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University buildings and grounds

Swain Hall

Swain Hall, at Cameron Avenue and South Columbia Street in Chapel Hill, was built in 1913 and 1914 as the university dining hall on the site of the 1795 president's house and named for David L. Swain. It served meals until 1940, took in the Naval ROTC in 1942, and later became the first home of the communications department.

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 Swain Hall. Each has been reviewed for relevance; materials held at OCPL appear first.

About the site

Swain Hall, a Department of Communication building at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the flagship campus of the 17 locations of the University of North Carolina system

Highsmith, Carol M., 1946- · 2017

Swain Hall, home to the Department of Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in a color digital photograph by Carol M. Highsmith taken 15 November 2017. Part of the Carol M. Highsmith Archive.

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

Library of Congress Digital Collections

Swain Hall, The College Commons, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C.

R. W. Foister, Chapel Hill, N.C

Swain Hall, captioned as the college commons, on a postcard published by R. W. Foister of Chapel Hill.

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

DPLA

Swain Hall, U. of N.C., Durham.

E. C. Kropp Co., Milwaukee, Wis

Another E. C. Kropp Company card, this one showing Swain Hall at the University of North Carolina but captioned Durham. Educational facilities and North Carolina postcards round out the entry for this university view.

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

DPLA

Swain Hall, University of N.C., Chapel Hill, N.C.

Sutton & Alderman, Druggists, Chapel Hill, N.C

Sutton and Alderman, druggists in Chapel Hill, published this postcard of Swain Hall at the University of North Carolina. Part of UNC's North Carolina postcard series.

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

DPLA

Swain Hall, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, N.C.

Albertype Co., Brooklyn, N.Y

The Albertype Company of Brooklyn produced this view of Swain Hall at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

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

DPLA

Swain Hall: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

A water tank at Swain Hall on the UNC campus, the subject of one undated photograph in 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

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Swain Hall 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

Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, North Carolina at 5-Year Intervals, 1793-1998

Bryant, Bernard Lee · 1999 · Chapel Hill Historical Society

Bernard Lee Bryant's compilation of who occupied each structure on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill at five-year intervals from 1793 to 1998, issued by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in 1999 as a photocopy of his original computer printout on cotton paper. 191 leaves.

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

UNC

[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
Show 3 more surveys and maps

[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 Swain Hall, 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

