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, July 31, 1924, p. 1
    12. W. E. Atkins of the Atwood and Nash firm builds a Craftsman cottage on Gimghoul Road W. E. Atkins, who worked for the university architects Atwood and Nash, has a Chatham County contractor named Barber build a one-and-a-half-story Craftsman cottage, said to be the first house on Gimghoul Road. He soon sold it to economics professor Earl Peacock. National Register: Gimghoul Neighborhood Historic District nomination (OR0709, 1993), section 7
    Show all 31 dated events
    1. The Gimghouls vote to build a lodge at Dromgoole Rock Meeting at luncheon, members and alumni of the Order of Gimghouls agreed unanimously to build a lodge on the crest at Dromgoole Rock near Piney Prospect, paid for with money from their lot sales, and named T. F. Hickerson, A. H. Patterson and W. S. Bernard to carry it through. The Weekly put the likely cost at $35,000 to $45,000 and described plans for a stone and shingle building with a round ballroom, with at least 25 acres kept as the order's park. People: Thomas Felix Hickerson, Andrew Henry Patterson, William Stanly Bernard The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 13, 1924, p. 1
    2. Engineering professor Ralph Trimble and his wife Hazel move into their new Gimghoul house Ralph M. Trimble, the UNC engineering professor who surveyed the lots of the Gimghoul subdivision, and his wife Hazel move into one of its first houses, built by contractor Charlie Martindale on Glandon Drive. People: Charlie Lee Martindale, Ralph M. Trimble The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 18, 1924, p. 4 · Also: National Register: Gimghoul Neighborhood Historic District nomination (OR0709, 1993)
    3. The Gimghouls sell their old lodge lot on Rosemary Lane W. S. Roberson bought the Gimghouls' lot at Rosemary Lane and Boundary Street, with the old lodge to stand until the order finished its new building at Piney Prospect; the Weekly later put the price at about $5,000. In the event the order tore the old lodge down in late April 1925, carrying its sound timbers out to Piney Prospect, and the lot was split in two. John W. Lasley bought the corner piece, 82 feet on Boundary Street by 132 feet along Rosemary, and his family had moved into a new house there by September 1926. People: W. S. Roberson The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 20, 1924, p. 7 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, July 30, 1926, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, September 10, 1926, p. 4; Chapel Hill Weekly, April 30, 1925, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, May 28, 1925, p. 1
    4. Charles Martindale builds a bungalow in the Gimghoul colony for attorney L. J. Phipps Contractor Charles Martindale nears completion of a Craftsman bungalow in the Gimghoul colony for Chapel Hill attorney L. J. Phipps and his wife Vivian. Its floor-length windows and front terrace are noted in later surveys. People: Charlie Lee Martindale, Luther James Phipps The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 28, 1925, p. 3 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, August 14, 1925, p. 1; National Register: Gimghoul Neighborhood Historic District nomination (OR0709, 1993)
    5. The Order of Gimghouls begins building its castle Work on the Gimghouls' castle off the end of Gimghoul Road began in 1925: some 1,300 tons of stone were hauled to the site, stonemasons came from the Waldensian settlement at Valdese, and Chapel Hill builder Charlie Lee Martindale was general contractor. The order held its first gathering there in May 1926. People: Charlie Lee Martindale NC Digital Collections: Chapel Hill Historic Sites Survey: Final Report (1992), p. 72 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, April 9, 1925, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, September 25, 1925, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, August 28, 1986, p. 13
    6. The Gimghouls tear down their old lodge at Rosemary and Boundary streets The Order of Gimghoul tore down the lodge that had stood for 27 years at Rosemary and Boundary streets, carrying sound timbers out to Piney Prospect for its new castle; the corner lot went to John W. Lasley. The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 30, 1925, p. 1
    7. The Order of Gimghoul completes its castle at Piney Prospect The Order of Gimghoul completed a gothic castle at Piney Prospect, the spot where legend placed Dromgoole's fatal duel and burial. NCpedia: Dromgoole, Peter Pelham · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, May 21, 1926, p. 3; Chapel Hill Weekly, November 12, 1926, p. 3; The Daily Tar Heel, August 28, 1986, p. 13
    8. The Gimghouls build a stone seat at Piney Prospect in memory of Kemp P. Battle By May 1926 the Order of Gimghoul had built a massive semicircular stone seat at Piney Prospect, the hilltop where William R. Davie admired the view while seeking a site for the University, as a memorial to Kemp P. Battle, who liked to walk there. The Waldensian stonemasons who had just finished the Gimghouls' castle nearby walled it with rough stones from the hillside, and a bronze tablet was to be set above the seat. People: Kemp Plummer Battle The Chapel Hill Weekly, May 21, 1926, p. 1
