Sutton's Drug Store in Chapel Hill
Sutton's Drug Store on East Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, photographed from outside in 2003.
Why this is here: Found by the site’s name in its title, catalog subjects or description, and read by hand.
Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange and OpenStreetMap; town and community pins mark the middle of their mapped buildings.
Indexed works
Books, articles, records and pictures in the index about Sutton’s Drug Store, found by its names in titles, catalog subjects and the index’s descriptions, and read one by one. Those held at OCPL come first.
About the site
Sutton's Drug Store: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)
Three storefront photographs of Sutton's Drug Store in Chapel Hill, taken in 2003. Part of the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection.
Why this is here: Found by the site’s name in its title, catalog subjects or description, and read by hand.
Surveys and maps of the area
Not about Sutton’s Drug Store 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
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.
Why this is here: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.
The town and gown architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975
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.
Why this is here: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.
Chapel Hill historic sites survey : final report.
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.
Why this is here: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.
Chapel Hill township survey final report
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.
Why this is here: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.
When Chapel Hill was a village
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.
Why this is here: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina.
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.
Why this is here: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.
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 Sutton’s Drug Store, 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
- Sutton's Drug Store opens on Franklin Street J. L. Sutton and J. L. Alderman, a UNC pharmacy graduate, opened the Sutton and Alderman drugstore with a soda fountain in the Strowd Building on Franklin Street, in space vacated by Jack Sparrow's shop. As Sutton's Drug Store it marked its centennial in 2023 as a downtown gathering place.
Research sources
Places to visit 4
Maps, surveys, and the ground itself
- National Register nomination: Chapel Hill Historic District Boundary Increase (4 Areas) (2015) State Historic Preservation Office
- HPOWEB, the state’s map of surveyed and listed historic places State Historic Preservation Office Find the site on the map to read its survey record
- North Carolina Maps UNC Libraries Historic maps of the state, including the county and its towns
- Orange County GIS and land records Orange County Parcel maps and ownership history for the land today
Read contemporary evidence 3
Newspapers, photographs, and records of the time
- The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 5, 1923, page 4: Changes on Franklin Street cited by an event here
- The Chapel Hill Weekly, 1923–1972 DigitalNC Digitized issues, searchable by name; this paper covers years the site stood
- Orange County Register of Deeds Orange County Deeds and plats, searchable online, to trace who owned the property
Ask locally 5
Local organizations that preserve the story and can help you go further
- Chapel Hill Historical Society Photographs, maps and papers on Chapel Hill and Carrboro, with a research links page
- Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection, Orange County Public Library The county library’s local-history room at the Main Library in Hillsborough: books, journals, maps, and microfilm of county records from 1752
- Local History Help Hours and request form The library’s Local History Liaison helps in person most Mondays, 12 to 3, at the Main Library, or by the online request form
- Preservation Chapel Hill Chapel Hill buildings and neighborhoods
- Orange County Historical Museum Orange County history, objects, and interpretation
Additional research sources
Other sources to search and local organizations that can help.
- Search beyond the index: Orange County History Guide: Buildings and Maps UNC Libraries Surveys, inventories and maps of the county’s buildings
- Search beyond the index: NC LIVE: prepared search for Sutton’s Drug Store NC LIVE Articles, e-books and newspapers across the state’s shared databases, already scoped to this site’s names and the county; sign in through your North Carolina library to read
Nearby
- The Rathskeller (Amber Alley) 50 m · 4 events
- Chapel Hill Post Office and Peace and Justice Plaza 60 m · 13 events
- Bank of Chapel Hill 60 m · 9 events
- University United Methodist Church 100 m · 8 events
- Varsity Theatre (the first Carolina Theatre) 120 m · 6 events
- Pickwick Theatre 130 m · 6 events
- The Orange Printshop 130 m · 3 events
- Silent Sam (UNC Confederate monument) 130 m · 14 events
- University Presbyterian Church 140 m · 12 events
- College Cafe 150 m · 3 events