    1. Swain Hall is built as the university dining hall The university built Swain Hall in 1913 and 1914 as a dining hall on the site of the first president's house and named it for David L. Swain. It served as the dining hall until 1940 and later became the first home of the communications department. Names in Brick and Stone (UNC): Swain Hall building narrative
    2. The first president's house is moved off the Swain Hall site and becomes a private home When Swain Hall was built in 1913 at Cameron Avenue and South Columbia Street, the 1795 house built for the university's president was moved from the corner and reused as a private dwelling. NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 12
    3. Ione Cates opens a cafeteria in Chapel Hill that feeds the University's overflow Ione Cates, who had run the Greensboro school lunchrooms, opened a cafeteria in a new brick building on East Franklin Street with Fred Archer as partner, laid out for 600 meals a day at about the boardinghouse rate of $30 a month. By June 1922 the News reported that it fed so many students that the planned $200,000 extension of Swain Hall was dropped and the money was turned to dormitories and classrooms. The News (Chapel Hill), June 8, 1922, p. 1
    4. Fire guts the Swain Hall kitchen Fire discovered by an assistant watchman about five in the morning burned out the kitchen of Swain Hall, the University dining hall, leaving only the outer walls standing; the fire company cut holes in the dining-room floor to reach flames beneath it. Hundreds of students crowded the village cafeterias and boarding houses, which extended them credit, and about 50 student waiters lost their jobs. The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 3, 1924, p. 1
    5. Swain Hall is rebuilt as the university dining hall after a spring fire Swain Hall, the university dining hall, had been badly damaged by fire in the spring of 1924. Its rebuilding was rushed so that it could hold the alumni luncheon at commencement on Tuesday, June 10, and by the opening of the fall term it had a new kitchen and could take 800 student boarders. The News (Chapel Hill), September 18, 1924, p. 5 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, June 13, 1924, p. 1; Chapel Hill Weekly, June 13, 1924, p. 4
    6. The University begins turning Swain Hall into a cafeteria Swain Hall, the University eating house closed a year earlier for lack of student trade, was being converted into a modern cafeteria to reopen in the fall at non-profit prices, under Haywood Duke, manager of the Carolina Inn. The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 17, 1936, p. 1
    7. Swain Hall reopens as the University Dining Hall cafeteria The University refitted Swain Hall, its old dining commons, as a cafeteria with steam tables, new chairs, indirect lighting and washed-air cooling, run by Haywood Duke, manager of the Carolina Inn, with self-help students and fifteen waitresses. A student paying meal by meal could eat there for about $22 to $25 a month. The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 25, 1936, p. 4
    8. The University lays trial brick walks in front of Swain Hall The University laid several hundred square feet of brick walk on packed sand in front of Swain Hall, with engineer A. R. Hollett supervising and keeping a record of the cost so that the University could decide whether to use brick elsewhere. The Weekly reported that the town might lay its own trial stretch of brick sidewalk, perhaps in front of the Presbyterian church. The Chapel Hill Weekly, July 22, 1938, p. 1 (Town May Make Experiment with Brick for Walks)
    9. Wreckers tear down the University's old water tower behind Swain Hall A wrecking crew with blowtorches was taking down the University's 80-foot, 226-ton water tower behind Swain Hall, built about 40 years earlier and unused for several years. The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 27, 1939, p. 5
    10. University business offices move into old Swain Hall With the new dining hall in use, old Swain Hall was taken over by the University's duplicating, accounting, purchasing and stores, and physical plant departments, with J. S. Bennett's self-supporting enterprises and engineer A. R. Hollett, while the medical school's departure from Caldwell Hall let in radio, political science, public speaking and sculpture. The Weekly called it more shifting of quarters than the University had ever crowded into so short a time. People: John S. Bennett, Peter L. Burch, Arthur R. Hollett The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 12, 1940, p. 3
    11. Chapel Hill women's war relief workshop ships its first Red Cross quota The Community Workshop that the war relief committee under Mrs. Frank P. Graham had set up in the basement of the University dining hall sent a box of garments to Red Cross headquarters in New York on September 4, ahead of the deadline: 10 women's and 20 girls' dresses, 40 layettes, 15 sweaters and 5 shawls. About 40 women did the work, with Carrboro Girl Scouts making babies' caps, and that fall the workshop took on a second, larger quota. The Chapel Hill Weekly, September 6, 1940, p. 1
    12. Chapel Hill women's war relief workroom displays and ships its winter's garments The volunteer women of the Community Workroom in the basement of Swain Hall, who had met four days a week since October on Red Cross cloth, displayed their work before shipping it to New York for Europe: 50 layettes, 80 dresses, 40 boys' shirts, hospital sheets and pajamas, and 100 knitted garments. Chapel Hill paid for the buttons, thread and freight. The Chapel Hill Weekly, February 14, 1941, p. 1
    Show all 18 dated events
    1. The Navy opens the first Pre-Flight School offices in Swain Hall Two Navy supply officers, Lt. Comdr. B. H. Micou and Ensign E. E. Mack, arrived in Chapel Hill and set up temporary offices for the coming Pre-Flight School in Swain Hall, hiring a local stenographer before leaving to order supplies. The executive officer, John P. Graff, arrived two days later, and the school's small staff worked out of Swain Hall until early May. People: John P. Graff Cloudbuster (Navy Pre-Flight School, Chapel Hill), September 19, 1942, p. 1
    2. The Naval ROTC moves out of Woollen Gym and Lenoir Hall into Swain Hall By university decision the Naval ROTC left its quarters in Woollen Gymnasium and the basement of Lenoir Hall during June 1 to 9, 1942, and moved into Swain Hall, which its commander thought below the Navy's minimum standard. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Naval Armory at UNC-Chapel Hill, National Register nomination (OR1541), p. 29
    3. Swain Hall reopens as the University's student cafeteria With Lenoir Hall given over to the Navy Pre-Flight cadets and the Naval ROTC moved to its new armory, the University put Swain Hall back into use as its student eating house, now a cafeteria of 500 seats able to serve 1,500 at a meal, run by J. A. Gardner under Carolina Inn manager Leigh Skinner. A temporary student cafeteria had been opened in the Carolina Inn ballroom on October 29, 1942. The Chapel Hill Weekly, January 8, 1943, p. 5
    4. A string of set fires strikes the UNC campus and Chapel Hill About a dozen fires were set in Chapel Hill between January 8 and January 30, the worst a blaze in Swain Hall on the night of January 9, and paid and volunteer guards watched the campus while police and the state fire marshal's office hunted the arsonist. On January 30 police picked up a 21-year-old UNC medical student, who admitted setting the fires and was committed to the state hospital at Raleigh for observation. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 6, 1958, p. 8
    5. WUNC-TV's Chapel Hill studio moves back into Swain Hall after its January fire WUNC-TV's Chapel Hill staff returned to their regular quarters in Swain Hall after a January 3 fire that destroyed the station's offices and did about $60,000 in smoke and water damage had sent them to basement offices and a temporary studio. Chapel Hill programs had been off the air little more than an hour during the fire. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 17, 1958, p. 3
    6. A legal aid lawyer challenges WUNC-FM over its lack of Black staff Benjamin A. Currence, a staff attorney with the North Central Legal Assistance Program, said WUNC radio's license renewal papers showed no Black full-time employees and proposed an advisory committee including faculty and BSM officers. He said that without a negotiated agreement he would ask the FCC to deny the station's license renewal before the November 1 deadline. Black Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), October 27, 1978, p. 2 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, December 4, 1978, p. 2

    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

    National Register files

    Historic sites, markers, and maps

    Records of the time 21

    Show all 21

    Collections and databases

    Local help 5

    Nearby

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