    9. Professor Ernest R. Groves buys the Marshall house in the Gimghoul colony Ernest R. Groves, newly come to UNC's school of public welfare, buys the Marshall house in the Gimghoul colony. He and his wife Gladys Groves, both writers on marriage and the family, lived there into the 1930s and added a small stone library. The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 30, 1927, p. 1 · Also: National Register: Gimghoul Neighborhood Historic District nomination (OR0709, 1993); Chapel Hill Weekly, December 4, 1936, p. 5
    10. The Gimghouls fit their castle with iron grills and chain its boulder pyramids After repeated break-ins, apparently by students who climbed the rough stone walls and entered through the tower door, the Order of Gimghoul had Germino, a Durham metal worker, fit about three dozen wrought-iron grills over the castle windows and transoms and added heavy doors and bolts, under the direction of T. Felix Hickerson. The boulders of the four pyramids by the drive, which had been rolled down the slope at night, were chained together with iron stakes set in lead. The society's assembly room in the tower was also fitted out with hand-hewn pegged oak furniture as a memorial to the late Drew Patterson. People: Thomas Felix Hickerson The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 20, 1931, p. 1
    11. A Cape Cod house is built at 698 Gimghoul Road The story-and-a-half house with gabled dormers and a stone end chimney, dated to about 1939, sits at the head of the south side of Gimghoul Road. NC Digital Collections: Chapel Hill Historic Sites Survey: Final Report (1992), p. 62
    12. Architect William Van Sprinkle designs a brick house on Gimghoul Road for Benjamin Edkins The two-story brick Colonial Revival house with a one-story side wing at 739 Gimghoul Road was built for salesman Benjamin Edkins and his wife to a design by Durham architect William Van Sprinkle. People: William Van Sprinkle NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 63
    13. The Order of Gimghouls marks its fiftieth anniversary at Hippol Castle Old and current members of the Order of Gimghouls gathered at Hippol Castle on November 30 and December 1, 1939, for the fiftieth anniversary of the society founded in 1889 by Edward Wray Martin, Andrew H. Patterson, Robert Worth Bingham, John Sprunt Hill and six others. Among their business was whether to hire a full-time caretaker after repeated break-ins and damage at the castle that fall. People: John Sprunt Hill The Chapel Hill Weekly, December 1, 1939, p. 1
    14. Gimghoul Road residents petition the aldermen over speeding and night use of the Gimghoul grounds Residents of Gimghoul Road asked the aldermen for a 25-mile speed limit, a sign and police patrol, and asked that the Order of Gimghouls be told to close its property at the end of the road to night traffic because of what they called immoral conditions there. The aldermen referred the petition to T. F. Hickerson, who managed the property, suggesting a chain across the entrance each evening, and he promised to cooperate. People: Thomas Felix Hickerson The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 5, 1940, p. 1
    15. Chapel Hill aldermen move Gimghoul Road parking to the north side An ordinance passed August 16 moved parking on Gimghoul Road from the south side to the north side at the request of longtime south-side residents, and on September 4 the aldermen let it stand despite complaints from ticketed student commuters. The Daily Tar Heel, September 6, 1972, p. 2
    16. The Trimble house, one of the first in the Gimghoul subdivision, is torn down The 1924 house built for Ralph and Hazel Trimble on Glandon Drive, one of the first in the Gimghoul subdivision, is demolished, leaving a vacant lot. People: Ralph M. Trimble National Register: Gimghoul Neighborhood Historic District nomination (OR0709, 1993), section 7
    17. The Gimghoul neighborhood joins the Study List The National Register Advisory Committee placed the Gimghoul neighborhood in Chapel Hill as a historic district on North Carolina's Study List, its list of properties likely to qualify for the National Register. NC State Historic Preservation Office: National Register Advisory Committee agendas, minutes and approved lists, p. 404
    18. The Gimghoul Neighborhood Historic District is listed in the National Register On August 5, 1993 the National Park Service listed the Gimghoul Neighborhood Historic District in Chapel Hill in the National Register of Historic Places. NC State Historic Preservation Office: North Carolina Listings in the National Register of Historic Places, Orange County · Also: National Register: Gimghoul Neighborhood Historic District nomination (OR0709, 1993); The Daily Tar Heel, November 15, 1993, p. 3
    19. Chapel Hill makes the Gimghoul neighborhood its third local historic district The Chapel Hill Town Council voted unanimously on November 22 to make the Gimghoul neighborhood a local historic district, the town's third after the McCauley-Cameron neighborhood and the Franklin Street area east of the campus. The Gimghoul Homeowners Association had sought the designation since January, and owners would now face closer review of changes to their houses. People: Cal Horton The Daily Tar Heel, November 30, 1993, p. 3

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    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