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University buildings and grounds

Horace Williams Airport

Horace Williams Airport began in 1928 as Martindale Field, the airfield Charlie Lee Martindale laid out north of Chapel Hill on land bought from philosophy professor Horace Williams. The university bought it in 1940 and named it for Williams, and it trained Navy pre-flight cadets during World War II before UNC closed it on May 15, 2018.

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 Horace Williams Airport. Each has been reviewed for relevance; materials held at OCPL appear first.

About the site

Clipped Wings: The Story of Horace Williams Airport

Schwartz, Daniel · 2026

Daniel Schwartz's Clipped Wings: The Story of Horace Williams Airport, on the university airfield in Chapel Hill. Listed with a 2026 date.

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

Horace Wiliams Airport: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

1989

Aerial view of Horace Williams Airport in Chapel Hill, taken in 1989. One print from the Infrastructure series 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.

CH Historical Society

Horace Williams Airport owned and operated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill : operating policies and procedures.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · 1975

Operating policies and procedures for Horace Williams Airport in Chapel Hill, owned and run by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This revision, dated October 1, 1975, sets out rules for use of the airport.

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

UNC

UNC Flying School, Horace Williams Airport, Chapel Hill, N.C.

1942

A 1942 typescript summary of the flight training the University of North Carolina offered at Horace Williams Airport in Chapel Hill, written for readers interested in the university's aviation facilities. Subjects include the training of military air pilots at Chapel Hill. In UNC's North Carolina Collection.

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

UNC

Airport (Chapel Hill Historical Society vertical file)

A map and notes on the Chapel Hill airport, from the town government files in box 13 of the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Vertical File Collection. Undated.

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

CH Historical Society

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Horace Williams Airport 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.

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

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 Horace Williams Airport, 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.

