Residents petitioned Chapel Hill to study the Cameron-McCauley neighborhood as a historic district in 1979 and Northside in 1985; the Town Council asked for the studies in January 1987, and the town hired consultant Mary Reeb in April 1988. She reported that Cameron-McCauley, with 25 significant historic structures, qualified as a historic district, while Northside, with fewer historic buildings but a unity of design, might be better served by appearance controls or a neighborhood plan. On November 14, 1988 the council referred her reports to the Historic District Commission.
On September 25, 1989 the council voted unanimously to send the Cameron-McCauley report to the N.C. Division of Archives and History, a step toward listing the neighborhood as a historic district, and moved its hearing on a local district up to November, after a Sigma Nu alumnus asked for speed for the sake of about 16 fraternity and sorority houses in the area. At the hearing on November 20, fraternity and sorority alumni and some homeowners backed a district for West Cameron and McCauley streets, while other residents objected to the commission's controls over their property.
On October 19, 1989 the National Register Advisory Committee placed the Gimghoul neighborhood on the state's Study List as a historic district. In 1990 Chapel Hill established Cameron-McCauley as its second local historic district, after the Franklin-Rosemary district of 1976, so that exterior changes, new construction and demolition there needed the Historic District Commission's certificate of appropriateness. The National Park Service listed the Gimghoul Neighborhood Historic District in the National Register on August 5, 1993, and on November 22 the council voted unanimously to make Gimghoul the town's third local historic district, as the Gimghoul Homeowners Association had asked since January.
In 1998 the National Register Advisory Committee placed the West Chapel Hill neighborhood on North Carolina's Study List as a historic district, and on December 31 the National Park Service listed the West Chapel Hill Historic District in the National Register. In Northside, after residents asked for protection from student-rental conversions, the council enacted a zoning overlay limiting house size and height on February 23, 2004, what the town called its first neighborhood conservation district.
Reading on the places and people in this storyline
No indexed work is about this storyline itself yet. These are about the sites and people its dated events name, those named most often first, so they may discuss the storyline only in part. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Significance report : the Cameron-McCauley Neighborhood, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Reeb, Mary L. · 1989 · Town of Chapel Hill
Mary L. Reeb's April 1989 report for the Town of Chapel Hill on the Cameron-McCauley neighborhood. It concerns studies of buildings, dwellings and real estate development in Chapel Hill, and the title states its purpose: an assessment of the neighborhood's significance. Thirty-nine leaves with maps and a bibliography on leaves 28 and 29.
Historic District: Cameron-McCauley (Chapel Hill Historical Society vertical file)
Cameron-McCauley historic district in Chapel Hill: newspaper clippings, reports, notes and copies of correspondence. Undated folder in the History series of the Chapel Hill Historical Society's vertical files.
Wider background: Buildings & Preservation · the most widely held histories of the theme this storyline is filed under; they may not discuss it
The Pelican Guide to Hillsborough, Historic Orange County, North Carolina
Dula, Lucile Noell · 1989
Lucile Noell Dula's guidebook to Hillsborough and its historic buildings, published by Pelican in 1989. It pairs a tour of the town with notes on its history, in 128 illustrated pages with a bibliography. Part of the Wall Local History Collection.
Horace Williams
Winston, Sr., Robert Watson · 1942 · The University of North Carolina press
Robert Watson Winston's biography of Henry Horace Williams (1858-1940), who taught philosophy at the University of North Carolina for half a century, subtitled gadfly of Chapel Hill. Published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1942, 309 pages with frontispiece and portraits; this copy is autographed. Topics include educators in Chapel Hill and the university's history.
Reviewed in Social Forces (1943).
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.
Francis Preston Venable of the University of North Carolina
Bursey, Maurice M. · 1989 · Chapel Hill Historical Society
Maurice M. Bursey's biography of Francis Preston Venable (1856 to 1934), chemist and president of the University of North Carolina, published by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in 1989. It also covers the history of the university's chemistry department. Illustrated, 111 pages, with bibliographies.
Reviewed in Isis (1992).
Carrboro, N.C
Brown, Claudia Roberts · 1983
Architectural and historical inventory of Carrboro by Claudia Roberts Brown, published in 1983 by the Carrboro Appearance Commission and the town. The 48-page survey, with illustrations and maps, documents the town's historic buildings and their conservation.
The Campus at Chapel Hill
Allcott, John V. · 1986 · Chapel Hill Historical Society
John V. Allcott's history of the architecture of the University of North Carolina campus across two centuries, from the first buildings of the 1790s to the 1980s, published by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in 1986. A 108-page illustrated survey with a bibliography. Allcott taught art history at the university.
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The Campus at Chapel Hill: 225 Years of Architecture
Allcott, John V.; Bauer, JJ · 2019 · Chapel Hill Historical Society
A history of the buildings on the University of North Carolina campus by John V. Allcott and JJ Bauer, published by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in 2019. It follows campus construction from the 1790s forward: the plans behind each building campaign, the architects, and the university figures who pushed projects through. 132 pages with photographs, maps and plans.
Historic Coker Hills
Ridky-Blackburn, Jill · 2016
Jill Ridky-Blackburn's history of Coker Hills, a neighborhood in Chapel Hill, published by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in 2016. Chapters describe the land before the subdivision, the Coker who gave it its name, how the neighborhood began, the architects, builders and houses that shaped it, its legacy, memories of growing up there and the residents' later advocacy. Subjects include historic buildings in Chapel Hill. 242 pages with illustrations, portraits and a map.
Well worth a shindy : the architectural and philosophical history of the Old Well at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Madry, Sarah Brandes · 2003 · iUniverse
Sarah Brandes Madry's history of the Old Well at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, treating both its architecture and the ideas attached to it. It takes in drinking fountains and water use in Chapel Hill and the university's history, with a chapter on Edwin Anderson Alderman, the president under whom the well took its present form in 1897, and one on water at the university. Published by iUniverse in 2003, 399 pages with illustrations.
History of the Town of Hillsborough, 1754-1966
Lloyd, Allen Alexander · 1966
Allen Alexander Lloyd's history of Hillsborough from the town's founding in 1754 to 1966, published by the author in Hillsborough in 1966. 306 pages with illustrations, maps and portraits, dedicated to the best interest of our town. Topics include Hillsborough's history and biography, its historic buildings and Orange County history.
Hidden History of Chapel Hill
Burns, Brian · 2023 · The History Press
Brian Burns's collection of lesser-known episodes from Chapel Hill's past, published by The History Press of Charleston, South Carolina, in 2023. Topics include the town's history, its buildings and structures, and the history of civil rights in Chapel Hill. 158 pages with illustrations and portraits.
An address on the history of the buildings of the University of North Carolina
Battle, Kemp P. · 2005
Kemp P. Battle's University Day address of 1883, delivered as president of the University of North Carolina on the day marking the laying of the Old East cornerstone. Battle goes building by building through the Chapel Hill campus, telling how each was named and why it stands where it does. Fifteen pages. Electronic edition issued 2005 by the UNC University Library for Documenting the American South.
