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Schools and academies

Northside School

Northside School was the elementary school for Black children that opened in 1951 in the old Orange County Training School building on Caldwell Street, and its name spread to the Black neighborhoods around it. It closed in 1966 as the schools integrated, and a new Northside Elementary opened on the site in 2013.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

People in its history

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

Sites linked through the same people

Indexed works

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

Published by or for this institution

Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around

Ms. Murray's first grade class · 2016

A 2016 picture book by Ms. Murray's first grade class at Northside Elementary School in Chapel Hill. The story draws on civil rights and Clementine Self, through work with the Jackson Center Oral History Trust.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

Chapel Hill PL

Mr. Bynum Weaver Opens A Store

Ms. McGruder's first grade class · 2016

A 2016 picture book by Ms. McGruder's first grade class at Northside Elementary School in Chapel Hill. The story concerns Bynum Weaver, a store and generosity, and is associated with the Jackson Center Oral History Trust.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

Chapel Hill PL

Ms. Janie Goes to School

Ms. Miller's first grade class · 2016

A 2016 picture book by Ms. Miller's first grade class at Northside Elementary School in Chapel Hill. This fictional school story centers on Janie Alston and is associated with the Jackson Center Oral History Trust.

Included because: Published by or for this institution.

Chapel Hill PL

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Northside School 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.

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

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.

Start at OCPL

    Where to look on the shelf

    These books don’t necessarily mention Northside School, 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.

    • Start here · NC 371.097 PENDER A History of Orange County Schools, 1752-1983 Pender, Irene Oliver · 1983

      Irene Oliver Pender's history of the public schools of Orange County from 1752 to 1983, covering more than two centuries of schooling in Hillsborough, Efland, Cedar Grove and the rural districts of the county. Published in 1983, 186 pages with illustrations.