    In the chronology

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

    1. Contractor Charlie Lee Martindale opens an airfield north of Chapel Hill Martindale bought a 50-acre plot from philosophy professor Horace Williams and laid out an airfield he called Martindale Field. He leased it to George A. Noah and Yawger Pickall, who flew passengers from it and by December 1928 ran it as the North State Aircraft Company. By 1931 it was known as the Chapel Hill airport. People: Henry Horace Williams UNC-Chapel Hill (University Gazette, May 22, 2018): Cleared for landing · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, June 8, 1928, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, July 27, 1928, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, December 7, 1928, p. 1
    2. The Commerce Department puts Martindale's Chapel Hill airport on its air maps C. L. Martindale, owner and manager, reported that the Department of Commerce had placed the independently owned Chapel Hill airport, two miles north of town, on its official air maps. The field measured 2,200 by 2,500 feet, and its hangar held three small planes. The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 14, 1931, p. 1
    3. The first air mail leaves Chapel Hill by plane Mayor Foushee, Postmaster Robert A. Eubanks, Assistant Postmaster William S. Hogan and other residents went to the airport to see off the first mail to leave Chapel Hill by plane. People: Robert A. Eubanks The Chapel Hill Weekly via DigitalNC: First Despatch of Air Mail from Chapel Hill (October 15, 1937)
    4. UNC purchases Chapel Hill's airfield In 1940 the university bought the Chapel Hill airport that Charlie Martindale had opened in 1928 on land bought from Professor Horace Williams. By August the trustees had set aside $15,000 for land, the university had agreed terms with Martindale and neighbor Fred Sparrow, Williams had given over 200 acres, and the field was to bear his name. People: Henry Horace Williams The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 9, 1940, p. 1 (Horace Williams Airport; Clearing Starts at Airport)
    5. Horace Williams gives UNC more than 200 acres for an airport that will bear his name Professor emeritus Horace Williams gave the University more than 200 acres, the largest tract in the mile-square flight training field being put together around the old Chapel Hill airport, and the Weekly reported the field would be named for him. By August 9 trees were being cleared and Duke Power had agreed to move a line along the field's eastern edge. The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 9, 1940, p. 1
    6. UNC receives the Horace Williams tract by bequest The core of what became the Carolina North tract, north of Estes Drive and west of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, came to the university as a bequest from Professor Horace Williams, who died in late December 1940. His will, filed for probate at Hillsborough in the first days of January 1941, left the University his entire property, nearly all of it real estate including about 1,000 acres of farm land, with the income to go to fellowships; the land for the airport named for him, about 400 acres by his executor's count, had already been given in his lifetime. The university later bought adjoining land, and parts of the site were used as an airport, landfill, town operations center and animal shelter. People: Henry Horace Williams UNC Board of Trustees: Development Agreement between UNC-Chapel Hill and the Town of Chapel Hill (Carolina North), June 2009 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, January 3, 1941, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, January 3, 1941, p. 3; Chapel Hill Weekly, December 20, 1940, p. 1
    7. WPA workers begin building the University airport on the Horace Williams land With President Roosevelt's approval of a project costing about $200,000, WPA workers began grading the University's new airport, named for Horace Williams, who had given much of the land. Business manager Maurice Hill said it would have three runways, two over 4,000 feet, and would be finished by September. The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 10, 1941, p. 1
    8. Fire destroys the University airport hangar and seven training planes A short circuit in an extension cord ignited a gas tank while a plane was being repaired, and fire swept the hangar at the Horace Williams airport, destroying seven of the University's pilot-training planes and burning a mechanic's assistant's hands. University officials arranged replacements by telephone, and instructors flew five new Piper Cubs from Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, two days later. People: W. Robert (William Robert) Mann, William D. Carmichael Jr. The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 17, 1941, p. 1
    9. The WPA approves money to finish the University's airport University officials announced that the WPA had approved $130,000 to complete the University's 600-acre airport, where work had slowed for lack of funds; rough grading was to be done by December 1 and three runways of 4,000 to 4,500 feet by spring, with more than 200 men on the job. Work resumed in early August with a steam shovel and trucks, and Bermuda grass cuttings were planted on the runways. People: W. Robert (William Robert) Mann, Arthur R. Hollett The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 1, 1941, p. 1
    10. University and Duke students begin joint civilian pilot training at Horace Williams Airport The fall Civil Aeronautics Authority class at the Horace Williams Airport opened with 30 University and 10 Duke students, the start of a Carolina-Duke cooperative program to be run at the field from then on. Three earlier classes had been licensed there since the University began its flight program a year before, and by early November 24 of the 30 University students had flown solo. People: W. Robert (William Robert) Mann The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 24, 1941, p. 4
    11. WPA crews finish the rough grading of the enlarged Horace Williams Airport Under a second WPA project, backed by a $275,000 appropriation made the winter before, crews leveled the University's Horace Williams Airport and finished the heavy grading by mid-October, leaving 175 acres of runways to be planted in Bermuda grass. The paper said the finished field, with one runway 5,000 feet long and two of 4,000 to 4,500 feet, would be larger than any other civilian airport in North Carolina; a small frame house was moved near the hangar for the airport's headquarters. People: W. Robert (William Robert) Mann, Arthur R. Hollett The Chapel Hill Weekly, October 17, 1941, p. 1
    12. Army transport planes from Fort Bragg train at the Chapel Hill airport Major H. B. Harris came from Fort Bragg to answer complaints about big military transport planes flying low over the village, explaining that they were part of exercises run by the Air-Borne Headquarters at Fort Bragg at and around the Chapel Hill airport. He said the flights would continue and probably increase. The Chapel Hill Weekly, June 19, 1942, p. 1
    Show all 53 dated events
    1. Paratroopers from Fort Bragg drop on the Horace Williams airport Six planes dropped 120 paratroopers from Fort Bragg on the Horace Williams airport in a training maneuver watched by hundreds in the village. Judge Whitfield adjourned the recorder's court in the Town Hall so that all present could watch from its north windows. People: Henry A. Whitfield The Chapel Hill Weekly, March 12, 1943, p. 1
    2. Pre-Flight cadets put out a forest fire near Horace Williams Airport A forest and brush fire spread over about a square mile and a half near the Chapel Hill airport on the evening of April 5, 1943, threatening university property where equipment was stored, two farmhouses and perhaps the hangars. Commander Graff called out the duty battalion, the 18th, and cadets with shovels, rakes and axes under Lt. (jg) Warren H. Chivers had it under control within two hours. Capt. W. S. Popham, the senior officer present, commended them. People: John P. Graff Cloudbuster (Navy Pre-Flight School, Chapel Hill), April 10, 1943, p. 1
    3. Pre-Flight and Duke football teams fly from Chapel Hill to a game by glider The Pre-Flight "B" football team and Duke's junior varsity flew from the Horace Williams Airport to Camp Mackall in three C-47 transports, each towing a CG-4A glider, and were said to be the first football teams ever carried to a game by glider. The 75-mile trip took 45 minutes; Duke won the game 7 to 6. Cloudbuster (Navy Pre-Flight School, Chapel Hill), October 16, 1943, p. 3
    4. A Marine fighter plane crashes in a cornfield near the Chapel Hill airport A Marine Hellcat fighter from Cherry Point crashed in a cornfield about half a mile north of the Chapel Hill airport. The pilot, a Marine major, was critically hurt and died of his injuries in the Pre-Flight School's Naval Dispensary four days later. Cloudbuster (Navy Pre-Flight School, Chapel Hill), August 12, 1944, p. 1
    5. Chapel Hill high schoolers organize a Civil Air Patrol cadet unit Chapel Hill high school students recruited in an October 1944 Civil Air Patrol drive organized a cadet unit at Gerrard Hall, naming provisional flight and section leaders and meeting weekly for training films and courses in drill, theory of flight, meteorology and navigation. About thirty-five cadets took their first flights at the Chapel Hill airport in an Army liaison plane on November 19. Chapel Hill High School student newspaper, October 26, 1944, p. 1
    6. Southeast Air Lines makes its first scheduled stop at the Chapel Hill airport A five-passenger twin-engine plane of Southeast Air Lines made its inaugural stop at the Chapel Hill airport, opening service that was to call there seven days a week. City Manager T. E. Hinson acted as the town's contact for the flights. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 16, 1946, p. 8