    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

    1. The name Northside began to replace Pottersfield and Sunset When the old Lincoln building became Northside Elementary in 1951, the school's name spread to the Black neighborhoods around it. By the mid-1950s Pottersfield, north of West Rosemary and west of Columbia Street, and its western neighbor Sunset were both being called Northside. From the Rock Wall: A Note on "Northside"
    2. Lincoln High's PTA votes to name the elementary school Northside The Lincoln High School Parent-Teacher Association voted to call the elementary school Northside Elementary School, because the name Lincoln High School would go with the high school to its new building. By the fall of 1951 the school paper was reporting on Northside Elementary and its own principal. Lincoln High School student newspaper (Chapel Hill), June 1951, p. 2
    3. Lincoln High School opens on Merritt Mill Road In 1951 Lincoln High School, Chapel Hill's high school for Black students, moved from the old Orange County Training School building on Caldwell Street to a new building on Merritt Mill Road, and the old building became Northside Elementary. Lincoln used the Merritt Mill Road campus until 1966; the building is now the school district's Lincoln Center. People: Charles A. McDougle From the Rock Wall: A Note on "Northside" · Also: fromtherockwall.org; The Daily Tar Heel: Cammie Bellamy, New school, old ground; The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 24, 1950, p. 1; Open Orange: 350 Caldwell St. / Orange County Training School; Lincoln High School student newspaper (Chapel Hill), October 1, 1951, p. 1
    4. J. H. Peace becomes principal of Northside Elementary School J. H. Peace, a Chapel Hill native and graduate of North Carolina College, became principal of Northside Elementary School when the 1951-52 year opened and Lincoln High moved into its new building. Three new elementary teachers joined the Northside staff with him. Lincoln High School student newspaper (Chapel Hill), October 1951, p. 1
    5. Preston R. Weaver applies to move his son from Northside School to the white Chapel Hill Elementary School Weaver, owner of Weaver's Shoe Shop on West Franklin Street, had written the Chapel Hill school board asking how his son, who had finished the third grade at Northside, could enroll at Chapel Hill Elementary; the board sent him its change-of-school application and rules with almost no comment, and he was filling out the form on July 16. One of the Black parents who had sued the board over unequal school facilities, Weaver said he was acting on his own and not for any person or group. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 19, 1956, p. 4
    6. Frances Hargraves teaches Chapel Hill's new special education classes at Northside School The Chapel Hill schools had begun special education classes, one at Chapel Hill Elementary School and one taught by Frances Hargraves at Northside School. The Junior Service League paid a $200 scholarship for her training. The Chapel Hill Weekly: Children Get New Attitude in Special Education Classes (March 5, 1957)
    7. Work begins on an eight-classroom addition to Northside School Construction started on an eight-classroom addition to Northside Elementary School in Chapel Hill, from plans by architect James M. Webb. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), May 2, 1957, p. 7
    8. Preston Weaver applies to move his son to Chapel Hill Elementary School Preston Weaver, a Black shoe repairman in Chapel Hill and the father of nine, formally applied to the Chapel Hill school board to have his son, who had finished the fourth grade at Northside School, admitted to the fifth grade at Chapel Hill Elementary School, then open only to white pupils. The board was investigating the application at the end of June. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), June 27, 1957, p. 1
    9. The Vickers family appeals and asks the county to run its schools without segregation In a letter to the county superintendent, Thomas Lee and Lattice Vickers appealed the denial for their son Stanley B. Vickers, 10, who lived a block from Carrboro Elementary but was assigned to Northside Elementary in Chapel Hill, more than a mile away. They also appealed the board's 'failure and refusal' to operate the county schools on a non-segregated basis. People: Stanley Vickers The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 21, 1958, p. 1
    10. The county school board denies a Black Carrboro couple's request to send four children to Carrboro Elementary The Orange County Board of Education turned down Darnell and Clara Mae Walden's request to move their four foster children from Chapel Hill's Northside School to the new all-white Carrboro Elementary School, which they said was a block from their Carr Street home. The Rev. Charles M. Jones and Preston Weaver, who had twice asked the Chapel Hill board to integrate, attended with the couple. People: Charles M. Jones The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 4, 1958, p. 1
    11. The county school board denies the Vickers family's appeal for a place at Carrboro Elementary After a hearing held under the state's pupil assignment law, the Orange County Board of Education denied Lee and Lattice Vickers's appeal to move their child from Northside School to the all-white Carrboro Elementary School. Their Durham attorney, whom the paper calls C. O. Pierson, had handled most NAACP school cases in the area; Carl Braden of the Southern Conference Educational Fund also attended. People: Charles M. Jones The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), September 11, 1958, p. 1
    12. Stanley Vickers's parents apply for his transfer from Northside Elementary to Carrboro Elementary After ten-year-old Stanley Boya Vickers finished fifth grade at Northside Elementary School in June 1959, his parents, Thomas Lee and Lattice Vickers, filed a written application to have him reassigned to Carrboro Elementary School, which was much nearer their home. The school board denied it on August 3, 1959. Caselaw Access Project: Vickers v. Chapel Hill City Board of Education, 196 F. Supp. 97 (M.D.N.C. 1961)
    Show all 22 dated events
    1. Chapel Hill school board refuses Stanley Vickers a transfer to all-white Carrboro Elementary and adopts a first-grade proximity policy The Chapel Hill City Board of Education denied ten-year-old Stanley Vickers a transfer from all-Black Northside Elementary to the nearer all-white Carrboro Elementary School, and at the same meeting adopted a policy of limited integration at the first-grade level starting with the 1960-61 year. UNC law dean Henry Brandis, who had twice moved to approve the transfer, resigned from the board in protest and called the action both morally and legally indefensible. People: Stanley Vickers, Henry P. Brandis Jr. The Chapel Hill Weekly, August 6, 1959, p. 1 · Also: Justia: Vickers v. Chapel Hill City Board of Education, 196 F. Supp. 97
    2. Chapel Hill annexes the 48-acre Northside School area Chapel Hill's town limits took in the 48-acre Northside School neighborhood, as the school board had asked, moving the northern edge of town to Clark Road near Longview. Some new residents of the area registered as town voters for the first time before the March bond vote. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 18, 1960, p. 1
    3. County commissioners adopt a $1.63 million budget and a 99-cent tax rate The commissioners unanimously adopted a $1,634,761 county budget for 1960-61 and raised the tax rate four cents to 99 cents per $100, with 81 cents of it going to schools. The budget put the sheriff's deputies in county-owned cars for the first time, started a fund for an addition to the agriculture building, and set aside $100,000 toward replacing Northside School in Chapel Hill. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 28, 1960, p. 3
    4. Northside School's PTA opposes a new site for a Black elementary school At a special meeting the Northside School Parent-Teacher Association voted overwhelmingly against the Chapel Hill school board's plan to build a new Black elementary school on South Merritt Mill Road across from Lincoln High School, saying it would prolong segregation, and asked that the school be built at the Northside site instead. Dr. Richard Peters, whose citizens group had proposed an eight- to ten-room wing at Northside, attended by invitation. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 1, 1960, p. 12
    5. Nate Davis moves from Northside Elementary to Chapel Hill Junior High In 1962, after sixth grade at Northside Elementary, Davis went to Chapel Hill Junior High School on Franklin Street as one of the first Black students in the town's formerly white schools. Harassment kept him out of school for two or three months, and he later attended the new Chapel Hill High School when it opened. Documenting the American South: Oral History Interview with Nate Davis, February 6, 2001 (K-0538), transcript
    6. Workmen begin tearing down Northside School's original eight-classroom building Demolition began on the 40-year-old original eight-classroom building of Northside Elementary School, whose outside walls had cracked while it was still in use. The job was expected to take four weeks and leave the site smooth. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), July 19, 1962, p. 4
    7. Northside Elementary closes after the school system integrates The Caldwell Street school closed soon after the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools began mandatory integration in 1966, and the building was turned into office space. It was still holding classes in December 1966, when the Daily Tar Heel reported on a special education class in Northside School. The Daily Tar Heel: Cammie Bellamy, New school, old ground (July 16, 2013) · Also: From the Rock Wall: A Note on "Northside"; Open Orange: 350 Caldwell St. / Orange County Training School; The Daily Tar Heel, December 15, 1966, p. 1
    8. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board decides to build a new Northside Elementary on the old school's site The board announced a new elementary school on the grounds of the Northside school that had closed in 1966, to carry the Northside name. Black families in the Northside neighborhood, whose children had been bused to other schools for decades, welcomed it as a return of their school. Willow Lung-Amam, "The Not-So-New South Suburbs," RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 9, no. 2 (2023), p. 63
    9. The school board votes 5-2 for the attendance plan that fills the new Northside Elementary After two months of public hearings on four draft plans, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools board chose Plan 2.1, which spread at-risk students most evenly among the elementary schools and reassigned about 1,045 children. Most came from the two schools nearest Northside, including crowded Seawell Elementary, and the whole Section 74A area north of town was moved. Willow Lung-Amam, "The Not-So-New South Suburbs," RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 9, no. 2 (2023), p. 66
    10. A new Northside Elementary opened on the old Training School grounds The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools opened a new Northside Elementary on the former Orange County Training School site. In 2012 neighbors had rallied to make sure the new school kept the Northside name. From the Rock Wall: Orange County Training School

    Open these in the chronology →

    Research sources

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

    Background 5

    Historic sites, markers, and maps

    Records of the time 17

    Show all 17

    Collections and databases

    Local help 7

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    Nearby

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