    7. Citizens for Airport Planning organize against paving Horace Williams Airport Townspeople and University faculty calling themselves Citizens for Airport Planning mailed every faculty member a four-page letter opposing the University's plan, backed by a $117,400 Federal Aviation Administration grant, to pave and light the 3,800-foot dirt runway at Horace Williams Airport, arguing that it would lead to jets, noise near the public schools and the loss of the town's quiet, and asking for money for legal costs. The Daily Tar Heel, September 26, 1968, p. 1
    8. Chancellor Sitterson keeps Horace Williams Airport open but declines federal paving aid Chancellor J. Carlyle Sitterson told the faculty that the University would keep Horace Williams Airport in use for the town and the state but would not seek the Federal Aviation Agency's $117,000 share of a $234,000 improvement, because it could not find the matching money by April 1, 1969, and would not accept FAA conditions such as running the field for 20 years and controlling land use under the glide paths. The paper reported about 50 private and two University planes based there. People: J. Carlyle Sitterson The Daily Tar Heel, November 5, 1968, p. 1
    9. The Faculty Council recommends closing Horace Williams Airport to outside users and jets The same Faculty Council meeting passed proposed trustee regulations for Horace Williams Airport that would end all non-University use and bar jets, aircraft louder than 100 decibels and planes over 12,500 pounds, limits Mayor Howard Lee and nearby residents had sought. People: Howard N. Lee The Daily Tar Heel, October 3, 1970, p. 1
    10. The University opens bids to pave a runway at Horace Williams Airport The University opened bids for paving a 3,500-foot runway at Horace Williams Airport; William Muirhead Construction Company of Durham was low at $189,200 and Campbell Electric of Raleigh low for the runway lights at $4,927, and the bids ran over the money set aside. The trustees had approved the paving the previous spring, chiefly for the N.C. Medical Foundation's planes, over objections from neighbors and Citizens for Airport Planning. The Daily Tar Heel, December 3, 1970, p. 1
    11. The Faculty Council votes to limit Horace Williams Airport to University use The Faculty Council passed a resolution asking that Horace Williams Airport be restricted to legitimate University purposes, to keep it from becoming a general aviation field for small planes from the Raleigh-Durham Airport. The limits would confine the field to aircraft operated by the University, restrict the types of planes, and govern traffic patterns, hours of operation and sales at the airport; the resolution went to the Board of Trustees for approval. The Daily Tar Heel, October 9, 1971, p. 1
    12. Chapel Hill aldermen agree to appoint a committee to study the Horace Williams Airport After a Lake Forest resident told the Board of Aldermen that University airport traffic was constant and endangered children at Estes Hills and Phillips schools, the board agreed to appoint a committee to study the facility. Mayor Howard Lee said he backed the medical flight program but was concerned about commercial use on football weekends. About 50 planes were based at the University field, 37 of them privately owned. People: Howard N. Lee The Daily Tar Heel, November 20, 1974, p. 1
    13. Chapel Hill leases 34 acres at Horace Williams Airport from UNC for a bus garage Mayor Howard Lee and University officials announced that the town would lease 34 acres in the northeast corner of the University's airport property, by Glen Heights and N.C. 86, for $1 a year for 30 years as the site of a bus garage and public works building. Lee called it a highlight of his term; the town had been ready to pay up to $250,000 for a smaller site, and the Plant Road tract planned for the garage could become recreation land. People: Howard N. Lee, N. Ferebee Taylor The Daily Tar Heel, August 25, 1975, p. 10
    14. Orange County Planning Board recommends studying a reliever airport site With Horace Williams Airport full and the University unwilling to expand it, the Orange County Planning Board recommended that the county commissioners study with the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority a general aviation airport site south of Hillsborough, north of Chapel Hill and west of N.C. 86. The University said it would probably close Horace Williams if a new airport were built near enough. The Daily Tar Heel, September 25, 1979, p. 2
    15. Coker Hills residents petition the Town Council to close Horace Williams Airport At a Town Council public hearing on a University zoning amendment that would let it build a hangar at Horace Williams Airport for Area Health Education Centers aircraft and end flight training there, Coker Hills West residents presented a petition with 466 signatures asking that the airport be closed. School board chairman Phyllis Sockwell asked the council to phase the airport out by 1990 because of the schools under its approach path; the council took no action and sent the proposal to the Planning Board. People: Joe Straley The Daily Tar Heel, October 1, 1980, p. 1
    16. The Chapel Hill Town Council lets UNC build a hangar at Horace Williams Airport Before about 100 onlookers, many of them airport neighbors, the Chapel Hill Town Council voted 5-4 on November 10, 1980, to amend the zoning ordinance so the University could build a hangar for the five planes of its Area Health Education Center at Horace Williams Airport, after defeating a stricter amendment, agreed by the Planning Board and the University, that would have ended flight training. The council also pledged to work with the University, the state and private parties for a replacement airport within 15 miles of town. People: Joe Straley The Daily Tar Heel, November 11, 1980, p. 1
    17. Seven die when a plane crashes north of Horace Williams Airport A twin-engine Cessna 340 registered in Miami crashed into a pine grove on a Homestead Road farm, more than a mile north of the University-owned Horace Williams Airport, shortly after 7 p.m. in light rain and fog, killing all seven aboard: four men, two women and a boy. Raleigh-Durham controllers had been guiding the pilot toward an instrument landing at the airport, which had no tower, when radio contact was lost. The Daily Tar Heel, February 9, 1981, p. 1
    18. Town Council approves Coker Hills West, a subdivision near the Horace Williams runway The Town Council voted 6-2 to approve a preliminary sketch for Coker Hills West, a subdivision lying partly inside the flight hazard zone of Horace Williams Airport, after Town Manager Gene Shipman reported that it met town standards except for that location. Council members Joe Straley and R.D. Smith voted no, Smith saying approval did not protect people's health and safety. People: Joe Straley, R. D. Smith The Daily Tar Heel, February 25, 1981, p. 3
    19. UNC offers to phase out Horace Williams Airport if a new airport is built by 1989 Mayor Joe Nassif made public a letter from Chancellor Christopher Fordham saying the University and its trustees would end all non-University use of Horace Williams Airport if comparable facilities were built near Chapel Hill, and would close it entirely if the new airport had room for UNC's air-medical program, provided it was ready by July 1, 1989. Fordham wrote that it was not UNC's responsibility to pay for a new airport; neighbors had pressed to close the field in a heavily residential area. People: Christopher C. Fordham III The Daily Tar Heel, April 23, 1981, p. 1
    20. A small plane crashes on takeoff at Horace Williams Airport A four-seat Piper Tri-Pacer crashed beside the runway at the University-owned Horace Williams Airport about 7:25 p.m., trapping its four occupants for more than half an hour; one, a part-time UNC faculty member, died two days later at N.C. Memorial Hospital. The Federal Aviation Administration investigated. The Daily Tar Heel, June 11, 1981, p. 1
    21. Chapel Hill Town Council urges the county to find a site to replace Horace Williams Airport Three days after a fatal crash at the airport, the Town Council voted to encourage the Orange County commissioners in their search for a site to replace the University's Horace Williams Airport, long opposed by neighbors and relied on by the University for medical flights. The Daily Tar Heel, June 11, 1981, p. 3
    22. A small plane crashes in the woods behind Seawell Elementary near Horace Williams Airport A single-engine plane trying to make an emergency landing at Horace Williams Airport crashed in woods behind Elizabeth Seawell Elementary School about 10 p.m. on October 30, 1981, seriously injuring its pilot, after a two-hour search by rescue squads, police and firemen. It was the third crash near the airport since February, two of them fatal, and the Citizens for Airport Planning renewed its call to close the University's airport near two schools. The Daily Tar Heel, November 2, 1981, p. 1
    23. County commissioners hear the Midway Airport plan and UNC's pledge to close Horace Williams Airport On July 8, 1982, the Orange County commissioners heard a scaled-down plan from the Buck Mountain Development Group for Midway Airport, a private general aviation airport with hangars for 276 planes on 232 acres in Bingham Township nine miles west of Carrboro, which the planning board had recommended denying in April. UNC planning director Gordon Rutherford read Chancellor Christopher Fordham's letter promising to close Horace Williams Airport if an acceptable airport were provided near Chapel Hill; Bingham residents opposed the plan and the Chapel Hill Coalition for Airport Planning backed it. People: Christopher C. Fordham III The Daily Tar Heel, July 15, 1982, p. 1
    24. UNC Board of Governors approves resurfacing Horace Williams Airport's runway The Board of Governors approved a capital improvements project to resurface the whole runway at Horace Williams Airport and repaint its markings, at an estimated $324,600, with $200,000 from the General Administration and $124,600 from University trust funds. The same meeting proposed a bill to limit N.C. Memorial Hospital trustees to three terms and rename the hospital. The Daily Tar Heel, February 13, 1989, p. 2
    25. UNC caps use of Horace Williams Airport but keeps its runway extension At a meeting of the town-gown Coordination and Consultation Committee, University officials presented a position paper dropping a planned high-performance fuel tank and holding tie-downs at the current 50, while going ahead with a 500-foot runway extension to 4,000 feet, which Chancellor Paul Hardin said would let planes pass higher over homes. Citizens for Airport Planning, a residents' group that included council member Julie Andresen, said the longer runway would draw more outside planes over neighborhoods and three schools. The Daily Tar Heel, August 29, 1989, p. 8
    26. A single-engine plane crashes fatally near Horace Williams Airport A single-engine plane flown by a Smithfield man crashed near Horace Williams Airport, and the paper said calls to move the airport grew louder afterward. The Daily Tar Heel, August 29, 1989, p. 8
    27. Chapel Hill Town Council asks Chancellor Hardin to talk about limits on Horace Williams Airport The council voted unanimously to send Mayor Jonathan Howes, Town Manager David Taylor and members Julie Andresen and David Pasquini to meet Chancellor Paul Hardin about limits urged by Citizens for Airport Planning: University and Area Health Education Center medical planes only, higher fees for planes based there, no night landings and a privately run airport. The paper noted the town had never taken an official stand on the airport, that calls to move it grew after a fatal crash near the field on August 11, and that a public hearing on the runway extension was set for September 12. People: Jonathan Howes The Daily Tar Heel, August 29, 1989, p. 8
    28. About 350 residents debate the Horace Williams Airport runway extension at a council hearing About 350 people came to a Chapel Hill Town Council public hearing at Guy B. Phillips Junior High School on the University's plan to add 500 feet to the Horace Williams Airport runway; the town manager reported that the University did not need town approval. Citizens for Airport Planning asked the University to make the field private, limit night flights and phase out the Chapel Hill Flying Club, while the club said it flew safely; Chancellor Paul Hardin pledged to work with the town and said bids for the runway work would open September 14. People: Jonathan Howes The Daily Tar Heel, September 13, 1989, p. 4
    29. UNC decides against seeking private-use status for Horace Williams Airport In a letter to Mayor Jonathan Howes in mid-October, Associate Vice Chancellor Charles Antle said UNC would not ask the FAA to make Horace Williams Airport private-use, a change the Town Council, the school board and Citizens for Airport Planning had urged to cut transient traffic near three schools. Keeping it public brought a free navigation system and a weather station; Howes backed the decision, and the citizens' group said it would keep pressing to limit the airport. People: Jonathan Howes The Daily Tar Heel, October 23, 1990, p. 1
    30. Chapel Hill Town Council asks its staff to find ways to limit outside use of Horace Williams Airport After UNC decided in October to keep Horace Williams Airport open to public use, the Town Council voted unanimously to have Town Manager Cal Horton study public regulation of the airport to limit its growth and use by larger planes not owned by UNC. People: Cal Horton The Daily Tar Heel, November 14, 1990, p. 2
    31. A Black employee of Horace Williams Airport sues its manager alleging racial discrimination On December 26, 1990, a Black employee of 13 years at the University's Horace Williams Airport sued the airport manager and unnamed University employees in Orange County Superior Court, alleging he had been denied promotions and fair pay from 1979 to 1989 because of his race and had been defamed. The manager declined to comment; the employee's lawyer was Alan McSurely. People: Alan McSurely The Daily Tar Heel, January 10, 1991, p. 1
    32. Orange County commissioners vote 3 to 2 to let managers plan for moving Horace Williams Airport Meeting in Hillsborough, the commissioners authorized County Manager John Link to work with the Chapel Hill and Carrboro town managers on relocating the University's Horace Williams Airport, an idea Chapel Hill Town Manager Cal Horton had taken to the town-gown coordination committee, where Chancellor Paul Hardin approved it. Don Willhoit and Verla Insko voted no over Alice Gordon's broader statement on the airport's purposes, and a residents' group, Stop County Regional Airport Proposal, then came out against relocation. People: Cal Horton, Jonathan Howes, Ellie Kinnaird The Daily Tar Heel, February 6, 1991, p. 3
    33. Chapel Hill Town Council backs outside mediation on moving Horace Williams Airport The Chapel Hill Town Council approved a preliminary process in which the University of Virginia's Institute for Environmental Negotiation would talk with UNC, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Orange County and interested groups about relocating Horace Williams Airport, and named members Julie Andresen and Joe Capowski to represent the town. The town-gown Coordination and Consultation Committee had recommended the step on May 18, with the $15,000 cost to be split among the four governments. People: Cal Horton The Daily Tar Heel, May 28, 1992, p. 3
    34. A mediated dialogue group on the future of Horace Williams Airport begins meeting University and local government officials and neighbors met on October 21, 1992, as the Horace Williams Airport Preliminary Dialogue group, led by mediators from the University of Virginia's Institute for Environmental Negotiation. UNC said the airport would stay open until an acceptable alternative was found; Citizens for Airport Planning asked for a binding promise it would not grow. The Daily Tar Heel, October 22, 1992, p. 1
    35. Chapel Hill Town Council questions UNC's proposed Horace Williams Airport advisory committee UNC proposed an Airport Advisory Committee for the town, the University and neighbors, and on September 13 the council passed a resolution saying the plan gave too many seats to airport users and asking for one member each from the Chapel Hill Flying Club and the Friends of Horace Williams Airport. The Daily Tar Heel, September 15, 1993, p. 2
    36. Plane crashes near Finley Golf Course after takeoff from Horace Williams Airport, killing three A plane that had just taken off from the University's Horace Williams Airport crashed near Finley Golf Course on December 11, killing all three people aboard. Citizens for Airport Planning counted it as the seventh fatal crash tied to the airport since 1981, with 16 dead, and Chapel Hill council members afterward pressed Chancellor Paul Hardin for a written pledge not to expand the airport; he promised only not to increase its activity while he was chancellor. The Daily Tar Heel, January 10, 1994, p. 5
    37. Town forms the Horace Williams Citizens Committee to shape review of the tract Chapel Hill formed the Horace Williams Citizens Committee in 2003 to advise on development proposals for the university's Horace Williams tract, and the Town Council adopted the committee's March 2004 final report as town policy. UNC Board of Trustees: Development Agreement between UNC-Chapel Hill and the Town of Chapel Hill (Carolina North), June 2009
    38. UNC trustees approve the Carolina North plan The Board of Trustees approved a plan for Carolina North on the Horace Williams tract, later submitted to the town with the 2009 rezoning application; the trustees adopted Carolina North design guidelines on November 19, 2008. UNC Board of Trustees: Development Agreement between UNC-Chapel Hill and the Town of Chapel Hill (Carolina North), June 2009
    39. Town Council approves the Carolina North development agreement and U-1 zoning After ten joint work sessions with trustees and hearings on May 11, June 15 and June 22, the Town Council approved a 20-year development agreement for Carolina North and rezoned the in-town portion of the tract to University-1, authorizing about 3 million square feet on 133 acres. UNC Board of Trustees: Development Agreement between UNC-Chapel Hill and the Town of Chapel Hill (Carolina North), June 2009
    40. Horace Williams Airport closes UNC closed Horace Williams Airport on May 15, 2018, under a November 2017 trustees resolution, citing money lost running the field and at least $1 million in needed runway repairs. The airfield dated to 1928 and had trained Navy pre-flight cadets during World War II; the Carolina North campus once planned for the site had stalled. UNC Auxiliary Services: UNC-Chapel Hill's Horace Williams Airport Closes (May 10, 2018)
    41. UNC announces a campus extension at Carolina North The university announced plans for a mixed-use extension on about 230 acres around the former Horace Williams Airport, with student and workforce housing, research space and retail, calling it the largest expansion since 1793; groundbreaking is expected in summer 2027. UNC-Chapel Hill: UNC-Chapel Hill announces plans to develop campus extension in Carolina North

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